EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL FADAMA II PROJECT ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN KOGI STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study sought to evaluate the impact of National Fadama II Development Project on Rural Development in Kogi State, Nigeria. Six research questions were posed to guide the study while five hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted the survey  research  design.  Structured  questionnaire  was  employed  as  instrument  for  data collection. The population for the study was 12,030, made up of 12,000 farm families (Fadama Project Farmers) and 30 Fadama II Officers. The sample of the study was 150 consisting of 120 Fadama Farm families; 30 Fadama Project Officers (20 facilitators and 10 Desk Officers). Findings of the study revealed that infrastructural facilities were more available in the study area during and after the implementation of the project than before implementation. The study also revealed that the innovations provided by the project were at various levels of adoption. The findings on impact of the project on farm yield indicated that the farmers recorded increase in their farm yield which brought about increased income for the farmers and also led to positive changes in the living conditions of the rural farmers after participation in the project. Findings of  the  study on  constraints to  the  project implementation indicated that  problems such  as poverty, late disbursement of fund, political interference etc. affected the project, especially in the realization of its objectives. It was therefore recommended that Government should be more serious with the implementation of polices that will aid the revamping of the agricultural sector, avoid what could prevent the Fadama project from  getting to its target; as well as educating rural farmers on Fadama  farming, so that they can adapt to the technical knowhow of Fadama which seems to be the major limitation of rural farmers; the adoption of modern and better farming practices in the study area.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

The Nigerian agricultural sector has played a prominent role with regard to food security and  poverty  reduction,  which  are  key  issues  in  every  developing  nation.    Nigeria  as  a developing  nation  used  to  have  agriculture  as  the  mainstay  of  her  economy  before  the discovery of the oil sector. Agriculture  provided  for about 75%  of the labour  force, and constituted  the  major  source  of  Nigeria’s  foreign  exchange   earnings  (Taiwah,  2000). Nigeria’s economic history and development has been closely tied to agriculture. It provides employment and food requirements for the populace; a foreign exchange earner, as well as the source of raw materials for  industries. Majority of the Nigerian population are farmers, residing in the rural areas.

A  farmer  is  somebody  who  farms,  owns  or  operates  a  farm.  A  farm  could  be agricultural land and buildings; an area of land where crops are grown or animals are reared for commercial purposes, together with appropriate buildings. Rural area is an outside city: typical of a country, relating to or characteristics of the country or country living.  A Rural area has abundance of human and material resources that makes it favorable for agricultural production;  agriculture  is therefore a rural occupation as  remarked  by Ifeanyi and Chima (2007). Gana (2001) stated that about 70% of the Nigerian population that resides in the rural areas depends largely on agriculture for  sustenance. Despite the sizeable population of the country’s rural areas, and abundance  resources for agriculture, they are the most poor and neglected,  with  little  or  no  infrastructure  and  support  services  to  encourage  meaningful agricultural productivity. Various forms of farming technologies are needed to increase crop productivity and enhance the contribution of Fadama II project to agricultural development and productivity. Adoption of improved technologies by farmers can also lead to the desired

result in agricultural production (that is, increased productivity) only if farmers comply with the recommendations and requirements of the technologies, in terms of input use and timing of operations. Any significant deviation from the recommended  amount of particular input can  result  in  low  yields  (Ogundele  and  Okoruwa,  2006).  These  improved  agricultural technologies  according  to  Onipede  (2003)  will  include:   fertilizers,  improved  seedling, livestock  feeds,  agrochemicals  (like  pesticides,  herbicides,  fungicides,  storage  chemicals) storage  facilities,  and  machineries.  The  International  Fund  for  Agricultural  Development (IFAD, 2009); stated that social services and infrastructures are limited or non-existence in the rural areas of Nigeria.  There is poverty in the rural communities  which makes them underdeveloped  and  contributes  to  poor  agricultural  productivity.  Many  farmers  cannot afford to procure farm inputs or hire tractor coupled implements which could help increase productivity as well as income for better standard of living. Therefore the need for measures geared  towards  developing  the  rural  areas  where  most  agricultural  activities  take  place (IFAD, 2009).

Rural development according to Ekong (2003) is a multi-sector activity supporting and promoting the rural areas, it include the improvement of infrastructural and social welfare of the people.  Rural development  is defined  by Akinleye  (2005)  as a series  of quantitative changes occurring among a given rural population and whose converging effects indicate in time, a rise in the standard of living and favorable changes in the way of life of the people concerned. In the view of Jibowo (2005), rural development is a systematic process aimed at improving  the  living  conditions  of  the  rural  dwellers  through  the  provision  of  rural infrastructural  facilities  like  feeder  roads,  water  supply  through  earth  dams,  wells  and boreholes as well as the benefits of developments to the poorest among those who seek a livelihood in the rural areas. In this study, rural development is the raising or improvement of the living standard conditions of the rural dwellers through the utilization of farm input and

adoption  of  improved  farming  production  technologies  to  increase  their  farm  yield  and income for better standard of living. Rural development has been viewed to be synonymous with agricultural  development  (Ifeanyi  and Chima,  2007).  According  to  Arowolo  (2008), agricultural  development  is  a part  of rural  development  because  the  rural  areas  can  be developed with development in agricultural sector.

Agricultural development is viewed by Arene (2003), as the growth accompanied by changes in the economy and the farm family’s social and political structure. According to this author,  agricultural  development  can  be  measured  conveniently  by  the  Gross  National Product (GNP) or National Income (NI) which is the increase per capital accumulation that is evenly distributed,  arising  from equitable distribution  of farmer’s  welfare,  income,  health services, schools, wealth, infrastructures and employment. Ifeanyi and Chima (2007) explain that since agriculture is predominantly a rural activity and that low productivity is caused by the use of crude tools (hoe, cutlass, and axe) in  farm operation; because relevant modern technologies  are  not  available  to farmers  at  the right  time, quantity and price,  it affects agricultural productivity. Even when the modern technologies are available, farmers need to be educated on the use. Anyawu (2003) observed that the availability of modern technology is not enough as farmers need education and motivation to adapt to changes through vibrant extension  services  provided  by the extension  agents  (Extension  agents or facilitators  are public  advisers;  that  is,  people  employed  by  a  federal  or  state  government  to  provide information  to  the  public  about  agriculture,  health  or  home  economics).  The  EAs  or Facilitators could also be staff of the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP or Fadama II management staff). The author further stated that farmers must be aware of innovations which are interesting to them before they can adopt them. And adoption of an innovation or technology  according  to  Adekoya  and  Tologbonse,  (2011)  is  the  decision  made  by  an individual or group to use an innovation.

Adoption of new technology as stated by Obibuaku (1983) can be influenced by the level of education, social system, status, and personal qualities (socio-economic status) of the farmers. The author identified  five groups of the process of adoption as;  innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and the laggards.

The Innovators: These groups are the farmers who adopt new idea immediately it comes out. They are usually the well-informed  and educated  farmers. They have very good  attitudes towards agriculture and extension services. The innovators have large farms and very active in community life. They read news-letters, magazines and collect information straight from research station.

Early adopters: These groups of farmer are above average in education and socio-economic status and are prepared to take risk because they have money. They are  very sociable and accessible to commoners in the village and are liked by many people. Early adopters belong to many committees and farmers associations.

Early majority: These groups of farmers are fairly good farmers in the village and they will adopt new ideas when sure of the benefit. These groups are slow in taking decision and wait to see result first; such farmers are little above average in socio-economic status and could serve as local leaders.

Late majority: These farmers are the average conservative  farmers in the community.  The farmers  in  this  category  want  extra  security  before  adopting  new  idea  and  need  to  be convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that the new idea will not fail. Before these farmers starts getting the benefit of the new techniques, the market is already flooded with products. They are average in terms of socio-economic status and are not good as local leaders.

Late adopters  (Laggards):  They are below average  in all considerations,  have little or  no education and are poor. They are therefore afraid to make changes in farming  techniques. They prefer to stick to the traditional methods of farming because they want  to be sure of

being able to feed themselves. Such farmers do not attend extension meetings and do  not belong to known farmers’ organization in the community (Omoruyi et al, 1999).   The effective  use of improved  agricultural  technologies  by farmers  is the immense  challenge facing extension. The difficulties of the task results from millions of small producers that are to  be  served  with  relatively  poor  resources  available  to  extension  organization  and  the potentially disastrous social consequences of pursuing  inappropriate extension strategies or dissemination of inappropriate technology which causes low productivity in agriculture.

To curb low production which has continued to characterize Nigerian agricultural sector thereby  limiting  the  ability  of  the  sector  to  perform  its  traditional  role  in  economic development and in order to break this cycle and improve the performance of the agricultural sector, the Nigerian government over the years introduced and implemented several policies and programmes aimed at revamping the sector (Ajibefun and Aderinola 2004). Among such programmes  is  the  agricultural  development  programme  formulated  towards  improving agricultural  productivity  and  condition  of  rural  poor  to  better    living  standard  through increased  income  in  Nigeria  by  successive  government  since  independence  are:-  Farm settlement    Scheme    (1960);     National    Accelerated    Food    Production    Programme (NAFPP,1972); The Nigeria Agricultural and Cooperative Banks (NACB,1972); Agricultural Development  Programme(ADP,1973);  Operation Feed the Nation(OFN,1976);  Agricultural Research Institutes (1977); Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS,1978); River Basin Development  Authority   (RBDA, 1979); The Green Revolution (GR1980); Directorates of food, Road and Rural Infrastructures   (DIFRRI,1986); and Family Economic  Advancement Programme (FEAP, 1993); Daudu, (2008). All these programmes according to Ajayi, (2001) have varying levels of success but most of them failed due  to inadequate release of fund, miss-management  of funds, corruption and political  instability.  Efforts were also made by non-  governmental  organization  (NGOs)  such  as;  World  Bank;  Food  and  Agricultural

Organization  (FAO)  of  United  Nations;  Multi-National  Oil  Companies  such  as  Shell petroleum Development  Company (SPDC); and Nigerian AGIP Oil Company (NACO); to boost  agricultural   development   and  productivity   in  Nigeria  (Akinleye,   Awoniyi,   and Fapojuwo 2005). Despite all these efforts, productions have not been able to keep pace with population growth.

A recent efforts towards boosting agricultural production and productivity as well as enhancing  farmers’ welfare  and income was the introduction of Second National  Fadama Development project phase two (NFDP-II or Fadama II). Fadama II is a follow-up to Fadama I  which   was   implemented   during   the   period   of  1993-1999.   The  National   Fadama Development  Project phase one (NFDP-I) or Fadama I came  into being as a result of the success  recorded  by  the  small  scale  irrigation  project  carried  out  by  the  Agricultural Development Programme (ADPs) in the Fadama areas.   Fadama I was established to ensure an  all  year  round  production  of  crops  in  all  the  states  of  the  Federation  through  the exploitation of shallow aquifers and surface water potentials in each state using tubes, wells, wash bore and petrol-driven pump technology (World Bank, 1992; Bauchi State Agricultural Development Project(BSADP, 1994). Fadama is a  Hausa name for irrigable lands which are flood plains and low-lying areas underlined by shallow aquifers and found along Nigeria’s river systems (Blench & Ingawa; 2004). Fadama areas are lands seasonally flooded and used for farming during the dry season. It is defined as alluvial, lowland formed by erosion and deposition  action of the rivers and streams (Qureshi, 1989). Fadama encompass  land and water resources that could be easily developed for irrigation agriculture (World Bank, 1992).

Fadama lands are typically waterlogged during the rainy season but retain moisture during  dry  periods.  Fadama  areas  are  considered  to  have  high  potential  for  economic development   through  appropriate   investments   in  infrastructure,   household   assets   and technical  assistance.  Fadama  I focused  mainly  on crop  production  and  largely  neglected

support of post production activities such as commodity processing, storage and marketing (downstream agricultural sector). The emphasis was on providing boreholes and pumps to crop farmer through simple credit arrangements aimed at boosting aggregate crop output. The Project Implementation Manual (PIM) in NFDO (2004)  reported that Fadama I had some shortcomings: It failed to support other economic ventures in the rural areas such as livestock and honey production,  fishing, hunting,  transportation etc; and did not provide basic rural infrastructure  such as access roads,  culverts, water supply, etc. According to PIM (2004), despite the shortcomings of Fadama I, it recorded a number of achievements. Some of the achievements  of  Fadama  I  include:  Increase  in  farm  income  by  encouraging  all  year production of crops, it encouraged irrigation technology through the provision of tube wells, wash  bores,  boreholes  and  petrol  driven  pumps.  The  Fadama  I  project  was  adjudged successful  both  nationally  and  internationally  and that  made  the  Federal Government  of Nigeria to request the World Bank of a follow up project (World Bank, 2003; Blench and Ingawa, 2004).

The Second National Fadama Development  Project (Fadama II) is one of the  major instruments for achieving overall development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. Its aim was  to  increase  crop  yield  thereby  increasing  income  and  living  condition  of the  rural households through increased agricultural productivity and to provide support in all economic activities   in  the  rural  areas   including   infrastructure   and  services   necessary   for  the improvement of rural life. The Fadama  II project  was declared disbursement effective on May 27, 2004. It was funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the tune of US $ 100 million and US $30 million respectively. Eighteen (18) states of the Federation participated in Fadama II, twelve (12) of them were assisted by the World Bank and they include Adamawa,  Bauchi, Federal Capital Territory Abuja (FCT), Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, and Taraba. African Development Bank (AfDB)

assisted six states in Fadama II which includes Borno, Jigawa, Kastina, Kwara, Plateau and

Kogi (NFDO, 2007).

Kogi State has been an agrarian society inhabited  by peasant  farmers.  Farming  and fishing  still remain  the  major occupation  of greater  number  of the  rural dwellers  whose agricultural practices (farm operations) are at subsistence level in the state. A large proportion of the citizens are living in abject poverty, still tilling the soil with crude implements which have led to low agricultural productivity. This was due to lack of basic rural infrastructures for improved agricultural production in the rural areas. There were no good roads in the rural areas to facilitate movements of people and farm proceeds; water supply was also lacking for all season cropping and other farm operations because irrigation facilities were not available. Farmers depended on rain water which was seasonal despite the two rivers Niger and Benue in the State and this affected their level of crop production. Rural electrification to facilitate agricultural operations was absent. Skill acquisition centre’s were also very few and the few that existed lacked skilled personnel to teach farmers the skills required that could boost crop yield which will increase their income, leading to better living standard of the farmers. This ugly  situation generally affected agricultural practices of the farmers, lowered their output and  subsequently  the  crop  yield;  income  and  living  standard.  In  an effort  to  arrest  the problems, the Government has resulted to the introduction of Fadama II in Kogi state.

Fadama II project in Kogi State operates at the state, local government and community levels. The project at the state level is headed by the State Project Coordinator (SPC) assisted by  other  department  officers  who  are  supported  by other  supportive  staff.  At  the  local government level the project is housed by the Fadama desk office, with one desk officer in person  of  supervisor  of  agriculture;  two  facilitators  and  other  supportive  staff.  At  the community  level,  the  economic  interest  groups  that   is,  the  farmers  (project  potential beneficiary) form associations called Fadama Users Groups (FUGs). Each FUG has at least

ten (10) members, and can be up to twenty or thirty (20 or 30) members. The FUGs  are grouped into Fadama community  Associations  (FCAs) under which they are  reached  and supported by the project (PIM, 2004). Extension agents (EAs) who are  communicators of change were contracted as project facilitators. The Fadama II according to PIM, (2004) was initiated  in order  to  consolidate  on the  achievements  and expand  the size and  scope  of Fadama I which had the broad objective of improving the quality of life of the rural dwellers by ensuring all year production of crops in areas that depend directly or indirectly on Fadama resources.

The Fadama II project development objective was to sustainably increase the incomes of Fadama Users which include the Farmers,  Pastoralists, Fisher folks,  hunters, gatherers and service Providers; through empowering  communities  to  take  charge  of their  own development agenda, and by reducing conflict between Fadama resource users. The project adopted  a demand-driven  approach.  In this case,  users of Fadama  resources were encouraged to develop participatory and socially-inclusive Local Development Plans (LDPs), as a basis for support  under the  project.  The project  was designed  also to assist project- contracted facilitators and participating Local Government Areas to undertake project-related activities  at  the  level  of  Fadama  community  Association  (FCAs)  and  other  beneficiary groups.     Fadama  II was designed  to operate  for six years (2004-2010)  with  a goal of contributing to poverty reduction in Nigeria. However, actual implementation did not begin until  September  2005. The project set a target of 50 percent each of male and female as Fadama resource users, to benefit from the project-supported activities.

Fadama II took into consideration all the limitations in the project design and addressed some of the factors that  militated  against  the full realization  of the  potential benefits  of agricultural activities in the rural areas. Some of these factors according to Akinleye, et al (2005)  include  poor  development  of  rural  infrastructure,  low  investment  of  irrigation

technology,  poor  organization  of  farmers;  limited  access  to  foreign  exchange  for  the importation of irrigation equipment. The extent to which the objectives of the project have been  achieved  can  only  be  appreciated  if  an  evaluation  of  the  impact  is  carried  out. Evaluation   in  economic   development   terms   is  the   systematic   determination   of  the significance  and progress  of a policy,  programme  or project  in  casing  a change  (AfDB,

2004). According to Okoro (2000), evaluation means an assessment or appraisal of the worth or value of a thing or action, and the making of appropriate decisions on the basis of such appraisal.  The author defined evaluation as the collections of data and the use of such data to assess the effectiveness or quality of a programme. The author noted that every programme has its purpose or objectives; hence the function of programme evaluation is to determine the extent to which the purposes or objectives of the programme are achieved.

An Impact evaluation assesses the extent to which a programme has effected desired changes  in  the  intended  audience.  Impact  evaluation  as  viewed  by  Ken,  Andres,  and Subbarao  (1999)  is  the  assessment  of  outcomes  by  recording  the   short  or  mid-term developmental changes resulting from an intervention.  Impact  evaluation in this study will mean the assessment of the availability of infrastructures (that is, agricultural facilities) and modern  farming  technology  adoption  and   utilization   by  beneficiary  farmers  to  cause improved farm production in terms of increase in farm yield, income and resulting in better living standard.  Therefore it is necessary to evaluate the impact of Fadama II project on rural development in Kogi state to find out the changes in the welfare of the Participating farmers household in Kogi State that are attributed to National Fadama II Project.

Statement of the Problem

Agriculture is a dominant occupation of the rural Nigerians which is mainly rain-fed and characterized by low land and labour productivity due to a combination of problems. Yet, Nigeria is capable of producing a  variety  of  fresh  and  processed  high  valued  crops,

especially vegetables, during the dry season; livestock and it’s product (for example,  egg, meat and milk);  fishery  and  its  products  throughout  the  year.  This  is  because  the country  is  endowed  with  underground  and  surface  water  reserves,  rich  pastures and  favourable  agro-ecological  conditions in the  low-lying  plains with alluvial deposit called Fadama.  Also many agricultural programmes have been embarked upon by successive government  in  Nigeria.  These  projects/programmes  were  designed  and  implemented  to empower small holder farmers to get out of poverty trap and boost agricultural development and productivity in the country. The Federal, State and Local Governments; NGOs and multi- national oil companies in collaboration with funding agencies have put in substantial sum of money  with  lots  of human  and  material  resources  committed  into  the  National  Fadama Development Project, Phase II for the realization of the project’s objectives.

Despite  the  rich  endowment  of  Nigeria,  with  abundant  of human and  natural resources, food production seems not to be going at the same pace with population growth rates and this has cause hunger and malnutrition problems in the country (Akubuilo, 2001); particularly in the rural areas of Kogi State. Poverty is acute  in the rural areas of Nigeria where about 70% of the total population of over 120  millions are found or reside, (NPC,

2005). Unfortunately, the absence of basic rural infrastructures like good roads, water supply and  agricultural  facilities  including  other  supportive  services  necessary  for  meaningful agricultural productivity have made Kogi State agriculture to be characterized by low farm yield and low farm income leading to poor living standard of the rural populace of Kogi State which brought about the introduction of Fadama II. The Fadama II project was concluded in March 2012, and the third phase is ongoing. Since the inception to the conclusion of Fadama II project,  there was no recorded  document  indicating  its progress  and performance.  The agricultural  facilities provided  by the  project,  level of adoption and utilization of modern farming  technologies,  socio-economic  characters  that  will  influence  farmers  choice  in

adoption and utilization of modern farming technologies, improvement of the productivity of crop  yield  of  farmers,  challenges  of  the  project  and  measures  to  enhance  the  project contribution  to agricultural  development  in the state were not  ascertained.  It is therefore necessary  to  count  the  gains  or  losses  resulting  from  the  project.  The  strengths  and weaknesses of the project need to be established in order to find justifications for the huge investments that have been put into it and whether the project did achieve its objectives in the Fadama II areas of Kogi state.

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study is to evaluate the impacts of the National Fadama II Project on rural development in Kogi State. Specifically this study will:

(1)    Identify  the  agricultural  facilities  provided  by  Fadama  II  project  in  Kogi  State  to beneficiary farmers;

(2)    determine  the  level  of  adoption  and  utilization  of  modern  farming  technologies provided by Fadama II project to beneficiary farmers;

(3)    identify  the  socio-economic  characteristics  that  could  influence  farmer’s  choice  in adoption and utilization of modern farming technologies;

(4)    determine the extent, to which the project has improved the productivity of crop yield of the farmer,

(5)    identify the major challenges in implementing the project and,

(6)    determine measures to enhance the projects’ contribution to agricultural development in the state.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study shall be of immense benefit to the Government  especially

Kogi state government; Policy makers; funding and donor agencies that is World Bank and

African Development bank (AfDB) as well as Non- governmental organizations; Agricultural establishments, Fadama II project management, beneficiary farmers, and future researchers.

The result of this study shall be of use to the Federal Government of Nigeria, policy makers because the findings will reveal information on the weaknesses and strengths of the project design and implementation, this information will help the government to know how far the objectives of the project  is achieved. Furthermore, the information generated from the study  will  serve  as  a  guide  in  the  design  and  implementations  of  future  projects  and programmes.

The  findings  of this  study  will  be  beneficial  to  funding  and  donor  agencies;  and Nongovernmental  organizations  that  engage  in  poverty  reduction  and  rural  development programmes,  as it will provide  information  that will help the agencies to  know the rural community development needs of people in the study area.

The result of the study will be of immense benefit to the government of Kogi State by providing them with information on the rural community development needs such as roads, water supply, and modern farming technology facilities among others that will increase crop productivity  and  agricultural  development   in  the  State.  It  will  also   provide  relevant information  to  the  government   on  the  direction  and  change  in   farmer’s  agricultural productivity  and  the  resultant  income  as  well  as  better  living  standard  as  a  result  of agricultural facilities and value addition supplied. This  information could also be used for policy consideration on the continuity and improvement of future programme.

Through   the   findings   of  this   study,   agricultural   establishments   (Ministries   of agriculture, ADP and their extension officer’s will know the strengths and weaknesses of the project design and implementations; the findings will provide relevant information for use by the ministry of agriculture in sustaining such programme in the future. The findings of the study will also guide the Ministries of agriculture to know the approaches to adopt in helping

farmers adopt/ or accept new farm technologies and innovations as well as the value addition that will boost their productivity in subsequent project such as Fadama III which is on-going. It will also reveal the constraints, prospects and the entire contributions or  benefits of the project to agriculture and rural development in the state as they become aware of their areas of success and shortcomings for necessary future adjustments of subsequent programmes.

The result  of the findings  of this  study will enable  the  Fadama  II management  to evaluate  the  method  of  technology  transfer,  utilization  and  availability  to  farmers  and establish areas of need by the beneficiary farmers. The findings of this study will also provide information to the Fadama II management on the change that has been brought about in the farmer agricultural productivity by the provision of rural infrastructures; agricultural facilities and value addition. It will provide additional information to the Fadama II management on the areas they made impact on the improvement in the standard of living of the farmers. The information provided will be of used to the Fadama II Management to provide measures that will enhance the benefit  of future project implementation  for improvement  of agricultural productivity and development in the state.

The findings of the study will be useful to beneficiary farmers who will be informed on  improved  farming  practices  and  of  the  benefits  of  participating  in  the  Fadama  II programmes. This is because the study will reveal the achievements and opportunities of the project which the beneficiary  farmers experienced  and enjoyed  by  using modern  farming technologies, the provision of farm inputs and credit facilities and education received from the extension officers among others that helped them to  increase their farm yield bringing about increase income and better living standard that will encourage the wide acceptance of such innovations.

Finally, it is hoped that this study will be beneficial to future researchers on related studies who will find the findings of the study useful, both as reference material, and as an eye opener to further research.

Research Questions

Based on the specific purposes of the study, the following research questions guided the study:

(1)    What Fadama II project agricultural facilities are available and provided in Kogi State for use by the beneficiary farmers?

(2)    What  modern  farming technologies  provided  by Fadama II project are adopted  and utilized by the beneficiaries farmers in Kogi State?

(3)    What are the socio-economic  characteristics  that could  influence  farmer’s  choice  in adoption and utilization of modern farming technologies?

(4)    What extent of improvement of crop productivity in terms of farm yield in Kogi State accrued to participant farmers as a result of Fadama II project intervention?

(5)   What do the benefiting  farmers (BFs) and the project facilitators (PFs) perceived  as major challenges to the implementation of the project?

(6)    What  measures  could  be adopted  to  enhance  the  benefits  of Fadama  II project  to agricultural development in the state?

Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance: H01: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of project Participants (farmers)

and project facilitators on the availability of Fadama II project agricultural   facilities

provided for beneficiary farmers use in Kogi State.

H02:    There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of project participants and  the project facilitators on the contributions of Fadama II in improving crop productivity of farm yields in Kogi state.

H03:  There  is  no  significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of  project  participant farmers (PPFs) and the project facilitators (PFs) on the major  challenges to effective implementation of Fadama II in Kogi State.

H04:  There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of beneficiary farmers and the project facilitators on the measures to be adopted in enhancing the contribution of the Fadama II project to agricultural development and productivity in Kogi state.

Scope of the Study

chools.

The study was restricted to the impact of Fadama II project on rural development.   By its subject, it is restricted to beneficiaries (farmers) and project facilitators of the Fadama II project  in Kogi State.  The  study excluded  some  rural development  indices  that  is,  such infrastructural facilities like roads, portable water supply and culverts.  The  study included other  aspects

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