The influence of personal characteristics on information availability among fisher folk in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The influence of personal characteristics on information availability among fisher folk in Makurdi was examined in this paper. A list of 269 registered fisher folk in two landing sites – Wadata and North Bank in lower River Benue Makurdi was obtained from Benue State Agricultural Development Programme (BESADP). Random sampling technique was used to select eighty percent of the fisher folks (215) while structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and correlation (p < 0.05). The results showed that majority of the fishers folk were married (73.0%), between 30-39 years (35.8%), had no formal education (59.1%), 93.0% fund their business through personal savings and 57.2% belong to fishermen association. There are significant relationship between the personal characteristics and information availability on age (β = 0.159), house hold size (β = 0.159) secondary occupation (β = 0.208) and business funding (β = 0.152). The study therefore recommends that while formulating policy on information availability to fisher folks their age, household size and secondary occupation should be considered for it to be available to the fisher folk and its eventual utilization.