Effectiveness of ICT-Based Agricultural Extension Services on Farmers’ Productivity in Kano State, Nigeria.
This study assesses the effectiveness of information and communication technology (ICT)-based agricultural extension services on farmers’ productivity in Kano State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 380 farming households from six local government areas (Doguwa, Tudun Wada, Dambatta, Bichi, Gaya and Wudil) in three Agricultural Development Programme zones, and data were collected with a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. Most respondents were male (97.11%) and married (88.42%), and 67.10% were aged 41–60 years. Secondary education was the most common level (35.53%), while 18.42% had no formal education. Most farmers (92.37%) cultivated 1–5 hectares, and 43.68% had 11–20 years of farming experience. About 86.58% earned ₦10,000,000 or less from farming. Only 11.32% had access to credit, 52.63% had contact with extension services, and 84.74% belonged to cooperative associations. The sampled farmers were mostly male, middle-aged or older smallholders with limited access to credit and uneven extension contact. Extension programmes should therefore use channels that reach farmers with little formal education, such as voice messages and radio, work through cooperatives, and address credit constraints.
Keywords: ICT-based extension, agricultural extension, farmers’ productivity, effectiveness.
