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.
