Scientific Technology Development a Necessary Tool for Promotion of Organic Agriculture in Africa: A Case Study of Scientists in Organic Agriculture in the South Western Nigeria

Summary

Appropriate technology development and transfer are fundamental to the promotion of organic agriculture (OA) as mitigation to climate change and food insecurity. The broader benefits of organic farming and agro-ecology often go unrecognized or are simply ignored due to lack of enough research evidences and technology development. This study assessed the technology developed by scientists, motivational factors and the challenges of technology development for the promotion of organic agriculture in Nigeria. This study was carried out in the South Western region of Nigeria. Within the zone are the majority of the scientists involved in the organic agriculture movements in Nigeria. From the available data 30% of the members were randomly selected; with the sample size of 65 respondents. Primary data were collected with a well structured questionnaire from the respondents. The data were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentage, and Person Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The study revealed that interest in organic agriculture, and health and environmental concern ranked high as motivational factors for technology development. Among the technologies developed and transferred to farmers are composting technique (22.6%), planned crop rotation (11.2%), while disease management (4.8%) and storage techniques (3.2%) recorded low transfer. Low funding and inadequate exposure to organic farming techniques were ranked high as serious challenges to technology development. There was significant correlation between motivational factors and technology development (r = 0.277, p = 0.029). This study concluded that, health and environmental safety is a major factor that motivate to develop technology but funding and inadequate exposure to organic farming techniques are serious challenges to develop scientific technology for promotion of OA.