Perceived effects of manpower training on post-training attitudes and action-plan use among agricultural extension staff in North-East Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of training design and implementation on post-training activities of extension staff of Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in North-east Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 197 respondents from Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data, which were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that 73.1% of the respondents were male, married (91.4%), with a mean age and work experience of 44 and 18 years, respectively. Most (92.9%) of the respondents had tertiary education, 26.9% were Village Extension Agents, and 78.7% had attended between 1-3 trainings in the last 5 years. Chi-square result showed that there was a significant association between educational level (χ2 = 2.84, p<0.05) and post-training activities. PPMC showed that there were positive and significant relationships (p<0.05) between age (r = 0.16), work experience (r = 0.16) and post-training activities. It was concluded that adequate use of an action plan improves job performance, and attitudes of respondents towards training are improved positively after training. It was recommended that management of agricultural organizations should ensure placing emphasis on the use of an action plan with efficient follow-up activity of trainees for the effectiveness of training programmes.