Socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ perception on effectiveness of decentralized agricultural extension information and services delivery in Arumeru District, Tanzania

Abstract

This study examined socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ perception on the effectiveness of
agricultural extension information and service delivery during the D by D policy. A cross-sectional research
design was used to collect data from 390 respondents using semi-structured questionnaire. Quantitative
data were analyzed through Binary logistic regression with eleven explanatory variables fitted in the model.
The study revealed that, of the eleven socio-economic variables tested only sex and farm size were found to
be statistically significant with a beta coefficient of -.390 and .11 respectively. Based on sex, this confirms
that, female farmers in the study area were less likely than male farmers of perceiving agricultural extension
information and service delivery as effective during the implementation of D by D policy. The study findings
showed further that, farmers with large farm size were more likely, than did those with small farms, of
perceiving the effectiveness of agricultural extension information and service delivery during the
implementation of D by D policy size. The two councils should recruit more female extension staff and
advice farmers to join cooperative societies so as to enhance effectiveness of the policy.