Effectiveness Of Video Mediated Learning And Farmer Field School On Striga Weed Management Among Maize Farmers Of Rachuonyo South Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Agricultural extension services are key in providing knowledge and information on various agricultural interventions. Farmer education is the most critical input geared towards this endeavor. Maize is one of the principal cereal crops grown in Kenya. However, maize farmers in western Kenya have experienced yield losses due to striga weed infestation. The emerging striga control technologies such as Imazapyr resistant maize (IR), push pull have been lowly adopted due to past communication approaches. Video Mediated Learning (VML) is currently promoted as a communication approach to disseminate agricultural information. Since it is an emerging tool, an evaluation to reveal effectiveness is crucial. Farmer Field School (FFS) is one of the most active extension methods used in Kenya and this study sought to compare and provide evidence on the effectiveness of video mediated learning. Specifically, the study sought to evaluate farmers perception, attitude and knowledge and compare uptake of striga management technologies disseminated via Video mediated learning and Farmer Field School approaches. Rachounyo South sub-county in Homa-Bay was purposively selected because it is one of the regions highly infested by striga weed resulting in huge yield losses. A sample of 120 maize farmers was selected through Systematic random sampling procedure. Three farmer groups were established then trained on Striga weed management using video-(G1), FFS-(G2) and a combination of video and FFS (G3) approaches. A survey was conducted where both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through interview guide using semi-structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS and presented using frequency tables, percentages, charts, graphs, and correlation analysis. Results indicated that a majority of G1 participants (72.5 per cent) as compared to 57.5 per cent of G2 participants, perceived messages disseminated relevant, informative and had positive attitude towards such messages. The study also found adoption rates of striga control technologies among participants of both G3 at 46.2 per cent, G1 at 42.5 per cent and G2 at 35 per cent. Further, regression analysis revealed that socio-economic factors such as age, gender had little influence on uptake of agricultural messages. Based on these findings, the study concludes that Video Mediated Learning alone is a viable tool which is greatly appreciated; viewed as an effective tool to communicate agricultural message and could be better than FFS. However, efforts to promote learning and disseminate agricultural information should target the use of combination of video and FFS to scale up uptake as the two approaches complement each other. Key Words: Striga, Video Mediated Learning, perception, agricultural information, Rachuonyo sub-county and uptake