ASSESSMENT OF COCOYAM FARMERS' ACCESS TO AND USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed levels of access and usage of ICTs among cocoyam farmers in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; determined ICT gadgets available to cocoyam farmers; assessed the levels of access to ICTs by the respondents and determined the level of usage of ICTs by the cocoyam farmer in the study area. Data were collected from a sample of one hundred and eighteen (118) cocoyam farmers using questionnaires from among the four districts of the study area using purposive sampling technique. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage and mean score. Data revealed that majority (53.4%) of the respondents were females with an average mean age of 35years and half the population (50.8%) of the respondents were married; majority (95.8%) had a form of formal education. The respondents were small-scale farmers cultivating an average of 3.3 hectares with 7 years of farming experience. The available ICT gadgets in the study area were mobile phones (100%), television (83.1%) and radio (46.6%). Findings further reveal that the respondents had high-level access to mobile phones (x= 4.08), radio (x= 3.96), television (x= 3.25), audio cassette (x= 3.17) and internet (x=3.04). It was also discovered that cocoyam farmers had a high level of usage of mobile phones (x = 3.86), radio (x= 3.72), television (x = 3.66) and internet (x= 3.04) in cocoyam farming. The study recommends the government’s support in the provision of physical infrastructure such as computer centres which should incorporate or strengthen the use of other ICTs and that farmers should be encouraged to access and use other ICTs.

Keywords: Access, Usage, ICTS, Cocoyam, Farmers