IMPROVEMENT OF LIVELIHOOD CAPITALS OF THE COMMON INTEREST GROUP FARMERS THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROGRAMS

Abstract

The study aimed to explore the improvement of livelihood capitals of the CIG farmers and find out the relationships between selected characteristics of the CIG farmers and their improvement of livelihood capitals. Data were collected by using a pre-tested interview schedule from the farmers of Birganj upazila of Dinajpur district. Data were collected from 131 sample farmers selected by multistage random sampling procedure from a population of 2202 CIG farmers from 10 August to 21 September 2022. Nine selected characteristics of the CIG farmers are: age, education, family size, farm size, annual income, training experience, agricultural knowledge, extension media contact, and organizational participation were considered as the selected characteristics, where improvement of livelihood capitals of the farmers constituted the focus issue. Improvement of livelihood capitals of the CIG farmers was measured by a 4-point rating scale. It was found that the observed score of the improvement of livelihood capital ranged from 16 to 70 while the possible range could be 0 to 75. The mean livelihood improvement score is 54.63 with a standard deviation of 11.37. Among the farmers, 74.0 percent belonged to high extent of improvement of livelihood capital, while 22.1 percent of them had medium extent of improvement of livelihood capital, and 3.8 percent had low extent of improvement of livelihood capital. The variation regarding different assets of livelihood was minimum, the highest status of livelihood improvement was observed in the case of human capital, and it was the lowest in the case of natural capital. Four (4) out of nine (9) selected characteristics of the farmers are annual income, training experience, agricultural knowledge, and extension media contact had significant positive relationships with their improvement of livelihood capitals. Rests of the characteristics are age, education, family size; farm size, and organizational participation had no significant relationship with their livelihood improvement. DAE and other concerned organizations should take capital-specific agricultural extension programs for the enhancement of the livelihood capitals for the CIG farmers.