Abstract
Agroecological farming approaches sustain food production with zero or reduced dependence on agro-chemicals. This study investigated the impact of the public agricultural extension activities in enhancing the transition to agroecological approaches, in particular organic farming, in south-eastern Nigeria. Data were collected from 30 farmers and 20 extension personnel using in-depth interviews. The respondents were selected using a purposeful random sampling technique. The results show that extension and advisory activities are influenced by current agricultural policy. Extension personnel currently focus almost exclusively on intensive agricultural practices because of the agricultural transformation agenda which surprisingly ignores the principles of organic farming. Factors such as policy, social, environmental, research, and extension management were observed to impede organic farming transition. It is concluded that there is need for a clearly enunciated organic agriculture policy that supports farmers, organic agricultural research, and information dissemination. A participatory approach in policy formulation and information dissemination that incorporates farmers’ traditional knowledge with capacity to strengthen the agricultural information dissemination structure is recommended to improve agroecological transition.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 123-144 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 14 Sept 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 7 Feb 2019 |
Bibliographical note
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis inAgroecology and Sustainable Food Systems on 14/9/18, available
online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/21683565.2018.1509410
Keywords
- Agroecology transition
- extension and advisory services
- Nigeria
- organic agriculture development
- smallholder farmers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Development
- Agronomy and Crop Science
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Liz Trenchard
- Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience - Assistant Professor
Person: Teaching and Research