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Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
Abstract The study assessed the effects of Growth (ATA) and which was done through a set of complementary
Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) on the output of dry programme interventions aimed at solving, in a holistic and
season rice farmers before and after participation. A integrated manner, the constraints and weaknesses that held
multistage sampling technique was used to select farmers down agricultural development of Nigeria for a long time.
for the study. Data for the study were collected from 250 The ATA seek to grow and develop agriculture as a
farmers using structured questionnaire. The data obtained business and thereby create jobs, assure food security,
was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. promote private sector investments for wealth creation and
The results of the showed that the age of the majority of the maximize the sectors contribution to the countrys
farmers fall between the ages of 30-39 years, married and economic growth (APNET,2013). The specific objectives of
had one form of education or the other. Based on the the agricultural sector as envisioned in ATA blueprint
findings, the main source of information (46.8%) regarding document are to:
the awareness of GESS programme was the district heads i. Secure food and feed for the needs of the nation;
and majority (94.4%) of the farmers were registered with ii. Enhance generation of national and social wealth
the scheme. About 40% of the farmers registered with the through greater exports and import substitution;
scheme because inputs provided by the scheme are supplied iii. Enhance capacity for value addition; efficiently
to only register farmers at a subsidized rate. The result of t- exploit and utilize available agricultural resources,
test analysis showed a significant difference (P<0.001) iv. Enhance the development and dissemination of
between farmers output before and after GESS appropriate and efficient technologies.
participation. The major challenges facing registered GESS These objectives are to be achieved by focusing attention on
farmers was that of untimely and inadequate supply of five priority areas:
production inputs and manipulation of GESS register by a. Commercial agriculture development aimed at
agro dealers. It is therefore, recommended that effort developing major crops, livestock, and fisheries along
should be geared towards ameliorating the aforementioned their entire value chains;
shortcomings. b. Construction, completion, and rehabilitation of silos
Keyword Assessment; Effects; GESS; Output; Dry and warehousing for agricultural commodities;
season farmers; before and after; Participation. c. Research and development, including equipping
existing institutes for research in agricultural
I. INTRODUCTION biotechnology;
The Nigerian agricultural sector over the years has d. Completion and rehabilitation of existing irrigation
witnessed efforts of its transformation. Many agricultural schemes and dams.
extension programmes were launched by various e. Restructuring of agricultural commodity marketing
governments with the aim of improving the sector and make companies as enunciated in the firstimplementation
Nigeria self-sufficient in food production. The last plan (Olomola, 2015).
administration headed by President GoodluckEbele Based on Okafor and Malizu, (2013) the major
Jonathan launched agricultural Transformation Agenda implementation strands for the ATA includes:
Sources of GESS Information to Farmers information on GESS programme from Rice Farmers
The highest percentage of farmers 46.8 percent sourced Association.
information regarding GESS programme from their district The result of the study indicated that District Heads were
heads, 38.8 percent sourced information regarding GESS the most popular source of information regarding GESS
from Media sources while Only 28 percent sourced programme, followed by neighbors and friends. This is in
Analysis of the Difference between Outputs Obtained programme. The result of the analysis is presented in table
Before and After GESS Programme 3.
t- test was conducted to determine the difference between
output of farmers before and after participation to GESS
Analysis in table 5 shows that the mean difference between 32% of the farmers reported inadequate supply of inputs as
the output of farmers before GESS programme was a constraint.
4402.1413, while the mean output of farmers after GESS Olukayode (2014) reported that, when GESS was
programme was 6756.3920 and the mean difference was introduced, a major criticism was that many beneficiaries
2354.25 The results showed that there was significant were unable to redeem their inputs due to GSM network
difference in the output of farmers before and after GESS failure or an absence of it in many remote areas. To solve
participation, meaning that dry season rice farmers in the the problems of poor mobile phone network, multiple
study area recorded significant improvement in the output registration, corruption and easy inputs redemption process,
obtained after the intervention of GESS programme. Thus, the FMA&RD, in collaboration with International Fertilizer
the null hypothesis is rejected that there is no significant Development Centre (IFDC), introduced a new technology
difference in the output obtained by farmers before and after known as GES TAP for farmers registration. The GES
participation in the GESS programme. The GESS Touch and Pay (TAP) is an offline technology that captures
programme in the study area has been able to achieve its the data of farmers along with their photographs, and at the
cardinal objective of increasing rice production among end of the registration exercise, a green card is issued to the
participants. registered farmers which can be used in redeeming
Constraint Facing Farmers Regarding GESS subsidized inputs (FEPSAN, 2014). But, findings from this
There were appreciable numbers of GESS farmers in the study show that 21.2 percent of farmers alleged
study area. However, there were problems affecting them manipulation of register by agro dealers byconniving with
regarding GESS programme that could have effect on their some farmers to collect their TAP card, redeem the inputs
output. and give a token to farmers, and later sell the inputs at
Sangoiet al. (2007) reported that farm input subsidy market price.
programme have once again become a popular policy tool
that many African governments use to improve agricultural IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
productivity and address rural poverty. Nigeria is one of the The study was carried out to assess the effect of GESS
countries in Africa that has revived input subsidy programme. The t-test analysis shows significance
programme through GESS. One of the stated goals of GESS difference in the output after GESS participation. Null
is to ensure timely, effective and adequate supply of hypothesis was tested and rejected. From the study, it could
agricultural inputs to GESS target farmers in the form of be concluded that GESS programme is promising, and if
fertilizer, chemicals and hybrid seed. However, timely sustain properly, the goal of the programme can be achieved
delivery of GESS inputs has been a longstanding constraint, and agricultural production can be enhanced in terms of the
despite persistent calls by farmers to correct this problem. output of dry season rice farmers in the study area. As a
From the study, result shows that 35.6 percent of the result of the impressive improvement in the output of GESS
farmers reporteduntimely supply of inputs as the major farmers after participation, it is recommended that growth
constraint regarding GESS. It is possible that late delivery enhancement support scheme be retained and encouraged
of GESS inputs may significantly affect farmers by the federal ministry of agriculture and rural
production. development.
In 2012, when GESS was introduced, the beneficiaries were Based on the findings of the study, the following
entitled to 2 bags of 50kg fertilizer and 25kg bag of hybrid recommendations are hereby made.
seed; quantity which most farmers considered inadequate, i. Inputs should be delivered to farmers before the
considering their farm size. This might be the reason why planting season commences.
ii. Increase GESS input allocation to farmers.