Attitude of Research Scientists and Constraints to Effective Research Extension Farmers Input Linkage System Model In Nigeria.

Abstract

Attitudes and constraints are two major factors with overbearing influence on the success or otherwise of any
intervention programme. The study assessed attitudes of research scientists and constraints to effective
REFILS model in Nigeria. Multi –stage sampling procedure was used to select 62 respondents from
coordinating national research institutes in the country. Data were collected with the aid of structured
questionnaire and analysed with descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages and means). Results show that
the mean age of research scientist was 48.0 years, 73.8% were male, 97.6% were married, 31.0% had
between 16-21 years of professional experience and 64.3% across the zones had doctoral degrees. More than
one-third (35.7%) of research scientists had contact with farmers on monthly basis, while majority of the
research scientists (54.7%) had unfavourable attitude towards REFILS model across the agricultural zones
in Nigeria. Research scientists were constrained by lack of mobility (1.71±0.55) and poor budgetary
allocation to agricultural extension and research (1.71±0.59) across the zones. It was concluded that
respondents did not have positive perceptions of the REFILS model and were also confronted with different
challenges. Based on these, it was recommended that morale of researchers across the zones need to be
boosted through different incentives so as to improve their attitudes which will consequently reflect on the
operational activities of REFILS in the zones.