THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION OF ITS MEMBERS IN BIRNIN GWARI AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION ZONE, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.

THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION OF ITS MEMBERS IN BIRNIN GWARI AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION ZONE, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract:

This study was focused on the Role of Community Based Organizations in Livelihood Diversification of its members in Birnin Gwari Agricultural Extension Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria with the objective of identifying the different livelihood activities the members are involved in and how the CBOs influence their diversification. This assessment looked at the support services provided by the CBOs and how they influenced livelihood diversification. The data for this study were collected through the use of structured questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 137 respondents from the eight selected CBOs used in the study. In the first stage, four Local Government Areas were purposively selected. In the second stage, two CBOs were randomly selected from each LGA to make a total of eight CBOs. In the third stage, the members of the selected CBOs were used as respondents. Both descriptive statistics and multiple regression were used to analyse the data collected. The findings from the research showed that the mean age of the CBOs is 11years. All the CBOs used in this study were registered and functional. The study also showed that 71% of the CBOs were educated. Their membership strength ranged from 15 to 43 members. The study revealed that the respondents were involved in crop farming, livestock farming, business, civil service, nursing, teaching, trading, processing and artisans. The study also revealed reasons for diversification such as to increase income, reduce risk, ensure food security, meet family needs and improve standard of living. The support services the CBOs rendered to their members included conflict mediation, financial support, capacity building, group affiliation, access to information and access to market. From the study, ten (10) different constraints were indicated with climatic/environmental problems ranking first, inadequate farm inputs ranked second, inadequate finance ranked third, then followed by lack of external help, leadership problem, government policies, lack of regular meetings, no standard market, lack of education and lack of awareness ranked last. The study recommends that government, NGOs and development agencies should recognise and reinforce the positions of CBOs in the rural development process. Also, there is a need for both internal and external funding: CBOs should mobilise themselves and pool their resources together and funds from the government through soft loan facilities. Trainings, workshops and seminars should be organized to equip the people the more. Market linkages should be advocated for and created for the CBOs members.

THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION OF ITS MEMBERS IN BIRNIN GWARI AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION ZONE, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.