Journal of Community & Communication Research

ASSESSMENT OF THE PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE ROSCOE) BY SMALL-SCALE FARMERS IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

Mgbeahuru, C. C. — 2024-12-31

This paper examined the production and productivity of ginger (zingiber officinale roscoe) by small scale farmers in Abia State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study include: to describe selected socioeconomic profiles of the respondents; evaluate the productivity levels of ginger farms in the region and determine factors influencing ginger production. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select respondents. Primary data were collected from 120 rural household’ heads using a well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean and multiple regression analysis. The results indicated moderately high production practices, particularly in land preparation, planting, fertilizer, pest control, yield and income. However, productivity showed high income variability. Factors such as age, education, income, household size, faming experience and number of training sessions significantly influenced ginger production with an R²(coefficient of multiple determinations) valued at 0.765. This implies that 76.5% of the total observed variations in the dependent variable (Y) were accounted for while 23.5% were due to unexplainable error. F–statistics was significant at the 1.0% level, indicating the models fitness. Based on the findings, enhancing and improving access to education and trainings will improve the economic viability and sustainability of ginger farming in Abia State. This will ultimately benefit local farming communities and the broader agricultural sector, thereby enhancing productivity.

ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN SELECTED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Ogara T. — 2024-12-31

This study assessed community participation in rural development projects implementation of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, Imo State Nigeria. Its specific objectives were to; describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, identify the various rural development projects implemented by the commission in the area between the years 2010 and 2023, and ascertain the degree of participation of community members in the project implementation. Data collection instruments included; a structured questionnaire, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and reference documents. Purposive and simple random samplings were procedures employed for collecting data which were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Findings in the study indicated that 58% of respondents were males. Adults within the age range of 41 – 60 years formed a greater number (42.5%) in the study. Approximately, 57% of respondents were married, and heads of households (88.3%) were males. Majority of the respondents (97.5%) were literate. An overwhelming majority of the respondents (85.8%) were Christians. A significant majority of respondents (98.30%) belonged to one community-based organization or the other. A greater number of the total projects (56.5%) embarked upon by the Commission (ISOPADEC) in the area were completed, 24.4% were ongoing while 13.9% were abandoned. The socioeconomic and cultural factors identified through regression results that influenced the effective implementation of rural development projects in the area included age, level of education, place of residence, occupation, level of income, and membership of the community-based organization.

ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN SOLE YAM PRODUCTION AMONG FARMERS IN SOUTHERN ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Oaya, Daniel S. — 2024-12-31

The study analyzed technical efficiency in sole yam production among farmers in southern Adamawa State, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 298 respondents, using multi-stage purposive and simple random sampling procedure. Data were analyzed using stochastic frontier production model. Results revealed that the sigma squared ( ) was 0.016 and statistically different from zero at 1% probability level, indicating a good fit and correctness of the distributional form assumed for the composite error term. Variance ratio was estimated at 0.866 and statistically significant at 1% probability level, suggesting that the existence of technical inefficiency among the farmers accounted for 87% variation in the output level of these farmers. Findings indicated that there was scope to increase the technical efficiency of sole yam production by 15% in the short run, since the mean technical efficiency (TE) of the farmers was estimated at 0.85, with 0.67 as minimum and 0.96 as the maximum. The technical efficiency differentials between the technically most efficient farmer and the technically least efficient farmer was 29%, indicating a wide gap. The coefficients of farm size, fertilizer, yam seed/setts and agro-chemicals had the expected positive sign, except hired labour and family labour, which had negative coefficients. This indicated that more output would be obtained from the use of additional quantities of these inputs ceteris paribus. The return to scale in the technical efficiency of sole yam was 0.965, indicating decreasing return to scale. This however, suggested that the proportionate change in output is less than that of the input and production was said to be inelastic. The return to scale of 0.965 showed that the farmers operated at the rational stage of the production function.

ANALYSIS OF FARMERS' USE OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN CASSAVA PRODUCTION IN OSUN STATE

Afolabi, C. O — 2024-12-31

This study examined the use of Digital Communication Tools (DCTs) among cassava farmers in Osun State, Nigeria, with emphasis on socioeconomic characteristics, access to agricultural information, innovation adoption, and constraints. A multistage sampling approach was used selecting 280 respondents, averaging 51±12.45 years in age. Most were male (64.2%) and married (57.1%), with a mean household size of 8±2.03 and 93.4% cultivating small farms (≤5 hectares). Their mean annual income was ₦354,724.27±101,012.25. WhatsApp (259.1) and Facebook (235.1) emerged as widely accessed DCTs, supporting production activities. DCTs usage was low among 50.8% of respondents, while 55.0% faced high constraints, primarily due to the high cost of internet subscriptions (136.7), high cost of DCTs devices (124.1), and limited internet access (115.9). Factors such as marital status (χ² = 67.101), age (r = -0.245), years of experience, and cooperative membership (χ² = 0.226) significantly influenced DCTs use. Recommendations included, providing affordable internet access, implementing DCTs skills training, and strengthening cooperative networks to support adoption and enhance productivity.

EFFECT OF PARTICIPATION OF RURAL WOMEN IN UNICEF NUTRITION AND HEALTH PROGRAMME IN THE SOUTH-EAST STATES OF NIGERIA

Udensi, C. O. — 2024-12-31

This study evaluated the level of participation of rural women in the UNICEF nutrition and health programme in the southeast states of Nigeria and ascertained the behavioral changes in them resulting from their participation in the programme activities. The specific objectives include: determining the women’s participation level in the different programme activities and ascertaining the perceived behavioral changes in them resulting from their participation in the programme activities. Primary and secondary data were used for the study (responses were obtained from participants with a questionnaire and official records of UNICEF). Results indicate that over twenty-five thousand women in the Southeast States have participated and benefitted from the programme. The participants generally had a high level of participation (=3.16) in the programme activities. They actively (=3.30) participated in antenatal care (ANC), focused antenatal care (FANC) (=3.19), postnatal care (PNC) (=3.01), delivery by a skilled birth attendant (=3.32), family planning (=3.12), personal hygiene (=3.46), nutrition and health talks (=3.13) and vitamin A supplementation (=3.69). The ANOVA result showed that there is a significant difference in change in behavior among the women participants of the UNICEF nutrition and health programme in the study area at a 5% alpha level. The paper raised a number of issues on nutrition and health and recommends the inclusion of more rural women to benefit from the programme packages and activities. This is based on the premise that increased food production and development start with a nutritional and healthy life.

OPTIMUM PRODUCTION PLAN FOR YAM BASED CROPPING SYSTEMS IN GANYE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Daniel Stephen Oaya — 2024-12-31

Population pressure is linked in one way or the other to the shrinking size of most-small holder farms over time. The study addressed optimum production plan for yam-based farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Primary data used were collected from 298 farmers, using structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and linear programming model. The results revealed that yam- based crop production in the study area was predominantly a male activity (72.15%), with a mean age of 48 years. The mean household size was 10 persons with minimum of 2 persons and maximum of 23 persons. Majority (83.22%) of the farmers had formal education. Also 71.48% of the farmers engaged in farming on full time basis. On average, the farmers had 15 years of farming experience and cultivated 2.02ha of land. The optimal farm plan generated by the linear programming output for maximizing Total Gross Margin (TGM) recommended Yam/Maize/Groundnut on 1.58ha and Yam/Sorghum/ Cowpea on 3.42ha. The result also revealed that gross margin could be increased from N402, 496.93 in the existing plan to N635, 057.72 in the optimized plan. It was concluded that production inputs were not optimally utilized. The optimal farm plan recommends that yam-based farmers should produce crop mixtures Yam/Maize/Groundnut and Yam/Sorghum/Cowpea based on their hectarage allocations to maximize Total Gross Margin of N1, 723,046.49.