International Journal of Agriculture and Plant Science 1 International Journal of Agriculture and Plant Science Online ISSN: 2664-7664; Print ISSN: 2664-7656 Received: 01-08-2019; Accepted: 02-09-2019 www.agriculturejournal.in Volume 1; Issue 4; October 2019; Page No. 01-04 Analysis of agricultural extension services in improving the standard of living of tomato farmers’ in kebbi state, Nigeria Yohanna J Alhassan 1 , Muhammad A Muhammad 2 1 Department of General studies Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria 2 Department of Entrepreneurship Education development Kebbi State Collage of Agriculture Zuru, Nigeria Abstract This study aimed at assessing the role of Agricultural extension services in improving the standard of living of tomato farmers in kebbi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for this study. Firstly, a purposive sampling was used to select three local government areas (LGA) out of each three senatorial zones and three villages from each LGAs while random and purposive sampling were used to select 206 participants and 206 non-participants, making a total sample size of 412 farmers in Kebbi State. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used for data collection and analyzed with descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as chow test model. The result revealed that 90% of respondents were the participants and 77% were the male non-participants respectively while the females were 10% and 23% participants and the non-participants respectively. Chow test model analysis indicated a positive mean on output F = 149.87), income, (F=3.95) and level of living (F=24.24) of the participating’ farmers than the non-participating farmers. The output, income and level of living difference were significant at 5% level of probability which means a significant difference in output, income level of living of farmers participating in tomato production. It was concluded that agricultural extension services had positive impact on improving the living standard of tomato farmers in the study area. The study therefore recommends that sustainability of agricultural extension services should be ensured in order to consolidate the achievement of the participating farmers in tomato production. Keywords: analysis, agricultural extension services, standard of living, tomato farmers, kebbi state Introduction Adams (2012) [1] asserted that everywhere around the world, agricultural production is central to the overall wellbeing of the populace of its importance in the provision of food, income for farmers, raw materials for industries, and employment for foreign exchange for the nation. National Bureau of statistics/central Bank of Nigeria (2006) stated that agricultural production provides for 2/3 of Nigerians who are low income earners and it is presently one of the world largest producers of food and raw materials for its major enterprise. However, Nigeria is still facing serious food shortages to meet up the need of ever increasing population in the country which has manifested in food shortages. In a bid to solve the declining food challenges, the Federal and State Government of Nigeria introduced many food production policies and programmes over the years to tackle the daunting challenges faced in the agricultural sector. For instance, the Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), the Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI), the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and many others. Besides these programmes and a number of other ones, failed to meet the target of food self-sufficiency. This raised serious concern regarding Nigeria’s vision of becoming one of the world’s twenty strongest economies by the year 2020. Despite Nigeria’s rank of 2 nd to Egypt in Africa and 13 th position in the world hierarchy of tomato production, the country is still lagging behind in tomato production compared to Egypt and USA. Nigeria still imports 65,809 tonnes of processed tomato annually, worth over N11.7 Billion despite its massive local production (CBN, 2012). The yield of tomato in Nigeria is low, the average of Sudan savannah zones of the country being only 20 tonnes per hectares (FAO, 2010) [8] . For instance, Nigeria production was estimated at 1,860,600 tonnes in 2010 while the United State of America had an estimate for the same 1/7 th of the yield per hectare of tomatoes in Nigeria is at 7.1 tonnes per hectare comparable to 39.5 tonnes per hectare for Egypt (CBN, 2012). This short fall necessitated the importation of processed tomato worth N11.7 billion ($75.5million) yearly. The fact is that Nigeria only produces between 20-30 percent domestically far from expectation. Besides, 25-50 percent of the import of this domestics paste is from China (CBN, 2011) thus leaving the market for domestically produced tomato paste underserved. This makes Nigeria one of the primary importers of tomato globally and a major consumer of tomato paste. The vision is aimed at agrarian reform though the introduction of modern farming techniques referred to as protective farming system with inputs inclusion package, which makes tomato production attractive, create employment opportunities for the youths, and to prove that agriculture serve as the nation’s dependable and sustainable alternative sources of income/revenue generation. According to Delta State Ministry