Development of a Training Programme in Beekeeping for Poverty Alleviation of Rural Farmers in Enugu East Agricultural Zone of Enugu State

Abstract

This study focused on the development of training programme on beekeeping for poverty alleviation of rural farmers in Enugu East Agricultural Zone of Enugu State. Five (5) research questions guided the study and five (5) hypotheses were formulated and tested at the probability of 0.05 level of significance. Research and development (R&D) design was used for the study. The population for the study was 432 comprising 307 Agricultural Science Teachers, 40 Extension agents and 75 beekeepers. The population of Agricultural Science teachers was sampled using 20% proportionate stratified random sampling techniques while the entire population of the Extension Agents and Beekeepers were used because of their small size. The questionnaire was divided into 5 sections (Objectives, Content, Materials, Methods of training and methods of evaluation). The questionnaire items developed from the review of literature and function of industry and were validated by 5 experts and were used to collect data from the respondents. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. The reliability coefficients of 0.84, 0.91, 0.90, 0.89 and 0.97 were obtained for the five sections respectively. Agricultural Science Teacher and Extension Agents responded to all the sections while Beekeepers responded to section 2 and 3 (content areas and materials used in beekeeping training programme). The questionnaires were administered to the respondents with the help of six research assistants. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics were used to test the null hypothesis at the probability of .05 and appropriate degree of freedom. The findings of the study revealed that 11 objectives were relevant while 65 content area items, 18 materials, 11 methods of training and 8 methods of evaluation of farmers’ performance were required in developing a training programme in beekeeping for poverty alleviation of rural farmers in Enugu East Agricultural Zone of Enugu State. The null hypothesis tested revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the Agricultural Science Teachers, Extension Agents and Beekeepers on 74 out of 83 items on the content areas and materials required in beekeeping training programme. Also there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the Agricultural Science Teachers and Extension Agents on 26 out of 30 objectives, methods of training and methods of evaluation required in beekeeping training programme. The identified objectives, content areas, materials and methods of training and evaluation were packaged into a training programme in beekeeping for poverty alleviation of rural farmers. It was recommended that the package be used to organize workshops and conferences for farmers, extension agents, teachers and entrepreneurs in beekeeping enterprise.