Voice of farmers in the agriculture crisis in North-East Nigeria: Focus group insights from extension workers

Summary

What question does this paper answer?

What do rural farmers in North-East Nigeria see as the ground-truth causes of, and remedies for, the agriculture crisis, as voiced by the agricultural extension workers who mentor them?

What did the study find?

A consensual qualitative research focus group with 16 agricultural extension workers from three local government areas of Adamawa State produced themes largely consistent with the literature but with several new issues. Rural farmers face significant problems with government support in six core areas: farm input quality and dissemination, fair input subsidization, training, market facilitation, corruption and insecurity.

Why does it matter?

The authors argue that if these six core areas were addressed, other problems might be indirectly mitigated through natural market growth, and that the government is the keystone stakeholder for all solutions. Policymakers should recognize the realities rural farmers face and urgently review the current process of farm input dissemination.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to uncover ground truth insights underlying the agriculture crisis from the perspectives of rural farmers in North-East Nigeria. The needs of individual farmers are otherwise not adequately reflected in national or regional economic development strategies. Design/methodology/approach – A unique sequential mixed-methods research design was adopted for this study. A grounded theory approach was used for the literature review followed by a consensual qualitative research (CQR) technique. Data were collected through a semi-structured sense-making focus group (FG) held at a field site with agricultural extension workers. The CQR technique included brainstorming, the nominal group technique, open discussions, sense-making and consensual agreement on the most important ideas. The FG sense-making was recorded, and discourse analysis was conducted to develop thematic concept maps using NVivo software. Findings – Agriculture crisis ground truth insight themes were consistent with the extant literature but several different issues were also found. Rural farmers in North-East Nigeria have significant challenges with government support in six core areas, namely, farm input quality and dissemination, fair input subsidization, training, market facilitation, corruption and insecurity. Research limitations/implications – The target population of this study was rural farmers in Adamawa State, North-East Nigeria. A relatively small sample of 16 agricultural extension workers – very experienced farmers who also act as mentors and are paid incentives by the government for doing so – was used. Practical implications – In tackling the agriculture crisis in Nigeria, policymakers will do well to recognize the realities that the rural farmers face and their needs, the government must address the areas highlighted in this study where support for farmers lacks and urgently review the current process of farm inputs dissemination. Originality/value – Agriculture crisis problems were explored from the perspectives of rural North-East Nigerian farmers, who have not been previously sampled due to cultural, language, literacy and schedule constraints. The extension workers were better able to communicate agriculture crisis insights in modern economic planning terminology because they are well-educated farmers, knowledgeable about the problems due to their field experience and because they have more flexible work schedules. A unique sequential mixed-methods constructivist research design was used with an embedded CQR technique, which would be of interest to scholars and research institutions.

Abstract as published in International Journal of Development Issues.

Keywords: North-East Nigeria; Agriculture crisis; Agricultural extension worker; Consensual qualitative research (CQR); Focus group; Qualitative data analysis software (QDAS); Discourse analysis

Key terms

Consensual qualitative research (CQR)

A formal qualitative method in which a group discusses semi-structured open-ended questions and reaches consensus on domains and core themes, with an external auditor cross-checking the data.

Agricultural extension worker

An experienced, well-educated farm practitioner hired and funded by the government to mentor farmers.

Nominal group technique

A structured technique in which participants first independently generate ideas before they are pooled and discussed by the group.

Limitations

• The relatively small sample of 16 agricultural extension workers representing the farmers' voice from three LGAs in North-East Nigeria.
• The CQR mixed method focused on analyzing complex qualitative data; a quantitative study with a much larger sample of farmers would improve generalizability.
• Follow-up studies could target rural farmers in other Nigerian regions or other African and developing countries, using different methods to allow triangulation.

How to cite

Che, F. N., Strang, K. D., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2020). Voice of farmers in the agriculture crisis in North-East Nigeria: Focus group insights from extension workers. International Journal of Development Issues, 19(1), 43–61. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDI-08-2019-0136

@article{che2020voice,
  title = {Voice of farmers in the agriculture crisis in North-East Nigeria: Focus group insights from extension workers},
  author = {Che, Ferdinand Ndifor and Strang, Kenneth David and Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao},
  journal = {International Journal of Development Issues},
  volume = {19},
  number = {1},
  pages = {43--61},
  year = {2020},
  publisher = {Emerald Publishing Limited},
  doi = {10.1108/IJDI-08-2019-0136},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDI-08-2019-0136}
}