ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to identify the challenges in
administering the Cross River State Ministry of Agriculture, Nigeria. All the
staff of the ministry constituted the population for the study. A proportionate
sampling technique was used in selecting respondents, with twenty percent (20%)
of respondents from each of the departments. Thus the total sample size for the
study was one hundred and thirteen (113) respondents. Percentages, mean and
frequency were used in the presentation and analysis of the data collected. The
result of the study showed that the majority of staff (85.5%) were married and
64.5% of respondents were males; the mean age of staff was 43.85%. About 43.5%
of the respondents had Bachelor of science (B.Sc) as their highest educational
qualification, above average (55.3%) of the staff specialized in agricultural
science related discipline. Results revealed that the State government (85.5%)
was the ministry's major source of funding, and 80.9% indicated that fund was
insufficient. They agreed the approved budget was three hundred and sixty nine
million, four hundred and nineteen thousand, three hundred and sixty five
hundred, forty one kobo (N 367,419,365.41) rather than a proposed budget
of one billion, five hundred and sixty eight million, six hundred and twenty
two thousand, eight hundred and sixty three naira, zero kobo (N1,568,622,863.00)
for different departments. The ministry is understaffed by three hundred and
fifty seven persons (357) and lacks infrastructure as only buildings for
offices was indicated as available (71.8%) and functional (62.7%) by
respondents. Major constraints identified from this result were: poor funds for
purchase of equipment (M=2.18), improper and inadequate staffing (M=1.55),
insufficient electricity supply (M=2.49), inadequate funding of State
ministry's interrelationship activities (M=2.54). Results also show that the
State ministry had weak linkage with universities (M=1.31) and the research
institutes (M=1.37). Suggestions to address the challenges are: increased
budgetary allocation (54.5%), training and retraining of staff (58.2%),
constant recruitment (36.4%), funding for research work and facilities (32.7%).
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Information
To administer means to serve,
to direct, to control and to manage affairs. Administering according to
Paulinadu (2005) is a rational human activity, inherent in any organization
public or private. He further added that to administer involves a cooperative
human effort towards achieving a common goal. In the words of Gladden (2007),
administration is a long and slightly pompous word, with a humble
meaning-caring for people and managing affairs. He further defines it as
determined actions taken in pursuit of a conscious purpose. It is thus a
goal-oriented, purposive, cooperative, joint activity undertaken by a group of
people (MacQueen, 2007), which consists of only three factors: men, materials
and methods.
Willoughby (2007) divides the
scope of administration into five categories. These are General Administration:
which entails who is to perform the function of direction, supervision, and
control; Organization: which deals with building up the structures for the
actual performance of the administrative work; Personnel: stating who manages
different services; Materials and supply: enlisting the tools with which the
work of administration is carried on and finally Finance: making provision for
the financial needs of administration.
Administration can likewise be understood as the
operational performance of routine office tasks, which is usually internally
oriented and reactive rather than proactive (Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh
Edition). The essence of administration, is to plan projects, “wield together”
an organization for their accomplishments, keep the organization functioning
smoothly and efficiently to achieve their goals within the allotted personnel,
time and resources available. (http://staff.neu.edu.tr/~apolatoglu/files/inttopubadm.pdf).
The full institutionalization
of agricultural administration in Nigeria commenced in 1900 (Federal Ministry
of agriculture, Water Resources and Rural development -FMAWRRD, 1988).
Following expert advice, the military government created full-fledged Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources in 1966 (Food and Agriculture
Organization-FAO, 1966) and with changes in government structure from regional
to state and local governments, administration of agriculture in Nigeria became
decentralized leading to the creation of state ministry of agriculture as well
as department of agriculture in the local government areas. The state
ministries and local government department of agriculture were saddled with the
responsibilities of complimenting the Federal government policies on
agriculture in their domain (Federal Government of Nigeria-FGN, 2001).
The Federal
Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development
(FMARD), regulates research in agriculture, natural
resources, forestry and veterinary medicine all
over Nigeria. The mandate of the
ministry is to be a significant net provider of food to the global community, through the promotion of agricultural
development and management of national resources in a value-chain approach to achieve
sustainable food security, enhance farm income and reduce poverty (http://www.fmard.gov.ng/).
The Cross River State Ministry
of Agriculture and Natural Resources is charged with empowering, reinvigorating
and transforming agricultural production in the state (Cross River State
Ministry of Agriculture-CRSMOA, 2012). The state government working with the
federal government and other development agencies like International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), FADAMA III and the World Bank through the
Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) provides assistance to
farmers and investors across the agricultural value chain (CRSMOA, 2012). This
includes the acquisition and preparation of land, provision
Cross River State Ministry of
Agriculture has eleven departments: Livestock; Veterinary; Produce services;
Fishery; Agricultural services; Agricultural finances; Cross River Agricultural
Rural Empowerment Scheme (CARES); Administration; Finance and supplies;
Planning, Research and Statistics and finally Agricultural development programme.
The livestock development services department was established to supply seed
stock for sundry livestock and provide technical support to farmers in the
livestock production and management; the veterinary service department was
established to provide quality health care for farm and domestic animals,
including pets through prophylactic and curative treatments of animals and to
ensure wholesome meat products; the fisheries development department to promote
fish farming as an income generating activity and provide information to the
public (CRSMOA, 2012).
Furthermore, the agricultural
service department was established to support and promote farming activities
with a view to increasing crop production; the agricultural finance department
was established to facilitate financing and marketing for agricultural
enterprise and last but not the least amongst the few departments mentioned is
the produce service department which was established to monitor, control and
certify standards of quality post-harvest agricultural produce for export or
sale in other parts of the country (CRSMOA, 2012).
The state ministry of
agriculture has in the past and present implemented several programmes and
projects to actualize its set objectives. These include;
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