Awareness and Usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) among Farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to examine awareness and usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) facilities among farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Data were gathered through structured questionnaire from a total of 349 cassava farmers. Descriptive survey was the research design used on this study. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, and multiple regressions. The result shows that majority of the farmers are aged between 31-50 year (65.7%), majority are male (76%), 50% are married, majority of the farmers (85.7%) obtained formal education. Majority of the farmers have farming experience ranging from 5-15 years (74.4%), 38.1% have family size of 6-10 members. Only (41.7%) respondents have farm size of 2 hectares and above, and majority (82%) of the farmers belongs to a social organization. The regression result showed that there is a positive significant effect between awareness (t=0.000*) and usage (t=0.000*) of ICT by farmers and level of farming activities at 5% level of significance. The farmers should be encouraged to make use of ICT more in farming activities. This could be achieved through making ICT facilities available to farmers by government and non-governmental organizations. The ICT service providers in FCT can partner with the various farmers' associations and department of agriculture with aim of providing subsidized and efficient ICT service to the farmers.

Full text

Awareness and Usage of Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) among Farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
Ebisike Chiazoka1*, Fadiji Taiye Oduntan2 and Sennuga Samson Olayemi3
1,2Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, University of Abuja, Nigeria
3School of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester, Gloucester, United Kingdom,
GL76JS
*Corresponding author: Ebisike Chiazoka, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology,
University of Abuja, Nigeria; E-Mail:
Received Date: 27 August, 2021
Accepted Date: 06 September, 2021
Published Date: 09 September, 2021
Abstract
e purpose of this work was to examine awareness and usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) facilities among
farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Data were gathered through structured questionnaire from a total of 349 cassava farmers.
Descriptive survey was the research design used on this study. e data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, and multiple regressions.
e result shows that majority of the farmers are aged between 31-50 year (65.7%), majority are male (76%), 50% are married, majority of
the farmers (85.7%) obtained formal education. Majority of the farmers have farming experience ranging from 5-15 years (74.4%), 38.1%
have family size of 6-10 members. Only (41.7%) respondents have farm size of 2 hectares and above, and majority (82%) of the farmers
belongs to a social organization. e regression result showed that there is a positive signicant eect between awareness (t=0.000*) and
usage (t=0.000*) of ICT by farmers and level of farming activities at 5% level of signicance. e farmers should be encouraged to make
use of ICT more in farming activities. is could be achieved through making ICT facilities available to farmers by government and
non-governmental organizations. e ICT service providers in FCT can partner with the various farmers’ associations and department
of agriculture with aim of providing subsidized and ecient ICT service to the farmers.
Keywords: Information and Communication Technologies, Awareness, Usage, Farmers
Volume 2; Issue 1 1
Citation: Ebisike Chiazoka, Fadiji Taiye Oduntan, Sennuga Samson Olayemi (2021) Awareness and Usage of Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) among Farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Cur Tre Agri Envi Sust 2(1): 1-4.
Research Article
Introduction
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are any
devices, tools that permit the exchange or collection of data
through interaction or transmission. ICT is an umbrella term that
includes radio, television, mobile phone, internet, electronic money
transfer, etc. ICTs increase productivity, access to markets and
adaptability to weather conditions in agriculture. More effective
interventions are needed in agriculture because rising food prices
pushed over 40 million people in to poverty since 2010 [1]. The
growing global population which is expected to reach 9 billion by
2050, has heightened the demand for food and placed pressure on
already- resources. Feeding that population will require a 70 per
cent increase in food production [2]. Usage of ICT in agriculture
is increasingly becoming steady in developing countries and this
could facilitate self-reliance for national growth. Agriculture
plays a vital role in the social and economic development of most
African countries and is the main contributor to economic growth
and stability [3]. Electronic-agriculture describes an emerging eld
focused on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development
through improved information and communication processes. The
e-agriculture disseminates useful information through Decision
Support System (DSS), Management Information System (MIS)
and Expert System (ES) by infusing the User Interface and
Knowledge Management System [4].
Nigeria’s agricultural sector is the most important economic
vehicle given its capacity for wealth creation and general
wellbeing. Information is one of the major resources to increase
food production, and effective information delivery service
greatly enhances agricultural development [5]. The sector draws
upon innite sources of widely dispersed, locally contextualized
knowledge and a considerable body of research materials. It relies
upon continuous ow of information from local, regional and
world market [6]. Information and communication technologies
(ICTs) are new technologies that cannot be ignored in Africa
especially for development in all sectors agriculture inclusive.
This is because, ICT is one of the main driving forces that can
bring about development and change in this present digital age
[7]. Emenari noted that, the great transformation in the lives of
the people especially in the developing countries depends on
Journal of Current Trends in Agriculture,
Environment and Sustainability
J Cur Tre Clin Bio Res

2
advances ICTs [8]. The rapid development of ICTs continues to
have major inuence on the livelihood of people across the world.
Social research has shown that, adoption of ICTs can be a major
fuel for economic and community development in rural areas [9].
Awareness of older ICTs like radio, print media, and television
are more prevalent among farmers as compared with newer ICTs
such as internet, cable televisions, social media [10]. Singh, Kumar
and Singh, reported that Agriculture Information System (AIS)
is a computer based information system which contains all the
interrelated information which is of immense help to farmers
in managing information and policy decision making [11]. The
ICT devices that help facilitating farming activities encompassed
applications such as; radio, television, mobile phones, computers,
tablets and networking, hardware and software, satellite systems
[12,13]. In the same way, reports that radio is extensively used
to inform users on agricultural information’s, including new and
upgraded farming techniques, production management, and market
information [12,14]. This shows that farmers may take advantage
of using radio in the absence of technology especially rural
farmers. The Internet and web-based applications are extensively
used in sharing and dissemination of agricultural knowledge,
marketing of goods and services. The study conducted by Ramli,
Samah, Hassan, Omar, Bolong, and Shaffri have shown evident
that ICT is an effective solution to problems that militate against
the development of agricultural industry, such as weak marketing
linkages, poor information management, low productivity, low
income and lack of diversity [15]. Singh noted that the importance
of ICT in agriculture by sharing agricultural information system
to farmers at all level.
Usage of ICTs enables farmers to enjoy higher prots when food
prices rise and to manage their farms in a sustainable manner. In
the past, farmers sourced their propagating materials from close
sources. These days, with technology, they can buy materials
from a farmer in another state or international market. This is
possible courtesy of an e-market portal and farmers’ exchange
platform provided by Harvest Plus Nigeria. These enable them
to nd where farmers are offering quality propagating materials
across the country.
In spite of the international spread of ICTs, the availability,
benets and use impacts have been geographically uneven. In
Nigeria for instance, there are various challenges such as high cost
of ICT facilities, poor network connectivity, erratic power supply,
lack of awareness of the benets of ICT usage in agriculture,
just to mention a few which create barriers to farmers owning
and using ICTs. And this tends to make modern technology not
available to local communities and farmers found in remote
regions. Remote regions in Federal Capital Territory seem to
have a poorly developed ICT infrastructure that enhances its
agricultural information search. Although some farmers now have
ICT gargets for information and data management, most of the
gargets have limited or no internet access. Also, there is paucity
of information on the problems and factors affecting the use of
ICT by the farmers. As such, this study will seek to answer the
following research questions:
i. What are the socio-economic characteristics of farmers?
ii. How does awareness of ICT affect level of ICT usage among
farmers in the study area?
Objectives of the Study
The purpose of the study is assessing awareness and usage of
information communication technologies, (ICTs) among farmers
in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. To achieve this, the following
specic objectives were formulated;
i. Describe the socio-economic characteristics of farmers in the
study area.
ii. Ascertain how awareness of ICTs affects the level of ICT
usage among the farmers in the study area.
Methodology
The study was carried out in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.
FCT is the capital city of Nigeria. FCT was founded in 1976, it was
carved out from parts of the then state of Nassarawa, Niger and Kogi.
It is within the middle belt region of the country. Four out of the six
zones was sampled, namely; Abaji, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali,
with the population of 148,600, 402,000, 246,400, and 218,400
respectively. The territory is made up of six agricultural zones namely;
Abaji, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje,
and Kwali. The territory is located just north of Lokoja the conuence
of the Niger River and Benue River. It is bordered by the states of
Niger to the West and North, Kaduna to the northeast, Nasarawa to
the east and south, and Kogi to the southwest. Lying between latitude
9.0830c and longitude 7.5330c, FCT is geographically located in the
center of the country. The Federal Capital Territory has a land mass
of approximately 923,768 km². It is situated within the Savannah
region with moderate climatic conditions.
The indigenous inhabitants of FCT are the Gbagyi (Gwari) as
the major language, Bassa, Gwandara, Gade, Ganagana, Koro.
The major stable crops grown in the area includes; cassava, yam,
sweet potato, sorghum, maize, millet, onions, tomatoes, pepper,
rice, groundnut, cowpea, etc.
The target population is the respondents who are farmers. The
population of the study is the total number of farmers in the select
zones totaling 3025, (FCT-ADP extension services report, 2017).
Sample size was determined using Taro Yamane formulae.
Four out of the six zones was sampled. Farming communities
that are involved in farming within the four zones were randomly
selected. The method of research basically followed that of a well-
structured questionnaire administered to farmers. Two blocks was
chosen from each of the four selected zones making a total of 8
blocks. Two cells each was selected from the 8 blocks making
a total of 16 cells. The random sampling procedure used in this
survey is such that every member of the population has equal
chance of being selected. This study used a variety of instruments
in data collection which include a questionnaire, oral interviews
and documentary review. The instruments are expected to provide
precise and adequate data relevant to the objectives of the study.
Data was collected on socio-economic characteristics of the
respondents, awareness and level of usage of ICT in farming.
Both descriptive and inferential statistics tools were the analytical
techniques employed in this research.
The regression model is specied as;
Y = a + b1X1 + b2X2 + µ …………………… (Equation 1)
Where:
Y = Level of ICT usage (Dependent Variable).
a = constant
b = regression coefcient
µ = Error terms
X1 = Awareness of ICT usage
X2 = Usage
J Cur Tre Clin Bio Res Volume 2; Issue 1

3J Cur Tre Clin Bio Res
Results and Discussion
The result in Table 1, shows that majority of the farmers are
aged between 31-50 year (65.7%), majority are male (76%), 50%
are married, majority of the farmers (85.7%) obtained formal
education. Majority of the farmers have farming experience
ranging from 5-15 years (74.4%), 38.1% have family size of
6-10 members. Only (41.7%) respondents have farm size of 2
hectares and above, and majority (82%) of the farmers belong to
a social organization.
Table 1: Distribution of Respondents According to Socio-
economic Characteristics (n = 328)
Socio-economic
characteristics of
the respondents
Frequency Percentage
Age (Years)
21 – 30 years 27 8.2
31 – 40 years 93 28.5
41 – 50 years 122 37.2
51 – 60 years 63 19.1
Above 60 years 23 7.0
Gender
Male 249 76
Female 79 24
Marital Status
Single 95 29
Married 163 50
Divorce 41 12.5
Windowed 29 8.5
Educational Qualication
No formal Education 47 14.3
Quranic Education 61 18.54
Adult Education 54 16.5
Primary Education 89 27.1
Secondary Education 54 16.5
Tertiary Education 23 7.1
Years of Farming
0 – 5 years 21 6.4
6 – 10 years 116 35.0
11 – 15 years 126 38.4
16 – 20 years 47 14.3
Above 20 years 18 5.5
Family Size
1- 5 Member 95 29.0
6 – 10 Member 125 38.1
11 – 15 Member 98 29.9
Above 15 Member 10 3.0
Farm Size
0.5 – 1 49 14.9
1.1 – 1.5 68 20.7
1.6 – 2 74 22.6
2.1 – 2.5 78 23.8
Member of Social Organization
Yes 269 82
No 59 18
Effect of Awareness on Usage of ICTs by Farmers in the Study
Area
Awareness of ICT facilities by farmers has a positive signicant
effect on ICT usage (p< 0.01). This indicates that the level of
ICT usage in the studied area will increase by 109% for every
1% increase in awareness of ICT. This implies that there is a
positive signicant effect on awareness of ICT by farmers and
level of ICT usage in the studied area (t= 10.95685). This agrees
with Aker, 2010 that majority of the respondents are aware of
the potentials, opportunities, and benets of ICTs as a means of
receiving agricultural information. Aker, 2010 also observed that
over the past decade, mobile phone and other ICT tools awareness
has spread rapidly in developing countries of Africa, Asia and
Latin America. Mobile phone signicantly reduces communication
and information costs to poor farmers in developing countries.
This not only provide new opportunities for rural farmers to obtain
access to information on agricultural technologies but also to use
these media tools in agricultural extension systems.
Usage of ICT by cassava farmers is positively signicant (p
< 0.01) in the study area. This indicates that the level of farming
activities in the study area will increase by 78% for every 1%
increase in the usage of ICT. This concurs with Mtega and Msungu,
2013. ICT applications such as calls and Short Messaging Services
have been found to be used often by farmers. The regression result
in Table 2, shows a high coefcient of regression determination
(R2) of 71%. This means that there is a 71% variation in the
dependent variable (level of ICT usage), which was caused by
changes in the independent variables (awareness and usage)
included in the regression model. The inuence of the independent
variables on the dependent variable was shown by the value of
F-statistics (120), which was highly signicant at 5% level of
signicance (p-value = 0.000000).
Table 2: Effects of awareness on usage of ICT by cassava
farmers in the study area
Variable Coefcient Stan Error t-stat p-value
Constant 0.193697 0.229536 0.843863 0.4029
Awareness 0.584716 0.053365 10.95685 0.0000*
Usage 0.501922 0.064057 7.835510 0.0000*
t* is signicant at 10% (0.01)
R2 = 0.714 = 71.4%
Adj R2 = 0.708 = 70.8%
F-Statistic = 120.05 (p-value = 0.000)
Conclusions
From the result of the analysis of this survey, it is concluded
that most of the cassava farmers in FCT are within the economic
active age, has low educational qualication even though educated,
have adequate farming experience with large family size and small
farm size. The study concluded that cassava farmers are aware of
as well as use ICT facilities such as GSM, radio set, television,
print media, internet/e-mail, computer, social media. Information
Communication Technologies should be accessible, not only the
physical availability of communication equipment and methods
but also the existence of the right conditions for their use in getting
Volume 2; Issue 1

4J Cur Tre Clin Bio Res
information. These should include ease of use of the technologies,
regular electric power supply and improving network connectivity
also reducing its cost. Overcoming these challenges would ensure
increased use of ICTs for agricultural activities.
The study found out that awareness of ICT and the level of usage
of ICT impact positively in farming activities in FCT.
Recommendation
ICT facilities should be made accessible and affordable to farmers
in the rural ears in order to increase the usage of ICT in these areas.
Infrastructural facilities, internet connectivity should also be
improved in these local areas. This will encourage more farmers
in accessing information about new innovations, adopting them,
thereby increasing productivity.
References
1. Work Bank (2011) ICT in agriculture: connecting smallholders
to knowledge, network, and Institution, world 64604: 424.
2. FAO (2011) The role of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) in the improvement of Agricultural
value chains.
3. Bhalekar P, Ingle S and Pathak K (2015) The study of some
ICT projects in agriculture for rural development of India
76-78.
4. Behera BS, Das TK, Jishnu KJ, Behera RA, Behera AC, et al.
(2015) E Governance Mediated Agriculture for Sustainable
Life in India. Procedia Computer Science 48: 623-629.
5. Olaniyi OA (2013) Accessibility and relevance of ICTs among
cassava farmers in Nigeria. African Journal of Agricultural
Research 8: 4514-4522.
6. Akinbile LA and Alabi OE (2010) Use of information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) among sh farmers
in Oyo State Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural Extension 14:
25-35.
7. Olaniyi OA and Adewale JG (2014) Women farmers’
perception and utilization of Marketing information on
cassava in Ogun State Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural
Extension 18: 25-37.
8. Emenari OG (2004) Internet broadcasting: Possibilities and
challenges In: Media Technology, issues and trends. Uwakwe,
O (ed) Afrika-link Books. Enugu, Nigeria 36-47.
9. Osiakade IL (2010) Determinants of use of information and
communication technologies among agricultural researchers
in Edo State, Nigeria. Int J Appl Agric Apicult Res 6:82-90.
10. Fawole OP, and Olajide BR (2012) Awareness ans Use of
Information Communication Technology by Farmers in Oyo
State, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural and Food Information
13: 326-337.
11. Singh KM, Kumar A, Singh RKP (2015a) Role of Information
and Communication Technologies in Indian Agriculture: An
Overview.
12. Munyua H, Adera E, and Jensen M (2008) ICT-Applications
to Align Global Resources with a Growing Population. Grand
Societal Challenges in information systems research and
education 2: 11-15.
13. Pande N and Deshmukh P (2015) ICT: A Path towards Rural
Empowerment through Telecommunication, Egovernance,
and E-Agriculture. IBMRD’s Journal of Management &
Research 4: 47-54.
14. Yimer M (2015) The Role of ICT for Good Governance and
Agricultural Development in Ethiopia: Local Evidence from
Southern Ethiopia. International Journal of Political Science
and Development 3: 30-39.
15. Ramli SA, Samah BA, Hassan MS, Omar SZ, Bolong J, et
al. (2015) Potential Benets of ICT for Youth Agro-based
Entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Journal of Applied Sciences 15:
411.
Volume 2; Issue 1
Copyright: ©2021 Ebisike Chiazoka, et al. is is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.