FARMERS' MOTIVATIONS TO PARTICIPATE INAGRICULTURAL EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN SOMEVILLAGES OF ALEXADNDRIA AND EL. BEHEIRAGOVERNORATES

The present study aimed primarily at identifying farmers' motivations toparticipate in agricultural extension activities in selected villages at Alexandria andEl- Beheira governorates. The study aimed specifically at examining therelationships between some demographic variables of participants and theirmotivational orientations. The selected villages were El- Namozageia village(Alexandria Governorate), Berket - Khattas, and Monshaat - Amer (El BeheiraGovernorate). The main criteria for selecting the studied villages included theavailability of agricultural extension activities throughout three consecutive yearsprior to the data collection process. Sources of information included: 1- a total of 15key informants, representing agriculture administrators, senior extension agentsand agricultural engineers in the study area, and 2- a total of 60 farmers(Alexandria Governorate) and 100 farmers (El Beheira - Governorate ). Theselected farmers were viewed by at least 50% of the key informants as activeparticipants in the agricultural extension activities in their respective villages. Datawere collected through personal interviews, using a questionnaire form that wasdeveloped for seeking information related to the study objectives. Qualitativeanalysis, percentage distributions and Chi-square test were used for data analysis.The major findings of the study could be summarized as follows:
1- Content analysis of data, elicited in response to an open- ended question, hadyielded distinct clusters of reasons which motivate farmers to participate inextension educational activities. Such reasons were summarized under three
major categories of motivational orientation: learning/ economic, socialrelations, and openness to new experiences. The highest percentage ofrespondents (73% to 86%) were found in the category "Learning / economic".They indicated that they participated in the extension educational activities, inorder to gain knowledge and skills that would help them solve their agriculturalproduction and marketing problems, and increase their incomes. They alsoviewed such benefits as highly important.
2- Pattern of associations between motivational orientation and selectedpersonal characteristics indicated the following:
a- farmers in the age group (55- 64) and those with higher educational levelshad multidimensional motivational orientation, as compared to theyounger age groups of farmers, and those with lower educational levels.
b- No significant relationships were revealed between the central variable ofthe study "motivational orientation" and the independent variables:"sources of information" and "organizational membership".Implications of the study results referred to the need of theextension educational process to create learning opportunities andenvironment congruent with the social and economic status of potentialparticipants. This included designing learning experiences for technology
transfer, and also in the area of self - actualization, as an inherent humanright.