Digital skill needs of agricultural extension personnel for communication of climate change adaptation in Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed the digital skill needs of agricultural extension personnel for effective communication of climate change adaptation  in Niger Delta, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 72 respondents from three States (Abia, Imo, and Rivers) for  the study. Questionnaire was used to obtain data and data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result  showed that majority of the agricultural extension personnel possessed various basic digital skills such as information seeking skills  (90%), basic literacy skills (88.9%) and ease in using a keyboard (83.3%) among others. The intermediate digital skills possessed by the  respondents include data management skills (87.5%), communicate effectively using email (86.1%), communicating effectively using  social networking sites like Facebook and twitter (87.5%), while, the advanced digital skills possessed by respondents were computer  programming (86.1%), network management (84.7%), digital communication skills (84.7%). The area where agricultural personnel need  further skill development include information seeking skills (3.53), identifying digital information such as links, email addresses, and  websites (3.39), managing files on laptops (3.38) among others. The study concludes that the agricultural extension personnel in Niger  Delta already possessed some digital skill, however, more digital skills are needed to communicate climate change adaptation  information effectively. Hence, the study recommends the development and implementation of training programs to enhance the digital  skills of agricultural extension personnel, focusing on areas such as problem-solving, collaboration, and the effective use of digital tools  for climate change adaptation communication.