Determinants in the Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Tools Among Poultry Farmers in Rivers State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study examined the determinsnts in the use of Information and Communication technology (ICTs) among poultry farmers in Rivers State. Specifically, the study sought to: ascertain the factors influencing the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools among poultry farmers; determine the perceived effect of utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools on poultry production; and ascertain the perceived constraints in utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among poultry farmers in the study area. A total of three hundred (300) questionnaires were distributed and used for the study. Data were analyzed using a four point rating scale likert scale and ANOVA. Result showed that the factors influencing ICT tools utilization were distance to the market, age, sex, education, farming experience, income and occupation at a P?0.05. The effects of ICT utilization were; facilitate information exchange among farmers, ease in purchase of farm inputs, easy accesibility of information and increased income due to new methods learnt. The factors militating against the utilization of ICT were infrastructural factor such as frequent power failure (0.654), lack of ICT policies to enhance ICT development in rural areas (0.810), concentration of modern ICT tools in urban areas (0.552), lack of awareness on the new and available ICT tools for agriculture (0.426), poor network coverage (0.421) and poor maintenance of ICT hardware (0.712); Eeconomic factor such as high cost ICT tools (0.408), illiteracy of farmers (0.681), high cost of maintenance (0.547), few agricultural programmes aired on radio/television (0.508), poor knowledge on technical know-how (0.709), poverty (0.571) and lack of ICT software and hardware (0.662) and psychological factor such as fear that things will go wrong in the use of ICT (0.531), lack of confidence in operating ICT tools (0.522) and our culture and tradition
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