ASSESSING THE USE OF ICT IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE DELIVERY IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

ETTA-OYONG,, STEPHEN OTU (2022) ASSESSING THE USE OF ICT IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE DELIVERY IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA. Masters thesis, Landmark University, Omu Aran, Kwara State.

Text Stephen Otu Etta-Oyong (19PGB000042) M.Sc Thesis.docx Download (339kB)

Abstract

Dearth of extension agents due to lack of employment, poor funding, understaffing and the consistent use of the conventional extension system are presiding issues facing the extension service organizations in Nigeria and Cross river state agricultural development programme (CRADP) is not an exception. This study therefore sought to assess the use of ICT in extension service delivery in Cross river state, Nigeria. The analysis was based on primary data collection using a set of structured questionnaire personally administered to 64 extension agents who were selected through a census sampling technique that constituted all members of the population due to the limited number of extension agents in the a Cross river state. The mean age of the respondent was 51years with 59.5% within the age bracket of 51years and above. 75.0% of them had tertiary education and majority (M =28.1) of the extension agents have gained professional experience of over 21years and above; most of the ICT tools used were personally owned by the agents such as smart phones (M=71.9), Memory card (M=75.0), Television (M= 71.9), Radio (M=68.8), Laptop (M=54.7) and DVD (M=43.8). The commonly used ICT tools were; Radio, laptop and memory card with a uniform mean score of (M=1.4) followed by television, video camera and tablet with GPS also with a uniform mean score of (M=1.3). Inviting farmers for meeting (M= 65.7), Creating awareness about innovations (M=47), (42.3%) and link farmers with input dealers using ICT tools (M=42.2) were the predominant activities for which ICT tools were used. Majority (M=67.2) used smart phone, public address system, desktop computers and memory card “very frequently”. High cost of getting ICT gadget (M=2.9), poor rural infrastructure (M=2.7), Inadequate ICT gadget in extension organization, illiteracy of farmers and poor signals and network in rural settings with a uniform mean of (M=2.6) were considered constraint hindering ICT use in extension service delivery. Marital status (X2 =7.239; P<0.05) had significant relationship with the use of ICT by extension agents which implies that as more extension agents get married, the use of ICTs increase, which means marital status positively influence the use of ICT tools. Key words: ICT, Extension agents, Extension services

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