AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF GSM MOBILE PHONE IN DISSEMINATING INFORMATION TO FARMERS IN BAUCHI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

1.1 Introduction

Agricultural extension describes the services that provide farmers with the access to knowledge and information they need to increase productivity and sustainability of their production systems and improve their quality of life and livelihood. An assessment of various ICTs currently in use to disseminate information to rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa shows that ICTs are yet to make a meaningful impact on the provision of extension services. If crop farmers are crucial to agriculture and rural development and that use of ICTs promise a boost for agricultural and rural development, then, a study on the use of ICTs in disseminating agricultural information among crop farmers will be very important.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

In rural areas of Africa, the radio, television and telephone have remained the most frequently accessed ICTs. They are used to relay information available to most people in the rural areas. Adejo (2007) confirmed that several years of research have revealed that market information in the service most welcome by farmers; when they are better informed, they are most able to sell their produce for higher profits. Further, it was shown in many developing countries by Omotayo (2005) the initiative of adoption of ICTs in Agricultural and rural development are receiving a boost, for instance in Uganda, bold development have been taken by the government, development agencies and governmental organizations (NGO).

With the effective adoption of ICTs as channels of extension communication, which enhances diffusion of the information content to the right audience, at the right time the much needed development in agriculture especially in the developing countries of Africa would be achieved (Adejo, 2007). The priority therefore today is to ensure access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) among all stakeholders in agricultural production. CTA Spore (2004) has reported the objectives of a World summit on information society (WSIS) held in Geneva, December 2003 was to link people to each other through a global village ICT installation process but in rural Africa the objective still remain elusive as the traditional radio and television are still the most widely used.

The challenges associated to poor access to ICTs by rural dwellers include: erratic network coverage, poor infrastructures of the service providers, especially in the rural areas, high cost of tariffs, lack of power supply, illiteracy level and inconsistent government policies (Orokoya 2003). It is widely recorded in most developed countries that minimal attention is being given to reception and retention of information accessed through ICTs as compared to advanced countries, which several conferences and declarations made to correct the imbalance (CTA, 2005).

The Nigerian extension delivery is however, based on the T&V system, traditionally supported by mobile video, television and radio. Since mid 1990s there has been an explosive growth in the number of NGOs involved in agricultural development (Orokoya, 2003). Typical among them are SHELL Petroleum Company, which mostly is involved in community development. Others are British American Tobacco (BAT) and African Cotton (AFCOT) both of which are interested in the mass production of commodity for their companies’ raw materials. The agricultural information comes from research institutions, which generate new technologies to farmers. Thus, it follows that the agricultural research information service centre is the custodian of several information resources, including CD-ROM databases (which carries researches factual bibliography), multimedia knowledge bases, and in-house publications. Other sources include also the agricultural information providers, such as international organizations and community based organizations (Omotayo, 2003).

Therefore, in Bauchi Local Government Area where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to evaluate the use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information to Farmers.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Nigerian farmers are being left behind in terms of use of information and communication technology in developing and sustaining their agricultural production. Small scale farmers which dominate the landscape of developing countries need to improve farming through acquiring adequate knowledge and accurate information. Inability of farmers to access vital information or the information poorly disseminated with no adequate feedback has been a great challenge in the development of agriculture in Nigerians. Hence the need to ensuring access to adequate and accurate agricultural information through relevant ICT to crop farmers.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to evaluate the use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information to Farmers in Bauchi Local Government Area. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To describe the socio-economic characteristics of crop farmers in Bauchi Local Government Area.
2. To examine crop farmers level of awareness about GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information in Bauchi Local Government Area.
3. To identify the level of use of ICT among crop farmers in the Bauchi Local Government Area.
4. To determine the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information among crop famers in Bauchi Local Government Area.
5. To identify the problems associated with the use of ICT among crop farmers in the Bauchi Local Government Area.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Is there any significant relationship between socio-economic characteristics and use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information among crop famers in the study area?
• Are crop farmers aware about GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information in the study area?
• What is the level of use of ICT among crop farmers in the study area?
• What are the socio-economic characteristics of crop farmers in the study area?
• What are the problems associated with the use of ICT among crop farmers in the study area?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

• H0: There is no significant relationship between socio-economic characteristics and use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information among crop famers in Bauchi Local Government Area
• H1: There is a significant relationship between socio-economic characteristics and use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information among crop famers in Bauchi Local Government Area

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1.7 Significance of Study

In a developing country like Nigeria and Bauchi State in particular, many farmers do not have a single channel that serves a comprehensive source for all their information needs. It is of paramount importance therefore that crop farmers replace the old media with the new ones so that the huge gap that exist between the information residing in agricultural knowledge centers and rural communities could be overcome. It is also expected that this research work will benefit the practicing farmers in the study area by assisting them greatly towards increasing productivity and sustainability as new ideas about modern farming practice can be disseminated to them easily and in a timely manner.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Evaluation of the use of GSM Mobile Phone in Disseminating Information to Farmers in Bauchi Local Government Area.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Customers: a party that receives or consumes products (goods or services) and has the ability to choose between different products and suppliers.

Financial institution: A financial institution (FI) is a company engaged in the business of dealing with financial and monetary transactions, such as deposits, loans, investments and currency exchange.

Computerized: equipping something with or the usage of and associated automation by computers and software.