[ Potentiel des distributeurs d’intrants agricoles en matière de vulgarisation et de conseil agricoles: Cas de la ville de Dschang dans la région de l’Ouest-Cameroun ]
Volume 56, Issue 2, September 2021, Pages 110–120
Faylone Gaelle Mademguia Kuissu1, Guillaume Hensel Fongang Fouepe2, and René Mbonomo Bikomo3
1 Department of Rural Socio-Economics and Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon
2 Department of Rural Socio-Economics and Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon
3 Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon
Original language: French
Copyright © 2021 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This article is part of the promotion of agricultural extension and advisory services by private actors. The objective is to analyse the potential of agricultural input distributors in terms of agricultural extension and advice. Data was collected in the town of Dschang from 22 input distributors, 65 farmers who are their clients, and 03 staff members of the departmental delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Menoua. Data from the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 22.0 and Excel 2013, and those from the interview guide were transcribed and thematically analysed. The input distributors emerged in a context of state disengagement from services previously offered to farmers and post-crisis liberalisation in the 1980s. Most of them are women (59.1%) who own or manage shops owned by their husbands. Most of these input sellers (47.62%) are between 25 and 35 years old, with a higher educational level (40.9%) and sometimes have training related to agriculture. The clientele of these agricultural input shops is mostly made up of small individual farmers (95.4%). These input shops offer various extension and advisory services to their customers. These services include among others: the provision of inputs in return for payment, technical and practical advice on the use of inputs, monitoring and support for customers in their agricultural production activities, and information on innovations in the field of inputs. Through these services offered to farmers, input shops play the role of extension workers and agricultural advisors and are also an undeniable source of information. For almost all farmers surveyed (99%), input distributors are their main source of agricultural advice and information. The provision of these services by input dealers contributes to improved agricultural yields and increased incomes for the farmers who benefit from them. For 90.8% of the farmers surveyed, their standard of living has increased thanks to the services provided by input dealers. Input distributors need to be reconsidered as full-fledged actors in the agricultural extension and advisory system and be supported to play this role effectively and efficiently. The overall performance of the agricultural extension and advisory system depends on it.
Author Keywords: Agricultural inputs, distributors, agricultural extension, and advice, Dschang, Cameroon.
Volume 56, Issue 2, September 2021, Pages 110–120
Faylone Gaelle Mademguia Kuissu1, Guillaume Hensel Fongang Fouepe2, and René Mbonomo Bikomo3
1 Department of Rural Socio-Economics and Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon
2 Department of Rural Socio-Economics and Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon
3 Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon
Original language: French
Copyright © 2021 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
This article is part of the promotion of agricultural extension and advisory services by private actors. The objective is to analyse the potential of agricultural input distributors in terms of agricultural extension and advice. Data was collected in the town of Dschang from 22 input distributors, 65 farmers who are their clients, and 03 staff members of the departmental delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Menoua. Data from the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 22.0 and Excel 2013, and those from the interview guide were transcribed and thematically analysed. The input distributors emerged in a context of state disengagement from services previously offered to farmers and post-crisis liberalisation in the 1980s. Most of them are women (59.1%) who own or manage shops owned by their husbands. Most of these input sellers (47.62%) are between 25 and 35 years old, with a higher educational level (40.9%) and sometimes have training related to agriculture. The clientele of these agricultural input shops is mostly made up of small individual farmers (95.4%). These input shops offer various extension and advisory services to their customers. These services include among others: the provision of inputs in return for payment, technical and practical advice on the use of inputs, monitoring and support for customers in their agricultural production activities, and information on innovations in the field of inputs. Through these services offered to farmers, input shops play the role of extension workers and agricultural advisors and are also an undeniable source of information. For almost all farmers surveyed (99%), input distributors are their main source of agricultural advice and information. The provision of these services by input dealers contributes to improved agricultural yields and increased incomes for the farmers who benefit from them. For 90.8% of the farmers surveyed, their standard of living has increased thanks to the services provided by input dealers. Input distributors need to be reconsidered as full-fledged actors in the agricultural extension and advisory system and be supported to play this role effectively and efficiently. The overall performance of the agricultural extension and advisory system depends on it.
Author Keywords: Agricultural inputs, distributors, agricultural extension, and advice, Dschang, Cameroon.
Abstract: (french)
Cet article s’inscrit dans le cadre de la promotion de la vulgarisation et du conseil agricoles par les acteurs privés. L’objectif est d’analyser le potentiel des distributeurs d’intrants agricoles en matière de vulgarisation et de conseil agricoles. Les données ont été collectées dans la ville de Dschang auprès de 22 distributeurs d’intrants, 65 exploitants agricoles qui en sont les clients, et 03 membres du personnel de la délégation départementale du ministère de l’agriculture et du développement rural pour la Menoua à Dschang. Les données obtenues au moyen du questionnaire ont été analysées avec l’aide des logiciels SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 22.0 et Exel 2013, et celles obtenues au moyen du guide d’entretien ont fait l’objet d’une retranscription suivie d’analyse thématique. Les distributeurs d’intrants ont émergé du fait de désengagement de l’Etat par rapport aux services autrefois offerts aux agriculteurs et de la libéralisation post-crise des années 80. Ceux-ci sont pour la plupart des femmes (59,1%) propriétaires ou gestionnaires des boutiques appartenant à leurs époux. Ceux-ci sont en majorité (47,62%) âgés entre 25 et 35 ans, ayant fait des études supérieures (40,9%) et parfois ayant des formations connexes à l’agriculture. La clientèle de ces boutiques d’intrants agricoles est constituée pour la plupart de petits agriculteurs individuels (95,4%). Ces boutiques d’intrants offrent divers services en matière de vulgarisation et de conseil agricoles à leurs clientèles. Ces services sont entre autres la mise à disposition des intrants contre rémunération, les conseils techniques et pratiques sur l’utilisation des intrants, le suivi et accompagnement des clients dans leurs activités de production agricole, et l’information sur les innovations dans le domaine des intrants agricoles. Par ces services offerts aux exploitants agricoles, les boutiques d’intrants jouent les rôles de vulgarisateurs et de conseillers agricoles, et sont aussi une source indéniable d’information pour les agriculteurs. Pour la quasi-totalité des exploitants agricoles enquêtés (99%), les distributeurs d’intrants sont leurs principales sources de conseil et d’information en agriculture. La fourniture de ces services par les distributeurs d’intrants contribue à l’amélioration du rendement agricole et l’augmentation des revenus des exploitants agricoles bénéficières. Pour 90,8% des exploitants agricoles enquêtés leur niveau de vie aurait augmenté grâce aux services rendus par les distributeurs d’intrants. Il est recommandé que les distributeurs d’intrants soient reconsidérés comme acteurs à part entière du système de vulgarisation et de conseil agricoles et encadrés pour jouer de manière efficace et efficiente ce rôle. Il en va de la performance globale du système de vulgarisation et de conseil agricoles.
Author Keywords: Intrants agricoles, distributeurs, vulgarisation et conseil agricoles, Dschang, Cameroun.
How to Cite this Article
Faylone Gaelle Mademguia Kuissu, Guillaume Hensel Fongang Fouepe, and René Mbonomo Bikomo, “Potential of agricultural input distributors for agricultural extension and advice: The case of Dschang in the West region of Cameroon,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 110–120, September 2021.
