ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs) AMONG RICE FARMERS IN BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the factors influencing level of awareness of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among rice farmers in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling techniques was used in selecting 433 respondents. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that majority (71.1% and 70.4%) of the respondents were male and married, with a mean age, household size, farming experience, and farm size, of 35 years, 4 persons, 6 years, and 2 ha, respectively. The results also depicted that 38.6% of the respondents had secondary education and majority (75.3%) belonged to cooperative societies. Majority (89.2%) of the respondents produced between 1–5 tonnes of rice annually and their major sources of information were extension agents and television each accounting for 79.2%. More than half (54.0%) and 42.5% of the respondents had low and medium awareness of ICT. The results of regression analysis revealed that age (P<0.005), marital status (P<0.024), household (P<0.000), educational level (P<0.017) and membership of cooperatives (P<0.019) were the factors influencing the level of awareness of ICTs among the respondents in the study area. Inadequate of ICT training centers and facilities (75.3%), limited ICT literacy among extension agents (73.9%) and language barrier (73.0%) were the major constraints to awareness of ICTs which were ranked 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, respectively. The study concluded that age, marital status, household size, educational level and membership of cooperatives significantly influenced the level of awareness on ICTs. The study recommended that; regular training programmes and capacity-building workshops should be organized for farmers to improve their ICT literacy and confidence in using digital tools, ICT platforms should be developed with localized, user-friendly content in local languages to ensure that farmers receive information relevant to their needs.