DEVELOPMENT OF MOTIVATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR ENHANCING THE ENTRY OF ALMAJIRIS INTO COTTON PRODUCTION OCCUPATIONS IN NORTHWEST, NIGERIA

This study focused on the development of motivational training programme for enhancing the entry of almajiris into cotton production occupations in Northwest, Nigeria. Six research questions guided the study and five hypotheses were formulated and tested at the probability of 0.05 level of significance. Research and Development (R & D) design was used for the study. The population for the study was 2,717 comprising 1,528 Agricultural Extension Agents; 1,138 Teachers of Agricultural Science; 24 Cotton Processors and 27 Marketers. The sample for the study was 580 consisting 301 Agricultural Extension Agents, 228 Teachers of Agricultural Science and 51 Cotton Processors and Marketers. The population of Agricultural Extension Agents and Teachers of Agricultural Science were sampled using 20% proportionate stratified random sampling technique while the entire population of Cotton Processors and Marketers were adopted because of their small size. The questionnaire which is divided into five sections (growing, processing, and marketing of cotton, motivational strategies and training procedures) were developed from the review of the literature and function of industry and used for data collection from the respondents and were face-validated by five experts. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the instruments. Reliability coefficients of 0.79, 0.71, 0.73, 0.82 and 0.89 were obtained for the five sections of questionnaire respectively. Agricultural Extension Agents and Teachers of Agricultural Science responded to 529 copies of the questionnaire on growing of cotton, motivational strategies and training procedure, while Cotton Processors and Marketers responded to 51 copies of the questionnaire on processing and marketing of cotton. The questionnaires were administered to the respondents by the researcher with the help of seven research assistants. A total of 571 copies were retrieved out of the 580 copies administered with return rate of 98.4%. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at the probability level of 0.05 and at relevant degrees of freedom. It was found out that the almajiris required 182 competencies in growing cotton, 57 competencies in processing cotton and 27 competencies in marketing of cotton for entry into any of the occupation in cotton production enterprises. It was also found out that 34 motivational strategies were required for motivating the almajiris for entry into training in cotton production occupations. The trainers also required 10 motivational strategies for enhancing their performance in training the almajiris in cotton production enterprises. The study further revealed that 28 competencies were identified as training procedure to be utilized by trainers for empowering the almajiris with skills at the skill acquisition centres. The findings from the test of hypotheses revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of Agricultural Extension Agents and Teachers of Agricultural Science on 182 competencies on growing of cotton, 44 motivational strategies required for motivating the almajiris as well as trainers in cotton production occupations. It was also found out that there was no significant difference in the mean rating of the responses of Cotton Processors and Marketers on 52 out of 57 competency items required by almajiris for entry into cotton processing enterprise. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of Cotton Processors and Marketers on 27 competencies in marketing for enhancing the entry of almajiris into marketing of cotton. The identified competencies in cotton production occupation and motivational strategies for the training of almajiris in cotton production were used to package the motivational training programme for the training of almajiris in cotton production. It was recommended that the identified motivational strategies with competencies in cotton production should be utilized by the state government in Northwest, Nigeria for training the almajiris in cotton production for entering into occupation in cotton enterprises.