Analysis of Factors Influencing the use of ICT Among Cassava Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined factors influencing the use of ICT among cassava value chain actor (farmers) in Anambra State. A well-structured questionnaire was used to obtain relevant information from respondents. A total of 109 respondents constitutes the sample size, which were selected through simple random sampling technique. The study revealed that 39.4% of the respondents were within age of 21-40 with majority (59.6%) were male, had household size of between 1-5 persons and majority (60.2%) were First School Living Certificate (FSLC) holders. Majority (63.3%) of the respondents had farming experience of above 10 years. The study also revealed that the major perceived effects of use of ICT on respondents were timely weeding (x̄=4.34), information on land use ((x̄=4.22) and helped in information dissemination (x̄=4.17). Major constraints to use of ICT by respondents were erratic power supply (x̄=3.94) and high cost of ICT facilities (x̄=3.89). The multiple regression analysis shows that age, household size, cost of ICT servicing, cost of ICT equipment, government policies had negative and significant effect on the use of ICT on farmers while education and farming experience had positive and significant effect on the use of ICT on farmers. It is therefore recommended that farmers should be trained on the usage of ICT and they should be made to understand the relevance of ICT tools in agricultural production to improve their welfare