Benefits Derived from the Use of Information and Communication Technologies among Rural Farmers in Northeast Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated benefited from the use of ICTs in Northeastern Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 230 respondents. Data for the study were collected using interview schedule and analysed with percentages, mean and weighted score and Chi-square and PPMC at α0.05. Results show that the available ICT tools to the respondents were radio (97.4%), mobile phone (92.6%) and television (88.3%). The most perceived benefits of ICTs were keeping in touch with friends with (158.8) and provision of information on weather, disease outbreak and new agricultural techniques (141.7). However, the majority (54.3%) of the respondents had low level of benefit of ICT use. Constraint encountered using ICTs were high cost of maintenance (126.5), high call tariff (126.4) and language barrier (124.8). Significant relationship existed between respondents’ age (r= - 0.61), sex (χ2=56.50) and benefits derived from the use of ICTs. Respondents’ low level of benefit derived could be due to language barrier, high cost of tariff and maintenance. Developmental practitioners should continue the use of ICTs to propagate information to target audience while high priority should be given to local language when packaging such information. Keywords: ICTs, Rural farmer, new agricultural techniques, developmental practitioners, Northeast Nigeria