FARMERS’ PERCEPTION AND ADOPTION OF AGROFORESTRY PRACTICES IN JEMA’A LOCAL GOVERNMENNT AREA OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the level of perception and adoption of agroforestry practices in Jema’a L.G.A, Kaduna State, Nigeria as well as the factors influencing the adoption rate. One hundred and forty one
(141) randomly sampled farmers from six communities were interviewed using the semi-structured questionnaire in conjunction with focus group discussions and field observations. The study employed the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The binary regression model was employed to determine the factors influencing agroforestry adoption rate in the study area. A larger percentage (53%) of the farmers was non adopters while 47% adopted the practice. Major trees planted and/or retained were teak, oil palm, gmelina, mango, oha, banana, black plum, locust bean, guava, orange, pawpaw, moringa and iroko. The most adopted practice was tree planting in boundaries (46%), followed by scattered trees on farm lands (40%), alley-farming (about 36%) and home gardening (30%). The study revealed that though the farmers have favourable perceptions about the benefits of agroforestry such as its economic advantage (4.58), improvement is soil output (3.82) and reducing soil erosion (3.75), a large number with an index of 4.11 perceived it as a practice that limits the growth of crops because of the shade the trees provided and a practice that is expensive (3.65). The binary regression model showed that landownership and agroforestry knowledge with coefficients 3.633, and 0.478 respectively, at P<0.05; age (2.175), marital status (0.236) and farming experience (0.487) at P<0.01 influenced agroforestry adoption significantly. Though the level of agroforestry adoption is low, with a favourable perception it is recommended that the government and other relevant stakeholders provide improved agroforestry extension services and training programmes for farmers thereby exposing the practical aspects of the practice.