Cite This Article Olabanji, O.P., Ogunlade, I. 2020. Scale Development and Validation for Farmers’ Knowledge Exchange: Implication for Agricultural Extension in Nigeria. Journal of Bangladesh Agricultural University, 18(4): 1029–1034. https://doi.org/10.5455/JBAU.5987 J Bangladesh Agril Univ 18(4): 1029–1034, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5455/JBAU.5987 ISSN 1810-3030 (Print) 2408-8684 (Online) Journal of Bangladesh Agricultural University Journal home page: http://baures.bau.edu.bd/jbau Scale Development and Validation for Farmers’ Knowledge Exchange: Implication for Agricultural Extension in Nigeria Oluwafemi Peter Olabanji  , Israel Ogunlade Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, PMB 1515, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to develop and validate farmers’ knowledge exchange scale. This was accomplished by establishing specific domain for the construct, generating scale items, scale purification, and scale validation. Accordingly, twenty-one knowledge exchange items were initially listed. After being reviewed and revised by experts, it was pruned to 17 items which was used to collect data from 300 farmers in 16 communities within Kwara State, Nigeria. Four emerging constructs of 10- item knowledge exchange scale, including clarity, reliability, usefulness and reciprocity components were identified by performing an exploratory factor analysis. Subsequently, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for validating the scale. The results of the model showed good fit with the data (χ2 = 172.87, df = 59, p-value < 0.001, and RMSEA = 0.047). In addition, the scale was found to be highly reliable (with a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.92). The study concluded that knowledge exchange assessment scale has the capacity to serve as an analytical tool, which can help researchers and extension practitioners assess the quality of information farmers share among themselves. Article history Received: 04 Oct 2020 Accepted: 10 Nov 2020 Published: 30 Dec 2020 Keywords Agricultural Extension, Farmers, Knowledge Exchange, Scale Development, Validation Correspondence Olabanji Oluwafemi Peter : folabanji21@yahoo.com Copyright ©2020 by authors and BAURES. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC By 4.0). Introduction Information is vital in agricultural development because it is a tool for communication between stakeholders and serves as a medium for assessing trends and sharpening decisions (Chisita, 2012; Whitfield, 2017). Knowledge emerging from information are essential in order to respond to the opportunities and challenges of social, economic and technological changes including those that help to improve agricultural productivity, food security and rural livelihood (Ajayi and Gunn, 2009; Ngongi and Urassa, 2014). In order to be useful, knowledge and information must be effectively communicated to the people. In Nigeria, farmers hardly feel the impact of agricultural innovations due to poor access to vital information (Obidike, 2011). This is largely due to widened gap of the extension to farmer ratios, constraining the delivery of extension messages. For farmers to be successful, knowledge is considered a crucial resource. Farmers need adequate knowledge of relevant agronomic practices, weather and marketing. This knowledge is acquired through information diffused using channels that are regularly accessed by local communities (Adolwa, et. al., 2018). One of such channels is through fellow farmers. Farmers are known to exchange information, ideas and experiences within their social system. This channel which can be referred to as “indigenous channel” facilitates information sourcing from farmers who are more experienced and/or knowledgeable (Demet, et al., 2016). Previous studies in the field of knowledge management indicated that information received from experts (Scientist/Extension Agents) are through knowledge transfer process but information obtained through fellow farmers are through the process of knowledge exchange (Bullock and Hughes, 2016). In addition, current thinking is moving from a model of knowledge transfer (Garforth et al., 2004) toward a model of knowledge exchange (Phillipson et al., 2012; Wood et al., 2014). Knowledge exchange is the most suitable concept to describe the knowledge shared and acquired during farmer to farmer interaction. Although research literature uses terms such as diffusion, dissemination,