Socio-Economic Factors Influencing the Use of Information and Communication Technology for Accessing Agricultural Information among Cowpea Farmers in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine socio-economic factors influencing the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for accessing agricultural information among cowpea farmers in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria using using structured questionnaire. The result of the study showed that 83.33% of the respondents were males and about 77.50% of the cowpea farmers were married. Findings from the study also revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 39 year while the mean farming experience of the cowpea farmers was 18.60 years. Findings on educational status show that majority of the farmers had one form of formal education or another. The result also reveals that 70% of the cowpea farmers had no contact with an extension services. The co-efficient of gender and education were both positive and significant at 1% level and the co-efficient of farming experience was significant at 5%. Some of the major problems identified include unstable power supply, unaffordable cost of ICT tools, and lack of technical know-how and lack of confidence to operate ICTs. It was concluded that education, gender and farming experience were the socioeconomic variables that determine the use of ICTs for agricultural information on cowpea production among small holder farmers in the study area. It was recommended that trainings should be organized to help small holders cowpea farmers acquire the skills needed to operate ICTs tools, help them gain confidence on how to use ICTs, thereby facilitating adoption and use of ICTs for agricultural information.