Sarhad J. Agric. Vol.25, No.3, 2009

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE AWARENESS REGARDING THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION AMONG THE FARMING COMMUNITY THROUGH PUBLIC SECTOR AND NGOs IN NWFP,

IFTIKHAR AHMED*, MUHAMMAD IDREES* and NAEEM SHAH**

* Department of Agricultural Extension Education & Communication, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan ** Institute of Development Studies, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan

ABSTRACT Farmer's use of different sources of information is an important way in the adoption-diffusion research in extension education. The required data was collected from three hundred randomly selected farmers from ten union councils of district during 2007. The data included all types of respondents i.e. age below 30 years(26%), 30 to 40 years (24.67%) and above 40 years (49.33%),with educational status illiterate (39.67%), literate up to primary (15%), middle (27.33%), metric and above (18%) and having land below 20 acres (50%), 20 to 40 acres (16.67%) and above 40 acres (33.33%). Many studies called awareness as pre-requisite to every technology and the first step toward adoption. It is generally believed that the source of knowledge is an important tool for awareness and guidance of respondents towards adoption to modern technologies .A variety of sources of information would make it easy to the farming community in consulting and providing opportunities to contact different sources of knowledge for awareness and increasing their interest. In this paper we look at the relative significance of various sources of available information a factors effecting the role of Public Sector and NGO in NWFP, Pakistan .Farmers are getting information from print media, institutional sources, NGOs, local mobilizer, hujra and pesticides and seed dealers. Depicted from the results, the respondents prioritized the source of information as Public extension department (1st), NGO (2nd) and radio (3rd).

Key Words: Investigation, Awareness, Sources of information, NGOs, Community, NWFP, Pakistan

Citation: Ahmed, I., M. Idrees and N. Shah. 2009. An investigation into the awareness regarding the source of information among the farming community through public sector and NGOs in NWFP, Pakistan. Sarhad J. Agric. 25(3): 487-493.

INTRODUCTION Pakistan’s population increases at the rate of approximately 2.7% per annum that necessitates a substantial increase in agriculture productivity if it intends to reach its goals for self-sufficiency. The bulk of this task falls squarely on the public sector as well as Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In Pakistan, where agriculture dominates the economy with a contribution of 20.9% to country Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 43.4% to the labor force and about 75% to the foreign exchange earnings in the form of raw and semi finished agricultural goods; In addition to all this agriculture is the main source of livelihood for 66% of the rural population and provides raw material for local industries like sugar, textile, leather and cigarette etc., (Economic Survey, 2007).

Pakistan is far behind in terms of production and per acre yield as compared to other wheat producing countries, (7th in the world). One can not deny the importance of the four dimensions of agricultural knowledge system (AKS) i.e. research, education, extension and end users (Farmers). NWFP is sheltering a population of more than 20 million people. The major portion of this population (83%) is dwelling in rural areas putting a tremendous pressure on land resources. To cater for the livelihood needs of this mammoth population, the province possesses 10.17 million hectares of land. However, the cultivable area is 2.75 million hectare. Out of cultivable area only 1.8 million hectare is cultivated where as 1.08 million hectare is cultivable waste. The major chunk of cultivated land is rain fed which constitute 49% of the cultivated area.

The farmers in Pakistan are mostly illiterate and conservative. In order to bring an effective change in their behavior, a consistent and constant effort is needed to get across agricultural information. Agricultural Extension Iftikhar Ahmed et al. Awareness regarding the source of information among the farming community… 488

Service functions to bring positive change in the attitude of the farmers towards the latest agricultural technologies. It aims to train rural farmers how to improve their living standard by their own efforts through efficient utilization of all available resources. In Pakistan, agricultural development is mainly the task of the provincial governments. There are several areas and issues which fall beyond the provinces approach. Consequently, there is an interest in self- help initiatives and in partnerships between communities, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the private sector to share the responsibility for sustainable development.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The research site is (Kohat and tehsil) situated in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) one of four provinces in Pakistan. The NWFP is administratively divided into 24 sub districts. Each of these units is further sub divided into smaller areas. , the area in which this study is undertaken is separated into 2 units- known as tehsils. Both tehsils, Kohat and Lachi are constituting the research area. District Kohat covers an area of approximately 295054 hectares .Within this area 562644 people reside in 32 Union Councils. Agriculture provides the primary means of support for the residents of the district. Nearly 70% is the farmers in the study area are engaged with agriculture in one way or the other.

Sample The sample of this study consisted three hundred randomly selected respondents from ten union councils, 5 each from tehsil Kohat and tehsil Lachi. All respondents were male land owners actively engaged in farming.

Sampling Procedure The sampling was done in two phases. In phase 1, all of the union councils which comprised the Kohat and Lachi tehsils were identified from local government records. The total numbers of union council in tehsil Kohat were 20, while 12 union councils were in tehsil lachi. It was initially decided to select randomly 5 union councils from each tehsil. In case of tehsil lachi, it was done accordingly but in tehsil Kohat, there were 5 union councils which were having complete urban setup. Therefore, it was decided that in , selection of union councils would be made purposively. Union councils were selected in the primary sampling units to save the time and money.

In the second phase, the author and two enumerators went to the sampled union councils for recording the complete information about the list of sampling units in order to construct a sample frame. With the help of the local government personnel of union council and other knowledgeable persons, the author and enumerators compiled the list of all the farmers who are currently involved in farming. It was expected that the researchers would have access to farmers’ record pertaining to land from revenue department. However it was found that the roles were outdated and also could not tell the exact status of the farming community. Resultantly, these roles were not considered as a reliable source of information thus, new roles prepared by the author to ensure complete information about farmers. It is recorded that there were 300-350 or more farmers in each union council and from each union council 30 farmers were selected randomly. Since the numbers of farmers do not vary widely from union council to union council, the sampling was roughly proportional to the number of farmers.

Preparation of Questionnaire In view of the objective of the study, a preliminary interview schedule was prepared for the collection of the data. A panel of three experts in the discipline of agricultural extension tested the instrument for its face validity. A number of changes were suggested by the experts pertaining to format of interview schedule and questions. All the suggestions made by the experts were incorporated accordingly. Then the instrument was tested for its content validity by a panel of 5 experts. After a long discussion, judgment was made using the criteria of clarity of the questions, specifically of the questions directly addressing the objective of the study.

Data Collection The face to face interaction with the respondents not only provided the opportunity to establish good rapport with them but also to obtain high rate of response, which was 100 %. Besides asking written questions, farmers’ opinion, suggestion and experiences were also recorded.

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Data Analysis/Processing Logically developed Tables were made after data analysis by using statistical software (SPSS). The data was reported in terms of frequencies and percentages. A chi-square test was used to test the statistical significance of the association between two attributes (variables). For convenience, the chi-square test is defined as:

rc()Oe− 2 χ 2 = ij ij ∑∑ e ij==11 ij ………………………………………………………………………………. (1)

2 Which under the null hypothesis (H0) follows a χ -distribution with (r-1) (c-1) degrees of freedom. In equation (1), Oij and eij are the observed and expected frequencies y of cell in ith row and jth column, respectively. It is important to mention that under the null hypothesis for each pair of the tested attributes, it was assumed that there is no significant association between the two variables i.e. the two variables are independent.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Extension is the organized exchange of information and the purposive transfer of skills (Nagel, 1997). Many studies called awareness as pre-requisite to every technology and the first step toward adoption. It is generally believed that the source of knowledge is an important tool for awareness and guidance of respondents towards adoption to modern technologies. A variety of sources of information would make it easy to the farming community in consulting and providing opportunities to contact different sources of knowledge for awareness and increasing their interest.

Table I. Distribution of respondents according to information sources Source of information Total respondents Percentages of total `(%) a. Print media i. Radio 35 11.67 ii. TV 15 5.0 iii. Written Material 10 3.33 b. Institutional sources i. Public extension department 96 32.0 ii. Research institutes 30 10.0 c. NGOs 74 24.67 d. Others i. Local mobilizer 10 3.33 ii. Hujra 05 1.67 iii. Pesticides and Seed dealers 25 8.33 Source =Survey

Table I indicates the sources by which the farmers collect information. Sources of information were classified into four groups; print media (radio, TV, and written materials); Institutional sources (public extension department and research institutions); NGO; and Others local mobilizers. Data pertaining to print media; 11.67% called radio as an important source of information, followed by TV (5%) and written material (3.33%). In case of intuitional sources; public extension department (32%) and research institutes (10%). Replying to NGOs as a source

Iftikhar Ahmed et al. Awareness regarding the source of information among the farming community… 490 of information, 24.67% opted for. To others; local mobilizers (3%), hujra (1.67%), and Pesticides and seed dealers (8.33%).

A survey report of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC, 1981) revealed that radio alone catered to the information needs of farmers three times as much as the extension workers (21%), followed by fellow farmers (11%) and the newspapers, television, pamphlets, input suppliers, with only 1%. According to Hearle (1985), radio alone was considered responsible for a 34% increase in agricultural production in Guatemala.

Marshall McLuhan (1964) classifies mass media in to “hot media” and “cool media”. A “hot media” is one that extends one single sense in “high definition”. He regards radio as hot media. Innis (1964) classified mass media in to time oriented and space oriented media. Radio reaches 95% of the total population in Pakistan (Hussein, 1987).Results regarding the distribution of respondents according to have/have not radio set are displayed in Table II. It shows that out of the total respondents, 97.33% were having radio set while the remaining number of respondents showed inability to have radio sets. Of the total respondents, 70.67% were using the radios for listening agricultural programs while 29.33% respond in opposed to the listening of agricultural programmes.

Table II. Distribution of respondents according to radio information Statement Yes Percentage (%) No Percentage (%) Do you own radio 292 97.33 8 2.66 Do you listen agricultural program 212 70.67 88 29.33 Chi-square = 77.93, p-value = 0.000

Table III. Distribution of respondents according to usefulness of agricultural programs Type of agriculture program you listen and its usefulness Yes Percentage (%) 1. Karkilla 192 90.57 Most of the time useful 65 33.85 Some of the time useful 120 62.50 No at all 7 3.65 2. Kissan 150 70.75 Most of the time useful 50 33.33 Some of the time useful 90 60.00 No at all 10 6.67 Source = Survey

Information regarding the types of agricultural programs listening through radios and their usefulness in terms of different categories are displayed in Table III. It was observed that about 90.57% farmers told that they listen to Karkilla program, while, 70.75% replied that they listen to Kissan program. Regarding its usefulness: in case of Karkilla; 62.50% called it “some of the time useful”, 33.85% told it “most of the time useful”; and only 3.65% called it “not at all”; while in case of Kissan program; 60% found it “some of the time useful”, 33.33% called it “most of the time useful”, and only, 6.67% found it “not at all”. It was observed during the data collection, that almost in every hujra, radio set was present for entertainment.

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Table IV. Distribution of Respondents according to the help provided by different authorities/agencies on solving the problems Agencies/authorities No of respondents Got help from them Yes % No % Yes % No % NGO 68.33 31.67 51.22 48.78 Extension 78.33 21.67 53.19 46.81 Neighbor 100.0 0.00 16.00 84.00 Dealers 65.00 35.00 30.77 69.23 Local councilor 28.33 71.67 41.18 58.82 Other farmers 25 75 6.67 93.33 Relatives 30 70 16.67 83.33 Source = Survey; Chi-square = 38.53, p-value = 0.00; Chi-square = 58.17, p-value = 0.00

Data depicted from the Table IV shows that 53.19% respondents were of the view that extension workers helped them in solving these problems, followed by NGO (51.22%), local leaders (41.18%), dealers (30.77%), relatives (16.67%), neighbors (16.00%), and other farmers (6.67%). Additionally, it was observed that there exists a significant (P<0.05) association between the authorities and satisfaction of the respondents help provided by these authorities. It directs the importance of these authorities and their help in facilitating the farmers regarding their problems.

It is concluded from the results, that farmers called extension department as choice No. 1 in solving the problems. The NGO is source of advice comes 3rd in number may be due to their donors interest. Brown and Karten (1991) described that most of the NGO are market driven organization, which define their programs according to their assessment of the respective funding sources.

Table V. Distribution of respondents according to the use of different chemicals Types of chemical Number Percentage (%) Sulfuric 126 42 Chlorpyripha 102 34 Source= Survey

The Table V shows that 42% farmers using sulfuric chemical on their crops while 34% are using chloripyripha chemical. Low percentage of chemical use was may be due to the high prices and unawareness. The majority of the farmers were reluctant to use the chemical. Some farmers were of the opinion that chemicals also destroy some useful insects. The other reason may be that majority of the farmers were unaware about the damages of insects. They also have no knowledge of the chemical product preparation, its ratio, time and amount of use.

Table VI. Ranking of advice given by public extension services and NGOs to farmers Ranking of Advice

Excellent Good Average Total Public sector 35(11.67%) 130(43.33%) 135(45.00%) 300 (100%) NGOs 50(16.67%) 170(56.67%) 80(26.67%) 300 (100%) Source = Survey; Chi-square = 99.69, p-value = 0.000

Farmers were greatly concerned with the advice given by the public and NGOs sector. About 11.67% ranked public extension services as excellent, while 16.67% termed NGOs services as excellent. So, we reject null hypothesis about the significance of advice given by the two departments or organizations. It suggests that the role in facilitating (advice) of public sector and NGOs can not be ignored.

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Table VII. Role of education in the perception development of farmers Educational status Effectiveness of institutions in perception development Percentages NGO Public Sector Illiterate 80(48.49%) 39 (28.89%) 119 (39.67%) Primary 30 (18.18%) 15 (11.11%) 45 (15.00%) Middle 35 (21.21%) 47 (34.81%) 82 (27.33%) High & Above 20 (12.12%) 34(25.19%) 54 (18.00%) Total 165(55.00%) 135(45.00%) 300 (100.00%) Source = Survey; Chi-square = 5.53, p-value = 0.1368

Education can be defined as the process of developing knowledge, wisdom, and other desirable qualities of mind or character in general competence especially by a source of formal instruction (Nawaz, 1989).

Results depicted from the Table VII indicates that 55% of the respondents preferred NGO sector for getting effectiveness in perception development instead of public sector workers (45%) and the functional position of low interest shown by public sector workers. Out of those who called NGO as effective tool of perception development, we accept null hypothesis.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Farmers are getting information from print media, institutional sources, NGOs, local mobilizers, hujra and pesticides and seed dealers. Depicted from the results, the respondents prioritized the source of information as Public extension department (1st), NGO (2nd) and radio (3rd). Radio is relatively easy to approach as a source of information. Moreover, it is frequently referred to as a substitute for literacy in agricultural development support communication .But the agriculture programs are limited and broadcasting time is not suitable .The experts should broadcast a number of agricultural programs in local languages at the times convenient for farming community.

The perceived causes of high poverty levels included a variety of factors such as low level of agricultural yields and livestock productivity due to use of obsolete technology, drought and geographic isolation. The development challenges for the study area in particular and rest of the province in general; therefore demands achieving sustainable economic growth particularly in rural areas through the development of agriculture with exploiting other opportunities. With special reference to agriculture sector, the areas of grave concern for NWFP is inadequate technical capacity of the agriculture extension department coupled with obsolete extension methodologies, lack of agricultural marketing infrastructure, lack of gender mainstreaming, absence of rural based agricultural processing units, burden of multiple agricultural taxes and absence of an enabling environment for NGO sector investment.

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