This study was carried out to investigate the impact of usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on maize farmers’ livelihood in Katsina state, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of the maize farmers, identify the type of ICTs used by the maize farmers, ascertain the frequency of ICTs usage by the maize farmers, determine the factors influencing ICTs usage by the maize farmers, assess the livelihood status of maize, examine the impacts of ICTs usage on maize farmers’ yield and income and identify the constraints associated with the usage of ICTs among maize farmers. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 401 maize farmers. Primary data were collected using questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that the mean age of maize farmers was 58 years and their most important source of information on maize farming was radio and mobile phone with mean score ( ) while mean total yield in kg of maize farmers after usage of ICTs (105,732) was higher than that of before usage (60,190) and mean income of harvested by farmers was significantly higher after usage (₦ 52,774,905.86) than that of before usage (₦ 10,880,566.08). Tobit regression analysis showed that marital status (β = 3.780587; p < 0.01), farming experience (β = -0.2988452; p < 0.01); farm size (β = 9.48E-08; p < 0.01), farm income (β = -6.77701; p < 0.01), and access to credit (β = 10.06963; p < 0.01) were the factors that influence ICT usage, significantly influenced income and yield. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis showed that sex, marital status, level of education, farming experience, farm size, farm income, access to credit and extension agent had significant relationships with the ICT usage. Major constraints limiting the usage of ICTs were lack of awareness of ICT tools ( ), lack of ICT skills ( ), high cost of acquiring ICT tools ( ), poor network coverage ( ), and irregular power supply ( ). The study concluded that common ICT facilities used were radio, mobile phones, projectors and digital cameras. This research recommend that, government should establish the policies aimed at improving internet access, digital literacy, rural electrification, and affordability of ICT devices to enhance the effective utilization of modern agricultural information technologies that could lead to higher productivity and income.
Keywords: Impact, ICTs, Usage, Maize Farmers Livelihood
