LINKING FRONT-LEVEL EXTENSION WORKERS’ COMPETENCE TO FARMERS’ SATISFACTION: A THREE SKILL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The present study conducted a comprehensive investigation for assessing the front-level extension workers’ performance based on their level of competence from farmers’ perspective. Famers’ satisfaction with agriculture and extension service was considered as the dependent variable, while three skills, viz. conceptual, technical and interpersonal skills of front-level extension professionals (here, SAAOs), were considered as the predictor variables of the study. Data were collected from 120 farmers using a structured interview schedule. Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the data using SmartPLS v.4 application. Results showed that three skills jointly contributed 71.5% of the variance in farmers’ satisfaction (R =0.715). Concerning the contribution of each selected skill, conceptual skill (β= 0.369; p<0.000) was found to be the strongest contributor, followed by interpersonal skill (β= 0.373; p<0.000) and then technical skill (β= 0.166; p<0.045) respectively. Farmers were highly satisfied with SAAOs’ competence and found that three skills have an impact on satisfaction with extension service. To conclude, this study sufficiently offers several practical and theoretical recommendations about proper and effective structuring of the competence of SAAOs in agricultural extension service delivery that would be helpful for the policymakers or for further research.