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The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho
Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2007.
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University of Pretoria
2013
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| _version_ | 1867613689860849664 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Duvel, G.H. (Gustav Heinrich) |
| author_browse | Duvel, G.H. (Gustav Heinrich) |
| author_facet | Duvel, G.H. (Gustav Heinrich) |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2005, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2007. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/23437 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:40:08.978Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateRange | 2013 |
| publishDateSort | 2013 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/23437 The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho Duvel, G.H. (Gustav Heinrich) upetd@ais.up.ac.za Williams, Remaketse Frederick No key words available UCTD Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2007. The purpose of the study was to investigate the intermediary role that opinion leaders can play in the dissemination of agricultural technologies among the rural farmers in Lesotho in order to bridge the gap between extension and the farmers. A structured questionnaire was administered to 200 randomly sampled maize farming households, representing a 20 percent sample, from three villages in the Qeme area, namely Ha Mohasoa, Ha Pita and Ha Jimisi. Opinion Leadership was measured on the basis of number of nominations within and beyond the sample. The research findings confirm the importance of opinion leadership, which exists among both male and female farmers, but varies according to the degree of influence (number of nominations). Thirty-nine percent qualified based on influence as opinion leaders, but the strong opinion leaders were between 6 – 10 percent. Of the various personal and environmental factors that were assumed to have influence on opinion leadership, only some but not all actually had influence. The factors having influence were age, marital status, gender, farming efficiency and exposure to mass media. Factors having no influence were formal education qualifications, scale of farming operation and the reliance on farming as a source of income. Competence and accessibility appeared to be key dimensions of opinion leadership. However, in the study area, accessibility – was formal to be a precondition for the effective flow of information – was not a constraint. Ninety percent of all opinion leaders were, for example, assessed to have a high or very high accessibility. This accessibility was influenced by friendship, and gender, but social status appeared to have no bearing on it. Physical accessibility was also an important factor, which was emphasized by the finding that 85 percent of the strongest opinion leaders resided within a distance of less than 2km from the followers. In general, the opinion leaders were of a polymorphic type and seem to be consulted over a wide variety of subjects or commodities. Although there were indications of the stronger opinion leaders being more involved in reciprocative consultations, this tendency was much less pronounced than what has been found among white commercial farmers in South Africa (Düvel, 1996). Based on the similarities of findings of this study and those of Adupa&Düvel (1999) on small scale farmers in Uganda, it was recommended that more research should be conducted to interrogate and exploit the use of opinion leaders in the diffusion of information and innovations in Lesotho. Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development unrestricted 2013-09-06T15:19:51Z 2006-03-24 2013-09-06T15:19:51Z 2005-03-06 2007-03-24 2006-03-24 Dissertation Williams, R 2005, The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23437 > http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23437 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-03242006-094244/ © 2005, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | No key words available UCTD The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho |
| title | The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho |
| title_full | The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho |
| title_fullStr | The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho |
| title_short | The role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in Lesotho |
| title_sort | role of opinion leadership among maize farmers in lesotho |
| topic | No key words available UCTD |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23437 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-03242006-094244/ |