Information Needs of Farmers: A Case Study of Esan West Local Government Area (Ewlga) of Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assesses the information needs of farmers in Edo State using Esan West Local Government Area as a case study. 150 farmers were originally sampled for this study using the simple random sampling technique, but 132
farmers correctly responded to the questionnaires which were then analyzed using the simple descriptive statistics.
The results showed that all the farmers (76.5% male and 23.5% female) in the study area needed information on
various issues. Comparatively, 12.9% of farmers needed information on agriculture (e.g. on pesticides, fertilizers,
what to plant and how to plant, fund- raising and government assistance), unlike the others (87.1%) who have had
access to such information from fellow farmers (37.1%), mass media (23.5%), public enlightenment campaigns (18.2%), and community development services (8.3%). On the other hand, 52.3% of the farmers needed information on health related issues like family planning and the use of contraceptives, while 19.7%, 9.1%, 8.3%, and 6.8%, needed information on economy politics, educational matters, as well as community services. Generally therefore, the findings of this study suggest that adequate information should be made available to farmers in Edo State and the importance of library in this regard, cannot be over emphasized.

Keywords: Information needs, Farmer, Agriculture, Ekpoma.