Impact of mobile telephony on food security in Nigeria: A case study of food crop farmers in Ondo State

Abstract

This study assessed the relevance of mobile telephony to food security in Nigeria using food crop farmers in Ondo State as a case study. The study stemmed from the need to boost agricultural production in the country through timely access to relevant innovations and practices by Nigerian farmers. The study describes the socioeconomic characteristics of the farm households, the major farm operations for which the technology is  adopted, as well as the effect of the technology on farm output of the respondents. Primary data collected from 180 randomly selected farm households were used for the study. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis test, regression and correlation analyses were the tools adopted for the study. The study revealed that mobile technology is most used for booking appointments with labour and least used for obtaining agricultural  innovations by the respondents. The study also shows a positive impact of the technology on food crop production. Therefore, the study recommends training farmers on the use of mobile phones for accessing innovations on agriculture and introducing the farmers to other potential uses of mobile phones for improved agricultural production.

Key Words: Mobile phones, food security, Kruskal-Wallis test, regression, innovations