INFLUENCE OF EXTENSION DELIVERY ON LIVELIHOOD OUTCOMES OF VEGETABLE FARMERS IN THE TOLON AND KUMBUNGU DISTRICTS OF NORTHERN REGION, GHANA

ABSTRACT Vegetable production is one of the economic activities of farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana. It is an income generating activity from which most farmers meet their livelihood outcomes. Despite the fact that some of the vegetable farmers receive extension services from MoFA Agriculture Extension Agents with the expectations that yields of their vegetable would increase and their livelihood outcomes would have improved, the farmers still record low yields. This study therefore aimed at determining the influence of extension delivery on the livelihood outcomes of the vegetable farmers using 200 vegetable farmers and 16 Agricultural Extension Agents. In all, 100 farmers who receive extension services, 100 farmers who do not receive extension services and 16 AEAs were interviewed. The study was undertaken in ten (10) communities drawn from Tolon and Kumbungu Districts of the Northern Region of Ghana. The research design was a survey research. The methodology used involves techniques such as interviews, focus group discussions and observations. The main findings of this study were (1) vegetable farmers prefer farm visit as the best method for accessing and delivering extension programmes. (2) Farmers were never contacted in planning and initiation extension programmes. (3) The Chi-square results indicated that respondents‘ opinion on the contribution of vegetable cultivation to their food security was significant (χ2 = 14.328, df = 3, p = 0.002). The results also indicated that respondents‘ knowledge in vegetable cultivation is significantly related to the type of extension delivery method (χ2 = 11.886, df = 4, p = 0.018). The statistics showed that, improved access to employment by the farmers was significantly related to the media used to disseminate information ( χ2 = 20.410, df = 6, p = 0.016).It is concluded that access to extension services has had positive effect on the livelihoods outcomes of farmers. It is recommended among other things that farmers are given the opportunity to participate in the programme planning so as to increase the adoption of innovation with regards to vegetable cultivation. It is also recommended that MoFA should give extension agents the training on the use of participatory extension approaches for increase farmers‘ participation.