The Role of Agricultural Extension in Cocoa Production and Livelihood of Farmers in Meme Division,..

Agriculture is vital not only for food production, but also for the availability of raw materials.Cocoa is a profitable cash crop grown in kumba, Cameroon's Meme Division. Given the crop's importance to Cameroon's farm communities and economy, agricultural extension plays a critical role in improving productivity through knowledge dissemination and adoption of new technologies. As a result, the aim of this survey is to evaluate the role of agricultural extension in cocoa production and farmer livelihood in Meme Division. 137 farmers were chosen at random from a population of 210 registered cocoa farmers in the study region using a simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire of open-ended and closed-ended questions.The primary data collection instrument was queries. The data was analysed using SPSS, and the findings showed that 90% of the farmers were married men, with 60% of them being between the ages of 35 and 49. Furthermore, 74 percent of the respondents had been involved in cocoa farming for more than ten years, indicating that it is their primary source of income. There is a low level of education among them, with 55 percent receiving only primary education. Furthermore, 64 percent are small scale farmers, with 68 percent admitting to using family labour in processing. Agricultural extension also plays an important role in cocoa production, as 92 percent of respondents said it provided them with knowledge. Farmers Field School (FFS) and Farmers Business School (FBS) approaches provide information and technical skills for capacity building and empowerment. Extension initiates the dissemination and acceptance of technologies, as well as the organisation of credits and business linkages, in 96 percent of cases (87 percent ). Another 89 percent agreed that extension liaise projects under the Program for the Improvement of Competitiveness of Family Agro-Pastoral Farms (ACEFA) should be used to assist farmers. To summarise, extension programme delivery empowers and ensures farmers' livelihoods.

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