ACCESS AND USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AMONG RURAL FARMERS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This work examines the access and use of information communication technologies (ICT) among rural farmers in Enugu State. It is the contention of this study that there is a lacuna between access and usage of ICT among the rural farmers in Enugu state and generally in Nigeria. This study applauds the impact of ICT in enhancing the agricultural productivity in Nigeria especially as it concerns the rural communities. However, this work is designed to ascertain types of ICTs available to the farmers in rural area of Enugu state, determine the farmers’ level of access to ICTs, determine the level of usage of ICTs by farmers, determine the  extent  to  which  these  ICTs  have  been  perceived  to  be  effective  in  information dissemination  to rural farmers; and identify the  persuaded challenges to effective use of ICTs  among  the  rural  farmers.  In  the  methodology,  data  were  collected  mainly  from secondary and primary sources and the work was designed to cover the three agricultural zones in Enugu state namely; Enugu-North, Enugu-East, and Enugu-West zones. In each of these agricultural zones, one local government was sampled out. In Enugu-North zone we sampled out Nsukka, Enugu-West zone we sampled Awgu, while in Enugu-East zone we sample  out  Isi-Uzo.  Forty  farmers  were  selected  from  each  of  the  above  named  local governments  making a total of 120 farmers. In the measurement  of variables focus  was drawn on the respondents’ sex, age, marital status, educational qualification, years spent to acquire formal education,  years of farming experiences,  primary occupation.  The use of Pearson correlation coefficient at 0.05 level was adopted to analyze the data. Results of the study showed that a high proportion (38%) of the respondents were within the age bracket of 40-49 years and their mean age was 46 years.  Majority (67%) of the respondents were males.  Most of the rural farmers (97.3%) were married.  A good proportion (23.3%) of the farmers had WAEC as their highest educational qualification.  The average year of working experience was 21 years.  Also, majority (56.3%) of the respondents had farming as their primary occupation.  The findings  also  revealed that most of the farmers were aware of radio, television, mobile phone and video CD players, while few others were aware of the other ICT tools.  Most of these ICT tools were not available to farmers however many of them had radio,  mobile  phone, television  and video CD player. It was evident from the study that many of the farmers had access to radio, television and mobile phone but most of the other modern ICTs were not accessible to them.  It was also found that these ICT tools that  were  accessible  were often  being used by farmers  and were  perceived  to be  very effective in obtaining information, and communicating effectively among the farmers.  The

major constraints  that hindered the use of ICT by farmers were epileptic  power  supply (M=2.73),  poor  finance  (M=2.54),  High  cost  of  ICT  infrastructure  (M=2.30),  Lack  of connectivity to access (M=2.23), Lack of adequate awareness (M=2.22), and Government policies (M=2.18), etc.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background information

Growth  in  agricultural  production  in  some  developing  countries  has  been  slow despite the various stages of structural transformation by different countries in the world. Efforts  are  being  made  to  overcome  this  situation  by disseminating  information  about improved agricultural technologies directly to farm people. In this regard, Mohammed and Wanaso (1993) noted that knowledge and information are important factors for accelerating agricultural  development  by increasing  agricultural  production  and improving  marketing and distribution.    Several  studies  have shown  that a variety  of information  sources  are needed for disseminating  farm information  and that there are variations in the extension sources (Omenesa 1992; Moemeka 1990).

According to the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation  (CTA) (2003),  information   communication   technology   (ICT)  refers  to  all   information   and communication systems and technologies that facilitate communication and the processing and  transmission  of  information  by  electronic  means.    Heeks  (1999)  defines  ICT  as electronic device for capturing, processing, storing and communicating information.  ICTs can  enhance  the  integration  and   efficiency  of  agricultural   system  by  opening  new communication  pathways  and  reducing  transaction  cost,  given  greater  accessibility  of information on price, transportation and production.

Technologies,  including  ICT  are  rapidly  transforming  the  face  of  agriculture  in industrialized countries.  Most activities in the agricultural market place are now mediated by web linked data based specifying prices, qualities and quantities demanded (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2004).  ICTs have reduced the cost and increased the spread of communication.  It is no longer something that appears only in organizations’ wish list, but a well structured  one to be used as a backbone  to  enable organization  to

deliver services effectively and efficiently.  ICT has witnessed an upsurge in recent years in almost all areas of rural life in several African countries despite the problem of accessibility, connectivity and literacy (CTA, 2003).

Agriculture, which depends largely on information exchange between  researchers, extension workers and farmers, is an area which ICT is known to have significant impact. ICTs application can be used to transmit information directly to farmers and the farming communities, for example ICT can be applied to handle agricultural issues such as water utilization and management, pest control, harvest management etc.  The emerging trend in information  and  communication  technologies  presents  opportunities  to  improve  rural farmers’   participation   in   farming.   ICTs  applications   are  also  useful   in  facilitating development  programmes  in  many  countries.  These  technologies  help  in  supporting economic and social development (Mansell and When, 1998).

Majority  of  rural  farmers  depend  entirely  on  agriculture  at  various  levels  for livelihood.  However,  disease,  pests,  soil  degradation  and  other  factors  such  as  lack  of market  for easily  perishable  crops have  greatly  affected  the total  national  incomes  and subsequently the standard of living of people in rural communities. Access to accurate and timely   information   by  rural  farmers   can  result   in   enhanced  economic   and  social development. Access to information as prescribed in government strategies requires cheap and  fast  dissemination  of  information  to  farmers. However,  in  the  rural  areas,  limited resources, including limited telecommunications and energy infrastructure, have contributed to slow implementation of such government initiatives.

All stakeholders of agricultural industry need information and knowledge to manage different phases of agriculture efficiently. These main areas of agriculture industry include crop cultivation,  water management,  fertilizer  application,  pest  management,  harvesting, post  harvest  handling,  transporting  of  food  products,  packaging,  food  preservation  and

processing,    food   quality   and   safety   management,    food   storage   and    marketing

(www.wapedia.mobi/en/ict) Rural farmers play important  roles in rural development,  participating  heavily  in food production and bearing nearly the total responsibility for processing and distribution. They are also responsible for most local crops distribution from farming centers to urban areas all over the countries.

Rural farmers as stakeholders in agriculture development confront problems of crop production and management, animal health, fishing and aquaculture, natural resources crisis and disaster management but as they operate today, lack of information on development and dissemination process posit certain treats to their livelihood.  An unexpected potential exists for application of ICTs in this wide range of endeavours  that farmers undertake in rural areas.

1.2 Problem statement

The expansion of the Internet in developing world is occurring at a very rapid pace. Government has recognized the Internet as an important tool that can be used in the fight against poverty, disease and environmental degradation but developing agencies have been neglecting the expansion of telecommunications beyond the urban areas (Zijp, 1994).  More reliable   and   accurate   information   and   knowledge   have   become   useful   assets   for development  and  makes  people  and  organization  to  be  effective  and  efficient  thereby alleviating or eradicating poverty (Duncobe, 2001).

In agriculture, easier and faster access to up-to-date market and price  information assists  farmers  and  rural  based  traders  in their  business.  Telecommunications  can also deliver  better  access  to  information  on  improved  seeds,  availability  of  fertilizers  and weather forecasting, pest control and other agricultural related services. ICT Sector reform has  promoted  large-scale  investment  in  telecommunications   infrastructure   in  African

countries, which in turn promotes the expansion and modernization of fixed networks (Fall, 2006).

Despite  the  investment  and  government  driven  telecommunication  development programmes the supply of phones and Internet services in rural and remote areas are still hampered by under investment and lack of electricity (CTA, 2003). In Nigeria today, there are more than 500 registered computer companies, 200 of which are under the umbrella of the Micro-computer  Association  of Nigeria but the  awareness  of the potentials  of these computers and their relevance to our national development and well being is just emerging (Omotayo,  2005).  Presently,  the  number  of  registered  computer  companies  under  the umbrella of the Micro-computer Association of Nigeria has rise to 300,000 (VCONNECT,

2012).

The fate of agriculture is highly dependent on the effort of the rural farmers.  A lot of  communication  media  have  been  in  use  such  as  town  criers,  wooden  gong,  oral announcement and other media of communication that can no longer stand the test of time as a result  of technological  development  with  the  increasing  population  of  the  society (Norrish, 2001).  A lot of ICTs have been developed in recent years, which include phone, internet  services,  radio and television  but the  major ICTs used in agricultural  extension delivery in Nigeria have been radio and television (Arokoyo, 2003).

These ICTs are increasingly being used especially in the urban areas.   The  urban bias in connectivity thus deprives farmers of the universal right to communicate while they make up the majority of people in rural areas of developing countries and play a central role in agriculture (FAO, 1998). However, in rural areas, there seem to be low access to ICTs considering  the absence  of ICTs facilities  in most of the  Nigerian  rural areas. In other words, the gap of the accessibility to ICTs between the urban and rural areas has become worrisome. In some cases, rural dwellers that may possess ICTs such as phone set, radio, television, DVD, etc. may still not have full access to use them effectively due to poor state of ICT facilities like electricity.

Adimorah (1990) stressed that, “our information services are still elitist, serving only 20% of the educated elite group while 80% illiterate rural dwellers wallow in information deprivation.      According  to  Obijiofor,  Inayatuallah  and  Stevenson  (2009),  preliminary research  on ICT  adoption  in  African  and  Asia  Pacific  suggests  that  there  are  obvious barriers  to their  use  in educational  and  socio-economic  development  such  as:  issue  of infrastructure support access to the ICTs, training and skills development and hierarchical socio-relations,  which determine who has access to ICTs.   According to Munyua (2000), weak-linkages  between researchers, frontline  extension workers and farmers have been a major  constraint  that  has  resulted  in  research  findings  not being  applied  by poor  rural farmers, though some extension agents and farmers now have computers for information and data management.   The  ability to connect to the Internet is still very poor affecting access to information and the ability to connect to farmers.

It has become critical to encourage the development of relevant content for experts to come up with services that address the needs of the rural farmers.   Many of  the rural farmers lack or have limited access to the resources and services required to facilitate the use  of  ICT  for  the  transformation  of  lives  of  rural  people  despite  their  importance  in ensuring stable food supply in the country.   As the rural farmers get in contact with their urban counterparts who have the enabling resources and services to make use of ICT, the need for these rural farmers to have access to these ICT becomes inevitable if they are to remain relevant in the current competitive society.

The question therefore is: What types of ICTs are available to farmers in  Enugu

State?  Are they adequately utilized by the farmers? What are the possible factors militating

against their effective usage? And what are the perceived benefits of their use in the study area?

1.3 Purpose of the study

The general purpose of the study was to ascertain the access and use of information communication technologies (ICTs) among the rural farmers in Enugu State.

Specifically, the study was designed to:

1.        ascertain types of ICTs available to the farmers in rural area of Enugu State;

2.        determine the farmers’ level of access to ICTs;

3.        determine the level of usage of ICTs by farmers;

4.        determine the extent to which these ICTs have been perceived to be effective in information dissemination to rural farmers.

5.        identify the perceived challenges to the effective use of ICTs among the  rural farmers.

1.4 Hypothesis

The socio-economic characteristics of farmers have no significant relationship with the usage of ICTs in agriculture.

1.5 Significance of the study

The more communicative individuals and organization are, the more innovative and successful they will be. This study will create awareness to farmers on the role of ICTs in agriculture.   Farmers  will benefit  from the study as it will lead to their  empowerment, increased  productivity  and improved  standard  of living  thereby  creating  some  sense  of satisfaction in their rural activities.

Information from this study will also enable the government to recognize, facilitate and support the development and use of ICTs in rural development programmes in the state. The study is considered  important  in the sense that major constraints  militating  against effective  use  of ICTs  among  rural  farmers  will  be identified  and  therefore  appropriate recommendations made.  Besides, the study will help in formulating a future strategy for the

realization and sustenance of ICTs in Nigeria agriculture. The findings will also serve as a reference material for other researchers who may be willing to conduct similar research in the future.

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