Assessment Of e–Readiness Of Extension Agents In Agricultural Information Dissemination In Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The need to improve agricultural production in Nigeria through effective dissemination of information necessitated the assessment of the e-readiness of extension agents. One hundred and twenty-seven out of one hundred and fifty eight extension officers were randomly sampled from Imo State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) to form the respondents for the study. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on the ereadiness of the sampled extension agents. Result showed that more of the extension agents are degree holders and most of them had access to the broadcast/audio ICTs, while only few of them had access to the electronic ICTs. Similar result was obtained for availability and affordability of ICTs among respondents. Only few of the respondents  have had training on the use of ICTs, while the training received was dated for most of the respondents. Respondents also use more of the broadcast ICTs, while they rarely use the electronic ICTs. There was significant relationship between extent of integration of ICTs into the daily routine
of extension agents and their e-readiness score. Efforts therefore need to be made to seriously encourage incorporation and integration of ICTs, especially the electronic types, into the daily routine of extension agents to enhance their e-readiness in effort at achieving efficient and effective extension information delivery in the country.

Keywords: e-readiness, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), accessibility, availability, affordability