Study on Social Benefits of Secondary School Farms in Rivers State, Nigeria

The objective of this study was to determine the social benefits of school farms in secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.In Nigerian secondary schools, agriculture has been recognized as a core curriculum subject. The study used two research questions and simple random sampling technique for data collection with a total of 560 questionnaires administered to teachers and students. A holistic implementation of agricultural science curriculum in secondary schools is expected to embrace classroom instruction and practical experiences which the students in agriculture are exposed to. According to the findings, 75% of secondary schools in Rivers State had adequate farm space, and 85.71 % of students practised farming with simple farm equipment. Allowing students to improve their farming skills (with a mean score of 2.93); assisting students in forming a valuable context as potential agriculturalists (2.80); and assisting students in appreciating the fact that profitable farming was possible within the constraints of available technology(2.73) are all social benefits derived from school farms . Over 96% of schools surveyed lacked tractors, harvesters and about 85% of schools visited did not have properly laid out farm plots. Only 23.21% of schools visited had barns and livestock pens, 21.43% of schools had fishery equipment, 22.79% of schools surveyed had well established and managed fish ponds. This study suggested that school administrators in Rivers State, Nigeria, use all available resources to collect funds for the purchase of facilities and material inputs for secondary school farms.