Acknowledgement

It will be impossible to complete such a spectacular and enriching work like this without help. It will

only be fair to appreciate my gratitude to every helper although impossible to list all the names here.

First of all I thank God for giving me the strength and knowledge in carrying out my work in Bokwai

village for I can’t do anything without God. To you alone be all the glory. My sincere gratitude also

goes to my lecturer especially Dr. Tabi Elizabert and Mr. Ndifon Alias who gave me guide lines on

how to go about my internship, not forgetting the HOD Dr. Lum Fontem for giving me such an

opportunity to begin appreciating potential carrier.

I can’t help to appreciate the chief of Bokwai village Chief Kaka Esowe Daniel for accepting me to

carry my field work in his village for introducing me to the farmers with which I worked with them

through out my entire stay in the village. I also appreciate all the farmers for their collective

collaboration to make sure I met the objective of my internship and also to gain relevant skills needed

for am very grateful to them.

i
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………………….i

Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………………...ii

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Objective of the internship ............................................................................................................. 2
CHAPTER TWO
METHODOLOGY (DATA COLLECTION)
2.1. Brief Description ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.2. Personal Information of Respondent. ............................................................................................. 3
2.3. Description of the Village .............................................................................................................. 5
2.4. Social Et Up of the Village............................................................................................................. 6
2.5. Crop Production Information ......................................................................................................... 8
2.5.1. Output Information .................................................................................................................... 11
2.5.2. Reason for choice of crop(s) ..................................................................................................... 12
2.5.3. When Do You Harvest Your Crops? ......................................................................................... 13
2.5.4. Temporal Labor was Employed to (A)Till Your Farm (B)Sow or Plant (C) Weed (D)Harvest
Your Crops .......................................................................................................................................... 13
2.5.5. Do Villagers Joint Effort to Work Each Other’s Farm? ............................................................ 13
2.5.6. How Do You Obtain Planting Seeds? (A) From Previous Planting (B) From Ngos (C)From
Gos (D)Others(Specify) ...................................................................................................................... 14
2.5.7. If chemicals were used, what impact did it have on crop yield? ............................................... 14
2.5.8. What are the major crop production constraint? ....................................................................... 14
2.5.9. How are these constraints managed?......................................................................................... 14
2.5.10. Does the village set up play a role in crop production? .......................................................... 15
2.5.11. If yes how does it affect the yield? .......................................................................................... 15
2.6. Livestock production information ................................................................................................ 15
2.6.1. Explain why you rear some and not others?.............................................................................. 16
2.6.2. How do you feed the animals? .................................................................................................. 17
2.6.3. What problems do you encounter in rearing these animals? ..................................................... 17

ii
2.6.4. How do you handle them? ......................................................................................................... 17
2.7 Land and other Production Information ....................................................................................... 17
2.7.1 How many farm lands do you have? .......................................................................................... 17
2.7.2 What is the size, usage, percentage used and do you own them? ............................................. 18
2.7.3 What is the predominant farming system practiced in this village?........................................... 19
2.7.4 What are some of the problems associated with this farming system? ...................................... 19
2.7.5 How are these problems handled on the farm? .......................................................................... 19
2.7.6 Are they some traditional beliefs attached to the farming system? Explain .............................. 19
2.7.7 What types of cropping systems are practiced in this village?................................................... 19
2.7.8 What are some measure reasons associated with the use of these cropping systems? ............... 19
2.7.8 How do you cope with production failure?(crop or animals) .................................................... 20
2.8 MARKETING INFORMATION .................................................................................................. 20
2.8.1 Did you sell your surplus? Where? Please indicate below ......................................................... 20
2.8.2 Who in the house is responsible for the sale of the commodities?............................................. 20
2.8.3 How far is your farm to the market? .......................................................................................... 21
2.8.4 What is the condition of the road? Good□ Fair□ Bad□............................................................ 21
2.8.5 Do you sell your produce to a particular buyer? ........................................................................ 22
2.8.6 Was there any time difference between harvesting and selling? If yes, please indicate time. ... 23
2.8.7What quantity of the produce get spoit? ...................................................................................... 24
2.8.8 How do you get your produce to the market? ............................................................................ 24
2.8.9 Did you get your money immediately you gave your produce to the buyer? ............................ 25
2.8.10 How are you paid? .................................................................................................................... 26
2.8.11 Did you receive a receipt for your sale? ................................................................................... 26
2.9 ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVE IN ASSISTING RURAL FARMERS ....................................... 27
2.9.1 Are there organizations involved in assisting rural farmers? .................................................... 27
2.9.2 If yes, specify the type of aid they give. ..................................................................................... 27
2.9.3 Do extension workers visit your farms? ..................................................................................... 27
2.9.4 Are they any educational programs for farmers? ....................................................................... 27
2.9.5 If yes, explain activities and organizations responsible. ............................................................ 27
2.9.6 Are there farmers’ cooperatives in this community? ................................................................. 27
2.9.7 If yes, specify some of the functions of the cooperatives and benefits to farmers. .................... 27
iii
 2.9.10. Are there some recommendations you can make to improve agricultural production and the
living conditions of the villagers? ....................................................................................................... 28

CHAPTER THREE
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Personal information of farmers .................................................................................................... 29
3.2 Crop production information ......................................................................................................... 30
3.3 Output information ........................................................................................................................ 31
3.4 Live production information ......................................................................................................... 32
3.5 Land and other production information......................................................................................... 32
3.6 Marketing information .................................................................................................................. 33
3.7 Organizations involve in assisting rural farmers ........................................................................... 34
3.8 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 35
3.9 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 38
3.10 RECOMMENDATION............................................................................................................... 38
REFERENCE .......................................................................................................................................... 39

iv
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

1.1 Introduction
This internship is a practical course with course code AGR306. It is usually carried out by the level 300

students of the faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine University of Buea. In any village

settlement of their choice for a period of atleast one month. This course is aimed at giving the student

practical knowledge in order for them to better appreciate what is being thought to them in the class

room and for them to gain practical skills on how to better interact with the rural farmers in exchanging

information mostly on the basis of agriculture. It also creates a plateform for the student to fully

understand how rural settlement operate, how they go about their day to day activities that is farming

and social activities. The difficulties they face in farming and how they handle them. It also make it

possible for the students to know how the village settlement is structured and governed.

This course has already enable me to develop personal contact with the farmers and rural people, I have

belt self-confidence, a good leadership and communication skills while working with the farmers.

My internship was carried out in Bokwai village located in the district of Buea in Fako division with a

population of 1026 inhabitants’ dominated by the Bakweri indigenes of which about 80% of them are

farmers.

These activities were carried out on a sample of 9 farmers of which 6 are males and 3 are females. One

of the farmer is a member of a cooperative called Green World Cooperative Society. These farmers

carried out diverse agricultural activities which ranges from catch crops such as palm and food crops

such as plantain, cocoyam, cassava and livestock’s such as poultry, pigs , goat. All the farmers have

1
their farms not to far from their homes. Out of the 9 farmers 2 are livestock farmers and 7 of them are

crop production farmers .

1.2. Objective of the internship

The internship aim at;

 To provide students with an opportunity to begin appreciating their potential carrier objective as

inherently linked to their rural landscape and farm communities.

 To enable students to develop personal contact, self-confidence, leadership and good

communication skills while working with others.

2
 CHAPTER TWO

METHODOLOGY (DATA COLLECTION)

2.1. Brief Description

In order for me to proper carry out this activity well, I started by identifying myself first to the chief of

the village called Chief Kaka Esowe Daniel who gave me a warm welcome. This was very important

because he is the head of the village and he better knows how the village operate. We had a brief

discussion and through him I got connected to the villagers(farmers) which I worked with them

throughout my stay in Bokwai village. I worked with 9 farmers and the information I got from them

was based on the questionnaire. This information will be explained in detail in the following lines.

2.2. Personal Information of Respondent.

The table below is a sample of my farmers. I shall use alphabetical letters to represent this farmers

throughout this report from the next table which shows the personal information of the farmers.

Name of Farmer Representation

Chief Kaka Esowe Daniel Farmer A

Mr. Nformi Siduen Farmer B

Mr. Ikome Hanse Farmer C

Pa Dnumbe Edward Makoko Farmer D

Mr. Ngengafac Dominic Farmer E

Mr. Ashu Ashu Peter Farmer F

Mme Esowe Elizabert Farmer G

Mme Fongeh Winifred Farmer H

Mme Mary Mojoko Farmer I

3
Farmer Sex Age Educational level Religious background Occupation Name of wife(s) Age of

wife(s)

A Male Above 50 Primary school Presbyterian Farmer Limonga Emilia 36-50

leaver Christian

B Male 26-35 GCE A’level Deeper life Church Farmer Mbokiseri 18-25

Victorine

C Male Above 50 Primary school Presbyterian Farmer Eposi Sophie Above 50

leaver Christian Ikome

D Male Above 50 Primary school Presbyterian Farmer Mary Limonga Above 50

leaver Christian Ndumbe

E Male Above 50 Primary school Catholic Christian Farmer Ngengafac Irene Above 50

leaver

F Male Above 50 Primary school Catholic Christian Farmer - Ashu Susan 36-50

leaver - Ashu Emilia Above 50

G Female Above 50 No formal Catholic Christian Farmer

education

H Female 36-50 No formal Presbyterian Farmer

education Christian

I Female 36-50 No formal Presbyterian Farmer

education Christian

4
Farmer Other income Marital Type of Family Number No. No. of Occupation

activity status marriage size of of girls Of children

(members) children boys

A None married monogamy 6 4 2 2 Student

B Carpenter married Monogamy 4 2 1 1 Pupil

C None Married monogamy 14 12 3 9 Students and 3 workers

D Business Married Monogamy 10 8 6 4 Workers

E None Married Monogamy 8 6 4 2 Some working and

others students

F none Married Polygamy 14 11 7 4 Workers and 3 students

G None Married Monogamy 8 6 4 2 Workers

H None Married Monogamy 8 6 2 4 Students

I none Married monogamy 7 5 2 3 students

2.3. Description of the Village

Bokwai is a village located in South west Region of Cameroon under Fako division and Buea Sub

division and precisely in the foot of Mount Cameroon. Though located at the foot of the mountain, it

has a level topography which is stony and fertile. In the north, it is bounded by Bwitiva village, south

by Bunduma village and part of Molyko, west by Bova i, Bova ii, and Ewonda and westward it is

bounded by the Buea central market.

It has a population of 1026 inhabitants. About 40% of this population are men and 60% are women

with an average population of 348 children with less than 16years of age. Most of the habitants are

farmers. Most of the youths here are pupils and students who also help their perents in farming

activities. Most adults and agfe people are engage in cash crops like plantain, oil palms and few crops

5
like yam, maize, tomato, cocoyam, cucumber and other vegetable crops. They are also livestock

farmers who rear animals such as chicken, pigs, goats and also fowls(Layers) for egg production.

Bokwai climate is typically that of the tropical rain forest climate with a temperature ranging from 19 0

C to 370C. Temperature can drop to 140C during the rainy season and rise up to 320C during the dry

season. The village show a mono-modal climate with a long dry season of about 6 months that’s is

from late October to early April and a long rainy season from mid April to early October. It also

experience some dry spells during the rainy season and some periods of rain during the dry season. It

has an annual rain fall of about 1500mm – 2500mm with a tropical rainforest vegetation.

2.4. Social Et Up of the Village

Bokwai village is headed and governed by a chief call Chief Kaka Esowe Daniel who works in

collaboration with the quarter heads of the village of which Mr. Esaac Ngalle Nganele is one of the

quarter heads. The quarter heads help the chief to govern the quarters that make up the village. The

rural family bears three different names which are Wongawosi which are the descendants of Wosi,

Wongaikom and Wonganamo Lonya which are the descendants of NamoLonya. Chief tensil in this

village is passed on by inheritance.

There are also other opinion leaders who are not formal leaders. Some of them are representative of the

chiefs in other towns and villages were the Bokwai people also live there. This opinion leaders also

help to give advice and contributions on community on infrastructure development in the village.

Meetings are always held on regular basis by the chief, his quarter heads and other notables in the

village when need arises. Information are regularly passed to the villagers through town crier. The

indigenous knowledge such as the the traditional dance , traditional wrestling are preserved and hand

over to the young generation by organizing traditional dance and wrestling competitions during the

holidays. The mother tongue is also passed over to the children through parents by speaking the

6
 language to them at home. The main tribe found in this village are the Bakweri, Muslims, Oroko and

the Nigerian community. The organization set up of the village can be summarized as follows.

CHIEF

Quarter heads, notables,

counsellors

Village

Farmer A Farmer B Notables,Farmer

Farmer counsel
D Farmer E Farmer F Farmer G Farmer H Farmer I

Do you yes no yes Yes yes yes yes yes yes

own your

house?

Type of wc wc Pit Wc Pit latrine Pit latrine Pit latrine Pit latrine Pit latrine

Toilet latrine

Do you yes yes yes Yes yes yes yes yes yes

have

electricity

Electricity Municipal Municipal Municip Municipa Municipa Municipal Municipal Municipal Municipal

source al l l

Type of Firewood Firewood firewoo firewood Firewood Firewood firewood firewood firewood

energy use and gas and gas d and gas and gas

for cooking

Source of Pipe in Pipe in Pipe in Commun Commun Neighbors Community Communit Communit

domestic compound compound dwelling ity tap ity tap tap tap y tap y tap

7
water

supply

Distance <5min <5min <5min <5min 6-15min <5min <5min walk 6-15min 16-25min

from the walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk

house to

the main

road

Distance 6-15min 16-25min 16- 16-25min 16-25min > 25min 6-15min 16-25min 16-25min

from the walk walk 25min walk walk walk walk walk walk

house to walk

the market

Distance > 25min > 25min > 25min > 25min 16-25min > 25min > 25min > 25min

from the walk walk > 25min walk walk walk walk walk walk

house to walk

post office

2.5. Crop Production Information

Among my nine sampled farmers, 7 of them (A,B,C,D,G,H,I) are exclusively crop production farmers.

The crop cultivated by this farmers include plantain, oil palm, cocoyam, cucumber, maize, tomato,

yam. Below are the table containing crop production information of my sampled farmers

8
Type of Total Type of Qt Fertilis HH HH N0 Salar N0 Esti Type Qt C Trac Tra
crop area and fertiliser y er cost 9embe membe per y/mo seaso mat of y os tor cto
produc N0 of used us per r rs m nth nal e pestici us t time r
ed times ed unit(if engag engage labo (FCF labou seas de ed of (if cos
planted any) ed d part- ur if A) r onal used(i pe any) t
full- time any allo f any) sti
time wan ci
1st 2nd ce de
3rd
yam .5ha non / / 02 04 non / 03 200 none / / / /
1st e e 0fcf
a/da / /
y
Plantai 2 non / / 02 04 non / 03 200 none / / / /
n Ha e e 0fcf
1st a/da
y
cocoya .5ha non / / 02 04 non / / / none / / / /
m 1st e e

FARMER B

cucumb 2.2ha NP /4ba 2500 02 None / / 05 250 Fungi 2 25 / /

er 1st K g fcfa 0fcf cide L 00
(20 a/da
:10 y
:10
)
/ /

tomato .5ha 2 NP 2ba 1800 02 none / / 07 500 Fungi 2 45 / /

1st n
K gs fcfa 0fcf cide L 00
d
(20 a
:10
:10
)
Insecti 1. 30
cide 5 00
L
herbic 2 45
ide L 00
9
maize 1ha 2 NP 1ba 9000 02 none / / / / none / / / /
1st n
K gs fcfa
d
(20
:10
:10
)

FARMER C
oil palm 35h Urea 05 03 / / 09 2500f / / / / /
a potash cfa/da
1st y / / /

maize .5ha 2n NPK 2bee / 05 03 / / / / / /

1st d
(20:10:1 r cup
0)

FARMER D
plantain .5ha none 02 / / / / none / / / /
1st / /

FARMER G
cocoya 1/4 none 01 / / / / / / / / /
m ha / / /
1st

maize ¼ 2n 3 none / / 01 / / / / None / /

Ha d r
d
yam 1/4 none / / 01 / / / / none / /
ha
1st

FARMER H
-maize 1ha 2 3r no / / 04 02 / / / none / / / /
-beans 1st n d ne
d / /
10
cassava .5ha / / / 04 02 / None / /
1st

FARMER I
-maize 1ha 2 3 / 01 05 / / / / / / / /
-beans 1st n r / / /
d d
- .5ha no / / 01 05 / / / None / /
Cocoya 1st ne
m
-yam

2.5.1. Output Information

Farmer Crop Produced Qty produce Qty Sold Price per unit(fcfa) Qty consumed Qty given out to labour

A Yam 2.5bags 2bags 32000 0.5bag /

Plantain 2 trucks 1.5tucks 1500-4500/bunch 0.5 truck /

Cocoyam 15bags 10bags 15000-18000 5bags /

B Cucumber 3.5bags 2.5bags 12-15000/bag 0.1bag 0.2bag

Tomato 150baskets 140basket 3-7000/basket 4baskets 6baskets

Maize 1.5tons 1.5ton 200/12 cobs / /

C Oil palm 33tons 32tons 9000/20litres 0.6tons 0.4tons

Maize 2pickups 90% of 200/12 cobs 5% 50%

produce

D Plantain 30- 70% of 1 – 5000/bunch 30% /

45bunches produce

11
G Cocoyam 1bag 1bag /

Maize 3bags 2bags 200/12 cobs / /

Yam 2bags 1bag 9000 1bag /

H Maize 5-7buckets 80% of 3500/bucket 20% /

Beans 5buckets produce 4500/bucket 2buckets /

Cassava 7basins 3buckets 2000/basin / /

7basins

I Maize 2bags 1.5bags 200/12 cobs 0.5bag /

Beans 2bucket 1.5bucket 4500/bucket 0.5bag /

Cocoyam 5basins 3basins 3500/basin 2basin /

yam 3basins 2basins 4000/basin 1basin

2.5.2. Reason for choice of crop(s)

 Farmer A: Cultivating such crops provides a stable food source to feed my family.

 Farmer B: This crops do not take long from planting to harvesting and can be sold easily than

other crops.

 Farmer C: he says oil palms are resistant to weed and wind and donot require too much care. He

also says unlike cocoa, he is the one who determines the price of his produce and not the buyer.

 Farmer D: It provides easy food for my house hold and it is less labour intensive.

 Farmer G: It provides me with abundant food to feed my family and some money to help

myself.

 Farmer H: it provides me with food for household consumption and money to buy household

equipments.

 Farmer I: It provides me food for my family and money to send my children to school.

12
2.5.3. When Do You Harvest Your Crops?
Farmer Period when crops are harvested

A June, September, November

B May, june, November

C 2 times per month(for palms), june, july(maize)

D September

G June,july, November

H June, august

I June, august, December

2.5.4. Temporal Labor was Employed to (A)Till Your Farm (B)Sow or Plant (C) Weed
(D)Harvest Your Crops
Farmer Reason for temporary labor employed

A a, c

B a,b,c,d

C a,b,c,d

D a,c

G c

H a,c

I c

2.5.5. Do Villagers Joint Effort to Work Each Other’s Farm?

All the farmers I sampled said villagers don’t joint effort to work each other’s farm.

13
2.5.6. How Do You Obtain Planting Seeds? (A) From Previous Planting (B) From Ngos (C)From
Gos (D)Others(Specify)
Farmer Source of planting seed

A local market

B from previous planting and local market

C from CDC

D from Previous planting

G local market

H previous planting

I previous planting

2.5.7. If chemicals were used, what impact did it have on crop yield?
All my sampled farmers who used chemicals said it increases their yield.

2.5.8. What are the major crop production constraint?

Farmer Production constraint

A Theft, stray animals

B pest and disease on crops , hired labor,transportation cost

C wind distruction, insufficient capital to pay for labor and increase production

D theft, stray animals, wind destruction, stem borers affect plantain

G Transportation problem, disease, weed problem

H Transportation difficulties, Birds remove plantain seed

I weeds, stray birds

2.5.9. How are these constraints managed?

Farmer How are these constraints managed?

14
 A I sell the product immediately after harvest and I try to fence my farm

B I apply pesticide and treat my seeds before planting

C He says he use money for the sales of his produce to increase production

D I harvest my produce immediately they are ready for harvest

G I weed my farm regularly

H My children help me to carry my produce from the farm

I I tie pieces of clothes in my farm to scare the birds

2.5.10. Does the village set up play a role in crop production?

Farm Does the village set up play a role in crop production?

A yes

B yes

C yes

D Yes

G yes

H yes

I yes

2.5.11. If yes how does it affect the yield?

The village set up favours informational dissemination which permits the access to critical information

like pesticide, farm implement from the government or NGOs. This input in turn increase yield.

2.6. Livestock production information

Farmer Type No. No. Total No. Approx No. Approx. Total input No. of Total no.

of owned sold in income slaughte income dead in income cost(labor, birth in of animals

15
 lives at the 2016 (fcfa) red in (fcfa) 2016 (fcfa) vet,housing, 2016 at the

tock end of 2016 etc) (fcfa) moment

2015

E Poult 1120 None 0 None 0 250 625,00 900,000 0 870

ry

(laye

rs)

Poult 5000 4895 17.2 None 0 100 350,000 4.5 million 0 4000

ry million

(broi

lers)

F pigs 34 24 2,320,0 none 0 10 250,000 250,000 55 16

00

2.6.1. Explain why you rear some and not others?

Farmer Reason for rearing the animals?

E Has passion for rearing these animals, high return

F Does not need much care, high return, passion for the animals

16
2.6.2. How do you feed the animals?
Farmer How you feed the animals?

E Once per day(100kg of feed)

F once per day(9kg of feed)

2.6.3. What problems do you encounter in rearing these animals?

Farmer Problems encountered?

E Snakes and dogs enters and kills the birds, disease problem e.g new castle, white diarrhea

F Disease problem e.g. African swine fever, recipilia , unpleasant smell from the pig pent.

2.6.4. How do you handle them?

Farmer How the problems are handled?

E - Improve the structure of my poultry house

- I vaccinate my birds

F - I consult a veterinary service to vaccinate my pigs

- I apply disinfectants and chemicals to reduce disease and odour

2.7 Land and other Production Information

2.7.1 How many farm lands do you have?

Farmer No. of farm lands

A 3

B 3

C 4

D 1

G 2

H 3

I 2

17
 2.7.2 What is the size, usage, percentage used and do you own them?
Farmer Land Size Usage(type of Own the If ye, how did you If not owned what is Percentag

No. production land(yes/no) acquire it?(bought/ the condition for e use

system) inherited/ use?(rent/

allocated) Pledge, lease)

A 1 0.25ha Monocroping Yes Inherited 100

2 2ha Monocroping Yes Inherited 100

3 0.5ha Mixedcroping Yes Inherited 100

B 1 2.2ha Monocroping No Rent 100

2 0.5ha Monocroping No Rent 100

3 1ha Monocroping No Rent 100

C 1 35ha Mixedcroping Yes Inherited 100

2 3ha Mixedcroping Yes Inherited 100

3 0.5ha Monocroping Yes Bought 100

4 0.5ha Monocroping Yes Bought 100

D 1 0.5ha mixedcroping Yes Inherited 100

G 1 0.25ha Mixedcroping No Pledge 100

2 0.25ha Mixedcroping Yes Allocated 100

H 1 1ha Mixedcroping No Pledge 100

2 0.25ha Mixedcroping No Pledge 100

3 0.5ha Mixedcroping No Pledge 100

I 1 0.25ha Mixedcroping No Rent 100

2 0.5ha mixedcroping No Rent 100

18
2.7.3 What is the predominant farming system practiced in this village?
Most of the villagers practice subsistence farming.

2.7.4 What are some of the problems associated with this farming system?
 The farmers are not exposed to the latest crop varieties since they are tied what they know best.

 The failure of the season caused the farmers more loss than expected.

 The farmers hardly have enough to save and to buy input.

2.7.5 How are these problems handled on the farm?

 They use treated seeds rather than seeds from previous harvest.

 Some of the villagers irrigate their farms during the period of drought.

 They sell some of their produce to buy farm inputs.

2.7.6 Are they some traditional beliefs attached to the farming system? Explain
No

2.7.7 What types of cropping systems are practiced in this village?

Mixed cropping and mono cropping

2.7.8 What are some measure reasons associated with the use of these cropping systems?
 Farmer G, H, I who does mixed cropping says they don’t have enough land, so they do mixed

cropping to maximize the utility of their land.

 Farmer A, B and C says they do mono cropping to enhance high yield of their crops.

19
2.7.8 How do you cope with production failure?(crop or animals)
 All my sampled farmers said they accept the failure and take note of what caused the failure and

improve on it in the next cropping season.

2.8 MARKETING INFORMATION

2.8.1 Did you sell your surplus? Where? Please indicate below
Farmer produce Yes/No Location

A Yam

Plantain yes Local market

Cocoyam

B Cucumber

Tomato yes Regional market

Maize

C Oil palm
yes Local market
Maize

D Plantain yes Local market

G Cocoyam

Maize yes Local market

Yam

H Maize

Beans yes Local market

Cassava

I Maize

Beans
yes Local market
Cocoyam

yam

2.8.2 Who in the house is responsible for the sale of the commodities?
All my sampled farmers said they are responsible for the sale of their commodities
20
2.8.3 How far is your farm to the market?
Farmer Distance from farm to market

A 25-35minutes walk

B 6-15minutes walk

C >45minutes walk

D 6-15minutes walk

G 16-25minutes walk

H >45minutes walk

I <25minutes walk

2.8.4 What is the condition of the road? Good□ Fair□ Bad□

Farmer Road condition

A Good

B Fair

C Fair

D Bad

G Fair

H Fair

I fair

21
2.8.5 Do you sell your produce to a particular buyer?
Farmer produce Yes or No Reason

A Yam I have easy access to the local market

Plantain No

Cocoyam

B Cucumber There is no particular buyer that wants to

Tomato No be buying all my produce

Maize

C Oil palm Particular buyer’s prices are not that

No
Maize encouraging

D Plantain No I don’t harvest in large quantities

G Cocoyam Easy access to market

Maize No

Yam

H Maize Most constant buyers buy at fixed price

Beans No

Cassava

I Maize She says what matters to her is to sell,

Beans she sells to whoever is interested to buy

No

Cocoyam

Yam

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2.8.6 Was there any time difference between harvesting and selling? If yes, please indicate time.
Farmer produce Yes or No Duration

A Yam

Plantain No /

Cocoyam

B Cucumber

Tomato No /

Maize

C Oil palm
yes Few days
Maize

D Plantain No /

G Cocoyam

Maize No /

Yam

H Maize Yes 2-3 months for the maize and

Beans Yes beans to get dry

Cassava No

I Maize Yes 2-3 months for the maize and

Beans Yes beans to get dry

Cocoyam No

yam No

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2.8.7What quantity of the produce get spoit?
All my sampled farmers except farmer B said none of their produce get spoiled. Farmer B said about

15% of his produce get spoiled due to time lapse between harvesting and due to transportation.

2.8.8 How do you get your produce to the market?

Farmer Crop Mode of transportation

A Yam Car and bike

Plantain

Cocoyam

B Cucumber Car and porter

Tomato

Maize

C Oil palm Car and bike

Maize

D Plantain Bike and truck

G Cocoyam Bike and porter

Maize

Yam

H Maize Bike and porter

Beans

Cassava

I Maize Bike and porter

Beans

Cocoyam

yam

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2.8.9 Did you get your money immediately you gave your produce to the buyer?
Farmer Crop Yes or No Duration

A Yam

Plantain yes /

Cocoyam

B Cucumber

Tomato yes /

Maize

C Oil palm
yes /
Maize

D Plantain yes /

G Cocoyam

Maize yes /

Yam

H Maize

Beans yes /

Cassava

I Maize

Beans
yes /
Cocoyam

yam

25
2.8.10 How are you paid?
Farmer Crop Type of transaction(cash, cheque, etc)

A Yam cash

Plantain

Cocoyam

B Cucumber cash

Tomato

Maize

C Oil palm cash

Maize

D Plantain cash

G Cocoyam cash

Maize

Yam

H Maize cash

Beans

Cassava

I Maize Cash

Beans

Cocoyam

yam

2.8.11 Did you receive a receipt for your sale?

None of my sample farmers received a receipt for their sales.

26
2.9 ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVE IN ASSISTING RURAL FARMERS

2.9.1 Are there organizations involved in assisting rural farmers?

All my sample farmers except farmer C and F said they don’t receive assistance from

organizations.

2.9.2 If yes, specify the type of aid they give.

Farmers Type of aid they give

C ACEFA gave me the grinding me I am using to process my palms. They also provided me

with an electric drop which I use to boil my palm fruits

F ACEFA helped in building my pig pent. MINIPIA provided me new breed of pigs

2.9.3 Do extension workers visit your farms?

All the farmers I worked with says extension workers donot visit their farms.

2.9.4 Are they any educational programs for farmers?

Among all my sample farmers, only farmer C and F accepted that they undergo educational programs

organized for farmers.

2.9.5 If yes, explain activities and organizations responsible.

 ACEFA gives training to farmers on how to operate the machines donated by them.

 MINADER train farmers on how to use pesticide and the agronomy of some crops. They also teach

farmers on how to do seed propagation and vegetative propagation like plantain and yam set

multiplication.

2.9.6 Are there farmers’ cooperatives in this community?

Yes, just farmer F is in a farmers’ cooperative called Green World Cooperative Society.

2.9.7 If yes, specify some of the functions of the cooperatives and benefits to farmers.
 It helped the farmers to obtain subsidies like input, financial help from the government and

NGOs.

27
  It gives farmers some training on how to manage their farms.

 It helps them to buy inputs at a cheaper price.

 Cooperative encourages group work among farmers

2.9.10. Are there some recommendations you can make to improve agricultural production and
the living conditions of the villagers?
 Most of my sample farmers said farm to market roads should be improved for easy

transportation of produce.

 Most of the farmers said the government should employ active extension workers who can train

them on how to better grow crops and take care of their livestock.

 Some farmers said the government should subsidize farm inputs for them to buy at a cheaper

price.

28
 CHAPTER THREE

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Personal information of farmers

I sample 9 farmers, 6 males 3 females, 7 crop farmers and 2 livestock farmers. From my field work, the

following results were obtained.

 80% of the male farmers are above 50 years of age and 66.7% of the female farmers are of age

between 36-50 thus shows that most of the farmers in this village are old people.

 Majority of the farmers(about 88%) are primary school leavers or have no formal education as

shown on the table below.

Level of education number Percentage

No formal education 3 33.3%

Primary school leaver 5 55.65

GCE A’ level 1 11.6%

 All the farmers are Christians.

 Majority of the farmers depend mainly on farming for their livelihood that is.

No. of farmers Other income activities Mainly farming

9 2 7

100% 22.2% 77.8%

 All the farmers have family sizes from 4 and above.

 66.7% of the farmers have 2-6 children and 33.3% of the farmers have 8-12 children.

 Majority of the farmers’ children are students but some few are workers and pupils and

workers.

 All the farmers are married and have children.

29
  88.9% of the farmers have a monogamy marriage.

3.2 Crop production information

 Most of the crops planted by the farmers are food crops And crops planted by most farmers are

maize followed by yam and cocoyam then others like plantain, beans, cassava, tomato, oil palm

that is

others
10%

yam and
cocoyam maize
34% 56%

 Most of the farmers don’t use fertilizer on their farms. Just 2 out of the 9 farmers use fertilizers.

 All the farmers use household labour in their farms.

 None of the sample farmers employ permanent labour. Some few(3) use seasonal labour.

 Only one farmer apply pesticide in his farm. None of the farmers use tractor in farming.

Farm activity No. of farmers involve Percentage of farmers (%)

Fertilizer 2 22.2

Household labour 9 100

Permanent labour employed 0 0

Personal labour 3 33

pesticide 1 11.1

Tractor service 0 0

30
3.3 Output information

 All the crop farmers cultivate food crops because it provides them enough food to feed their

families and some for sale from the surplus provides them with money to buy their daily needs.

 Most of my sample farmers harvest their crops in June as shown on the histogram below.

No. of farmers
6
5
4
3
2
No. of farmers
1
0

 All the farmers mostly use temporary labour to weed and harvesting of crops.

Reason for labour employed No. of farmers

Till your farm 5

Sow or plant 2

Weed 7

Harvest your crops 2

 All farmers don’t join effort to work each other’s farm.

 Most farmers obtain their planting seed either from previous planting or local market.

No. of farmers Source of planting material

4 Previous plantings

0 NGOs and GOs

3 Others e.g. local market

31
  Chemicals generally improve the yields of all my sample farmers.

 Most of the farmers complain of theft and diseases effect on both crops and animals

3.4 Live production information

 The main livestock produced here are pigs and poultry.

 The livestock farmer produces in large scale.

 The livestock farmer I worked with have interest for the animals they are rearing.

 They feed or provide feed for their animals once a day.

 The livestock farmers mostly face some disease problems

3.5 Land and other production information

 Almost all the farmers have more than one farm land.

Land number Number of farmers

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 1

 This shows that more than 80% of the farmers have more than one farm land. Most of the

farmer’s farm sizes ranges between 0.25ha to 3ha apart from one exceptional farmer who has

33ha of palm farm.

 All the farm lands are 100% in use by the farmers.

 A majority of the farmers do practice subsistent farming.

 No traditional beliefs attached to the farming system in this area.

 A majority of the farmers practices mixed cropping that is about 61% farm land are found

mixed crops and about 85% of the farmers do mixed cropping.

32
  All the farmers take note of their failures and try to improve on it on the next cropping season.

 Most of the farm lands owned by the farmers are inherited and most female female farmers do

not own their farm lands.

3.6 Marketing information

All the farmers sell their surplus produce from the farms and the majority of the farmers sell

their surplus in the local markets.

Location of sale of surplus No. of farmers Percentage (%)

Local market 5 71.4

Regional market 1 14.3

At home 1 14.3

Number of farmers

home
14%

Regionsl
msrket
14%

local
market
72%

 All the farmers are responsible for the sale of their surplus.

33
  Most farmers measure the distance of their farms to market as less than 45 minutes walk thus

meaning most farmers in this village are not far from the market. 5 out of 7 farmers grade the

road condition as fair.

 All the farmers do not sell their produces to a particular buyer.

 3 out of 7 farmers have a time difference between harvesting and selling of their produce

while 5 of the farmers sell their produce immediately they are harvested from the farm.

 Only farmer B( who produces vegetable crops) produce get spoilt. This means vegetable

crops easily get spoil and very few farmers in this village produce vegetable crops.

 Most of the farmers get their produce to the market on bike and porter respectively.

Mode of transportation No. of farmers

Car 3

Bike 6

Porter 4

Truck 1

 All the farmers receive their money immediately they hand the produce to the buyer.

 All the farmers are paid in cash and none of the farmers receive a receipt for his/her sale.

3.7 Organizations involve in assisting rural farmers

 The organizations involve in assisting rural farmers are ACEFA, MINIPIA and MINADER.

 Extension workers do not visit farmers in this community

 Educational programs are organized by the above mentioned organizations to help improve

on the farming activities of the farmers in this community. Such activities include how to

operate farm machines, how to manage pest and disease problems.

 Farmers are very reluctant to join farmers’ cooperative. Just one of the 9 farmers is in a

farmers’ cooperative.
34
3.8 Discussion

 From the above data and results, the following were noted.

 Farmers who apply fertilizers on their farms and practice mono cropping had high yields as

compared to farmers who don’t apply fertilizers on their farms and do mixed cropping.

 For example, comparing the yields of farmer B( who apply fertilizers on his maize farm) and

farmer I who do not apply fertilizers on her maize farm which she inter crop with beans. The

farm size of the two farmers is 1 hecter each.

Farmer Farm size Type of crops planted Yield

B 1 ha maize 1.5 ton

I 1 ha Maize and beans 0.5 ton

yields
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
yields
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
fertilizer applied no fertilizer

 Most of the farmers depend on the local market for the sale of their produce. This could be

due to closeness and accessibility of the local market to the villagers.

35
 Market No. of farmers

Local market 5

Other markets( home, regional market etc) 2

8
7
6
5
4
No. of farmers
3
2
1
0
other market local market

 All the farmers use temporary labour for weeding. This shows that there is a serious problem

of weed in this community

Reason for temporary labour No. of farmers

Till the farm 5

Sore or plant 2

Weed 7

Harvest 2

36
 No. of farmers
8

4
No. of farmers
2

0
till the farm sore or plant weed harvest

Livestock farmers are very few as compared to crop production farmers in this community.

Total No. of farmers Livestock farmers Crop production farmers

9 2 7

 Very few farmers use chemical in their farms to control pest and disease. This is probably

because of lack of capital and ignorance of the use of chemicals to improve pest and disease.

No. of farmers who use chemicals No. of farmers who do not use chemicals

1 6

14.3% 85.7%

From the above table, it shows that just about 14.3% of the farmers use chemicals and a majority of

85.7% of the farmers does not use chemicals. This implies the level of subsistence farming in the

community is high.

37
 No. of farmers
use chemicals
14%

do not use
chemicals
86%

3.9 CONCLUSION

This internship was carried out in Bokwai village for a period of one month. This activity was carried

out in a questionnaire process. Information was gotten from the farmers concerning their persons. The

activities they carried out for their livelihood be is it crop production or livestock. The lands they

posses, how the market their produce and organizations involved in assisting rural farmers. Information

was also gotten on the social set up of the villsge, their climate, topography, vegetation type and the

population of the village. This activities is aimed at given the students field experience, self confidence,

leadership and good communication skills while working with others. This activity was a success

because I have gain more experience on the field than I thought.

3.10 RECOMMENDATION

I think it is of great importance for an extension worker to be sent to this village to educate the farmers

on how to manage farming problems like pest and diseases and how to to better grow crops for high

yield. This can go a long way to improve on the living standards of the people of this community.

Record keeping is another important issue that need to be handled in this community as most of the

farmers do not record their farming activities. Educational programs should be organized to train the

38
villagers and farmers in particular on record keeping. This will help the farmers to know if they are at a

loss or gain in the farming adventures.

Lastly, it will be good for programs to be organized to subsidized farmers on the advantage of molding

agriculture thus will help to improve on the sustainability of farming in this community because

farmers are not to be exposed to latest crop varieties since they are tied to what they are good at.

REFERENCE

 Chief Kaka Esowe Daniel(Chief of Bokwai village)

39