ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF NIGER DELTADEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (NDDC) TO AGRICULTURALDEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA

Bessong, Columbus Deku Ph.D

Department of Continuing Education and Development Studies,

University of Calabar, Calabar

Bessong, Napoleon Osang Ph.D

Department of Continuing Education and Development Studies,

University of Calabar, Calabar

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Abstract

The study assessed the contributions of Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) to agricultural development in South-South, Nigeria. One research question and one hypothesis were formulated for the study. Sequential explanatory mixed method (Quantitative and Qualitative) design was adopted for this study. The population of this study comprised 10,123 respondents (3,356 youth associations executives; 6,310 registered Community Development (CD) associations/committee executives; and 457 NDDC staff) in South-South, Nigeria. The sample for this study was 478 respondents which comprised 129 Youth Associations’ Executives;133 Registered CD Associations/Committee Executives; and 222 NDDC staff across the four selected States in South-South Nigeria (Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta and Rivers). The instrument for data collection was self-questionnaire titled; “Assessment of Agricultural Development Questionnaire (AADQ). Three experts validated the instruments, two from the Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies and one from the Department of Science Education (Measurement and Evaluation Unit), all in the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. A reliability coefficient of 0.84 was established as a measure of internal consistency through the use of Cronbach Alpha statistic. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation in testing the research question while ANOVA was used in testing hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from the study revealed among others that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has to a low extent contributed to agricultural development in South-South, Nigeria. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should give more grants and subsidies to farmers in South-South of Nigeria, in order to promote agricultural development in the area.

Keywords: Assessment, NDDC, Agricultural Development. Download Pdf