AN assessment of NGO’S contribution to agricultural extension in Moshi rural district
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Date
2001
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Over the past decade there has been a rapid evolution of NGOs in Tanzania, an
indication that the services provided by the public sector do not satisfy the needs of
the community. This study sought to investigate and assess the contribution of NGOs
in providing agricultural extension in terms of logistic support, training and
supervision in Moshi Rural District. The specific objectives were (a) To determine the
institutional functioning of NGOs in terms of organisational structure, status and
inter-relationships with government and donors, (b) To explore the operational
procedures in terms of approaches, methods and media and (c) To identify the factors
associated with effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of NGOs in Moshi District. The
study used a cross-sectional design that employed a survey method. The survey
population comprised of farmers aged 21 years and above who get extension services
from KEDA and Saint Vincent de Paule. These farmers were representative of
households which are immediate clients of these NGOs. Instrumentation included the
design of questionnaires which were used to interview the sampled farmers and
structured interview schedule administered to relevant authorities. The questionnaires
were pretested in four villages. Data were collected from four selected villages in
Moshi Rural District by means of questionnaires and a structured interview schedule.
A random sample of 15 respondents was picked from each village using a list of
farmers from the villages, thus, the sample size was 60 respondents. The findings of
the study show that eighteen per cent of the respondents attended meetings organised
by the NGOs while 8.4% attended meetings organised by other organisations. The
study also shows that 16.6% and 6.6% of the respondents attended field days and study tours.
According to the findings it is concluded that the NGOs have been
efficient for the fact that they have well defined organizational structure, operational
procedures and are effective in disseminating technologies to farmers. It is therefore
recommended that NGOs be encouraged especially in terms of operational
procedures, formation of more groups and rehabilitation of infrastructures.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
NGO’S contribution-agricultural extension, Agricultural extension, Moshi rural district, Organisational structure, Government-donors inter-relationships