Involvement of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Food Production and Welfare of Beneficiaries: The Efforts of Fadu and Dadp in South Western Nigeria

摘要

NGOs have been acknowledged to be very reliable in effective adaptation and transfer of technology to farmers, delivery of agricultural support services and effective vehicles for alleviating rural poverty.This study investigates the performance of two agricultural based NGOs in their effort to improve the lots of small-scale resource-poor farmers in Southwestern Nigeria. Farmers Development Union (FADU), an enterprise building organization and Diocesan Agricultural Development Programme (DADP), a capacity building organization were studied. The unique features of their strategies were organization of farmers into cooperative groups, attention to supply of inputs, firm arrangement for the provision of farm credit, and clientele participation in decision making. Achievement of the beneficiaries lagged behind in the case of DADP where input supply was largely left in the hands of the farmers because of its capacity- building ideology.The NGOs needed more donor assistance to enable them expand the scope of their operations.