Assessing the contribution of agricultural extension services to food security at Kyaka II refugee settlement

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the contribution of Agricultural extension services to food security in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement. The study was guided by the following research objectives: To establish how farmer sensitization/ training affects food security among refugee communities in Kyaka II Refugee settlement, to establish the relationship between distribution of seeds/ farm inputs and food security in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement and to determine the relationship between monitoring of farmers and food security in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement. A cross sectional and quantitative survey, was used in the selection of 162 respondents from Kyaka II Refugee Settlement. Data was collected using questionnaires. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS 20). Results showed that sensitization/ training does not associates positively with food security of the Kyaka II Refugee settlement, distribution of seeds/ farm inputs associates positively with food security of Kyaka II Refugee Settlement and monitoring of farmers associates positively with food security in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement. The study therefore recommended that it is important to train refugee farmers on how to do the farming however, this is not enough as a lot has to be done on the most effective methods to do the sensitization in order to have positive impact on the food security, Sensitization of refugee farmers is good but the provision of the farm inputs to farmers this creates a bigger positive impact on improvement of food security. However, the farm inputs should be given in the right time, in the right quantities and qualities and to the right people. Additionally, in order to have continuous food security, farmers should always be monitored by the concerned stakeholders such that they are helped in areas where they feel they are not doing well in farming, those that are lazy are pushed to do something and with this effort, food security will be attained in the area