The Participation of Rice Farmers In Capacity Building Programmes of Agricultural Development Programme in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract: This s tudy was carried out to examine the participation of rice farmers in capacity building training programmes organized by Agricultural Development Programme in collaboration with other bodies such as Olam, USAID and First Bank in Kwara State, Nigeria.A sample of 180 contract farmers from two Local Government Areas of Kwara State who participated in the training were randomly selected and interviewed. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were employed in data analyses which include the use of frequency count, mean, pie-chart, bar chart, percentages and regression analysis. The findings revealed the level of participation of rice farmers in the two major rice producing Local Government Areas (Edu and Patigi ). The results revealed that the farmers’participation level was high in Patigi Local Government Area with participation mean of 6.189, and low in Edu LGA with participation mean of 3.267.Regression analysis showed that there were positive relationships between participation levels of farmers in capacity building programmes and age , educational levels, household size, years of experience, secondary occupation,farm size and land ownership.It is recommended that the venue of the training should be decentralized for the farmers to have access to the place of training. Keywords:Capacity building, levels, participation, training