Assessment of agricultural extension officers’ perceptions on their roles: a case study of agricultural extension officers’ in Simiyu region

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess agricultural extension officers’ (AEOs) perception on their roles as per government job description in five districts in Simiyu Region. Specifically, the study aimed at identifying roles performed by AEOs, determining AEOs awareness on their roles, determining AEOs self-assessment on their role competence, determining factors influencing AEOs perception on their roles and evaluating the opinions of AEOs in relation to their roles. The roles of AEOs were grouped into seven categories, which included: facilitation, organizational, intermediation, educational, technical, advisory and administrative. Using a cross-sectional research design, a sample of 100 AEOs at ward and village levels were randomly selected for the study and selfadministered questionnaire was used to collect data. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was employed as a tool for data analysis, where frequency and percentage were used to describe distribution of the study variables. Three Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) each comprising of eight members were conducted, which involved agricultural officers at the district levels including the District Agricultural Irrigation and Cooperative Officers (DAICOs). The study findings revealed that majority of the AEOs were aware about most of their roles: advisory; educational; organizational; facilitation; intermediation and technical, but least perceived awareness was the administrative role. AEOs reported to perform advisory and educational roles; furthermore, study findings showed that most of the AEOs had competence in performing advisory roles. However, they had low competence on educational, organizational, technical, facilitation, intermediation and administrative. Also, AEOs perceived advisory, organization, educational, technical, facilitation and intermediation roles as important. The multiple regression model showed that factors that statistically significantly influenced perception of AEOs about their roles were: mode of supervision (p≤ 0.048) at p≤ 0.05; owning transport (p≤ 0.004) at p≤ 0.05; type of transport (p≤ 0.010); promotion in the organization (p≤ 0.001); responsibility (p≤ 0.010), and appreciation (p≤ 0.001). For these study findings, recommendations include regular training of AEOs and provide support in terms of infrastructure for the AEOs such as transportation including fuel, allowances, office space and teaching aid for effective and efficiency role performance.