Nigeria is endowed with adequate agricultural resources but

have acute food shortage. Nigeria needs more food for the
increasing population to prevent starvation and malnutrition.
Realizing the problem of food shortage, the government has
embarked on a number of agricultural development programmes
aimed at increasing food supply. The introduction of agricultural
curriculum at various levels of education including primary and
secondary school levels, colleges of education, polytechnics,
monotechnics and universities in general and the teaching of
agricultural extension and rural sociology all aiming at increasing
agricultural productivity on long term basis are approaches in this
regard.

In Nigeria, close to 80% of the inhabitants of rural areas is

living directly or indirectly on agriculture. Agriculture is the
largest employer of labour and it is the principal source of of
income the country. Since the base of agricultural production is
rural setting, there is need to understand the sociological
disposition of rural farmers. Rural farmers generally assumed to
have developed into stereotypes. They are ultra-conservative,
steeped in tradition, hemmed in by custom, lacking in motivation
and incentive, captive to age-old methods of farming and
incapable of making wise decisions. These ultimately constitute a
constraint to the development of agriculture.

Agricultural extension programmes deal directly and

indirectly with this problem. Its prime objective is to help farmers
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increase production by persuading them to change their
conservative attitude and to adopt improved technical practices in
agriculture. It develops skills, knowledge and attitudes favorable
to change in the farmers and their families. It enables them
benefit from research and technology and its ultimate aim is to
raise efficiency and thus achieve a higher level of living.
Agricultural extension agents pass into the farmers at group
meetings, demonstrations, field days and through other methods
improved agricultural practices. The techniques combine
individual, group and mass media methods.

The book Agricultural extension and rural sociology presents

a dual tier arrangement- (i) Rural sociology (ii) Agricultural
Extension. Rural sociology focuses on the sociology of rural
farming community including norms and values, socialization
processes, as well as organization and association in the rural
setting. Agricultural extension covers among other areas the basic
extension concepts, principles and philosophy, organizational
models of agricultural extension, extension teaching methods,
communication in extension and adoption/diffusion process.

This book is intended to be of use to teachers of Agricultural

Science in secondary level of education, lecturers in agricultural
extension and rural sociology in tertiary institutions of learning in
general and students in college of education in particular. It will
also serve as a resource material to administrators of rural and
agricultural development programmes; to agricultural agents in
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related institutions such as agricultural development project; and
to graduate students in the field of agricultural education.