Abstract

The study investigated the role of extension education in augmenting the socio-economic development of pastoralist women in Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to survey 35 extension agents and 79 pastoralist women in Kwara State, Nigeria. The participants were engaged in key informant, in-depth interviews and questionnaire survey. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results from the study show that extension workers target only crop farmers, to the exclusion of pastoralists. It was also found that factors such as government policy, low extension-farmer ratio, gender, inadequate funding, and culture of the people influence the provision of extension services to pastoralists women. The study recommends that extension service providers not only need to focus both crop and animal farmers to achieve a holistic coverage of farmers, but also embrace a more participatory approach of extension service provision. Additionally, government and other stakeholders need to employ more female extensionists to better capture pastoralist women areas where factors such as culture prevent men from providing services to women.

Key words: Extension education, Training, Culture, Gender, Living standards, and Communication