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Sustainability of AEOP-assisted Outreach Projects: The Case of Aklan Agricultural College
Dissertation Abstract:
A study was conducted to determine the sustainability of the AEOP (Agricultural Education Outreach Project)-assisted outreach projects of the Aklan Agricultural College based in Banga, Aklan, Philippines.
AEOP is a joint undertaking of the Government of the Philippines through its National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Government of the United States of America through its United States Agency for International Development (USAlD).
Specifically, the study aimed to: 1) present the socioeconomic profile of the AEOP's fanner-cooperators in the six villages; 2) determine the extent of sustainabiIity of the farmer-cooperators' crop and animal projects; 3) find out the differences in the sustainability of the fannercooperators' projects among the six villages; and 4) identify the factors related to sustainability of these projects.
Using stratified sampling, respondents of the study were 206 AEOP farmer-cooperators from the villages of Agbanawan, Polocate, Sigcay, Dingle, San Isidro, and Sibalew, all located in the municipality of Banga, Aklan. Data were gathered using an interview schedule.
On the average, the respondents were generally old (53 years), had attended elementary grades, had five family members, had been farming for 27 years, and had an annual income of P7,974.20 (US9) from their farming activities.
Sixty-six percent of the respondents were owner-operators. Their projects were mostly on vegetables, fruits, citrus, swine, and poultry. At the time of the study, 67 percent of the crop projects and 58 percent of the animal projects were on-going.
Most of the respondents adopted the crop production practices introduced by the student outreach agents (SOAs), while 20 percent adopted the introduced animal production practices.
Land use was generally low. The rainfed rice project occupied the biggest mean area, followed by citrus. Both crop and animal projects occupied an average farm area of 1.32 ha.
Crop and animal projects in Sibalew significantly differed from those in the other villages in that most projects were observed to be highly sustainable.
A correlation coefficient test revealed that eight of the 14 predictor variables showed highly significant relationships and two were significantly related to the sustainability of AEOP-assisted outreach projects.
Using multiple regression analysis, the variance in the sustainability of the AEOP-assisted projects was best explained by the respondents' civil status, educational attainment, annual family income, tenure status, number of SOA-assisted projects, availment of AEOP Loan Fund, participation in AEOP-sponsored activities, and perception of the AEOP.
The study concluded that the AEOP-assisted outreach projects in Aklan had achieved moderate sustainability five years after the AEOP's technical, financial, and material assistance were withdrawn from the villages.