Publisher: Asian Economic and Social Society ISSN (P): 2304-1455, ISSN (E): 2224-4433 Volume 2 No. 2 June 2012. Assessment of Access to Information and Communication Technology among Agricultural Extension Officers in Kwara State, Nigeria Omotesho, K. F. (Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ilorin, Nigeria) Ogunlade, I. O. (Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ilorin, Nigeria) Muhammad Lawal (Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria) Citation: Omotesho, K. F., Ogunlade, I. O. and Muhammad Lawal (2012): “Assessment of Access to Information and Communication Technology among Agricultural Extension Officers in Kwara State, Nigeria”, Asian Journal Agriculture and Rural Development, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 220-225. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(2), pp. 220-225 220 Author(s) Omotesho, K. F. Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ilorin, Nigeria Email: kfomotesho@yahoo.com Ogunlade, I. O. Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ilorin, Nigeria Muhammad Lawal Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria Assessment of Access to Information and Communication Technology among Agricultural Extension Officers in Kwara State, Nigeria Abstract The study examined the factors associated with the level of access of Agricultural Extension officers in Kwara State to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It also identified the constraints to the usage of ICT for the purpose of sourcing agricultural information. Data for the study were collected from the Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) and Extension Agents (EAs) of the Kwara State Agricultural Development Project (KWADP) through the use of a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed for the data analysis. The study revealed that about 70% of the EAs do not earn above N20, 000. Only8.8% of the EAs possessed university degrees and none had access to computer systems at work. All the SMSs had official computers, although none of the computers were connected to the internet. Income of the respondents was found to be significant and positively related to access to ICT. The numbers of years on the job and the age of the respondents had negative but significant relationship with access. Apart from the general constraints to the use of ICT such as, high cost of personal computer, inadequate electricity supply and poor internet access, poor training and technological knowhow were also identified as specific constraints faced by the EAs. The study therefore recommended the need for easier access by all agricultural extension officers to ICT. Besides, training workshops should be organized for Extension officers in the area of ICT and computer appreciation. Keywords: Access to ICT, Extension Officers, Pearson Moment Correlation, Likert-type Scale, Kwara State Introduction Improved agricultural production is the major weapon in the fight against world hunger, improving rural livelihood and increasing economic growth. The World Development Report of the World Bank (2008) argued that the growth in the agricultural sector contributes proportionally more to poverty reduction than growth in any other economic sector. This argument is supported by the levels of commitment of various economies to agriculture world over. Any effort towards a meaningful improvement of agriculture in Nigeria must be targeted at the rural farmers who constitute the bulk of agricultural production in Nigeria. Information is a vital resource and has its application in rural, agricultural, social and industrial development (Nwachukwu et al., 2009). A prime challenge of the typical Nigerian rural farmer is the dearth of timely, up to date agricultural information in spite of several research findings lying in shelves in various research organizations. For instance, inadequate information may be responsible for the low level of yields among farmers in spite of availability of improved seed varieties (Idachaba 2000). Agricultural extension officers are the direct link bridging the communication gap between the agricultural researchers and the farmers In order to perform this role effectively and efficiently, agricultural extension personnel must have steady access to up to date agricultural information. This brings to fore the need for a comprehensive and well- articulated agricultural extension program which ensures adequate and timely delivery of services to farmers if meaningful growth is to be achieved in the agricultural sector. The potentials of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to make agricultural extension in developing countries more effective appear unassailable (Omotayo,2005).ICT is commonly used to embrace a multitude of media including telephone, television, video, telex, voice information systems, fax as well as those requiring the use of the personal computers fitted with a mailto:kfomotesho@yahoo.com Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(2), pp. 220-225 221 modem or supply technologies that facilitate communication, processing and transmission of information by electronic means ranging from radio and television to telephone (fixed or mobile) and the internet (Warren, 2001; CTA, 2003; Omotayo, 2005). Nkwocha et al, 2009, reported that ICT can promote access to and sharing of information in agriculture and allied industries. The inherent advantages in the pluralistic and seamless nature of information flow via ICT, if properly explored, will have a significant positive effect on the productivity of extension service providers. The international network of computers in particular is a global information superhighway and a haven of sort for continuously updated information on all fields of study. In spite of the abundant agricultural information hoisted on the internet, farmers’ productivity has continued to be hindered by poor access to timely information. According to Omotayo (2005), most Nigerian farmers are illiterate, live in rural areas; hence have no knowledge on the use of information facilities like computer/internet. Although it is expected that agricultural extension will rise up to this challenge, the fact that little or no change is noticeable in the farmers’ agricultural practices call to question the quality of agricultural extension officers who possibly are themselves not aware of agricultural information most of which are available on-line due probably to inadequate access to the ICT. Available statistics show that there is very little knowledge on the use of ICT among extension officers across Nigeria. For instance 57.14% and 55.71% of extension officers in the North-Central and South-West Nigeria respectively, do not have requisite knowledge in computer usage (Ndag et al. 2008). While there has been several studies evaluating the use of ICT in information dissemination to farmers, not much has been done on the use of ICT in sourcing for agricultural information by extension service providers. In KWADP, SMSs and EAs play important roles in extension service delivery. The SMSs are usually involved in giving training in specific areas of agriculture to the EAs who in turn are required to pass the information to the farmers. Very little information is available on the level of access and use of ICT by these two categories of extension workers. This study therefore compares the socio-economic characteristics of the SMSs and EAs and the relationship between such socio-economic characteristics and the extension officers’ access to ICT. It also identified the constraints faced by extension officers’ in accessing ICT for the purpose of sourcing agricultural information. Objectives of the Study The main objective of this study is to carry out an assessment of access to ICT among extension officers in Kwara State. The specific objectives are: i. To determine the socio-economic characteristics of SMSs and EAs in Kwara State; ii. To determine the relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics and access to ICT among the extension officers; iii. To identify the major constraints to ICT access among the extension officers. Methodology The study area is Kwara State, Nigeria. Complete enumeration technique was employed due to the small size of the entire population. Hence, all seventy nine (79) Extension Agents (EAs) and twenty (20) Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) of the Kwara State Agricultural Development Project (KWADP) constituted the respondents. Data was collected with the use of a structured questionnaire. Simple descriptive statistics involving the use of frequencies and percentages was used to compare the socio-economic characteristics of the two groups of extension officers. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was employed to examine the relationship between the following selected socio- economic variables and respondents’ access to ICT: X1 = monthly income in Naira X2 = work experience in years X3 = dummy for educational level (1 for university graduates, 0 otherwise) X4 = household size X5 = age of respondent in years X6 = Gender (1 for male, 0 for female) X7 = dummy for job designation (1 for SMS, 0 otherwise) Access to ICT was scored 1 for availability of any form of access, 0 otherwise A five point likert - type scale was employed in measuring the constraints faced by the agricultural extension officers as follows: Strongly disagree = 1; disagree = 2; indifferent = 3; agree = 4; strongly agree = 5. The respondents were requested to rank a list of possible problems associated with their access to ICT. The ranking was based on average score of the respondents ranking of the problems. Results and Discussion Socio-economic Characteristics This section presents the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents such as income, experience, education status, household size, age and job designation. The Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(2), pp. 220-225 222 distribution of the socio- economic characteristics of the respondents are as presented in table 1. Table 1: Selected Socio-Economic Characteristics of Agricultural Extension Officers Variables Extension Agents Matter Specialists Frequency % Frequency % i. Income ≤ N 10000 5 6.3 0 0 N 10001 – N 20000 50 63.3 4 20 N 20001 – N 30000 24 30.4 15 75 > N 30000 0 0 1 5 Total 79 100 20 100 ii. Experience < 10 years 36 45.6 5 25 ≥ 10 years 43 54.4 15 75 Total 79 100 20 100 iii. Highest Education Status School Certificate 21 26.6 0 0 OND 27 34.2 0 0 NCE 4 5.1 0 0 HND 20 25.3 7 35 First Degree 5 6.3 8 40 Higher Degree 2 2.5 5 25 Total 79 100 20 100 iv. Household size 1-6 31 39.2 6 30 >6 48 60.8 14 70 v. Age ≤ 30 6 7.6 0 0 31- 50 59 74.7 18 90 >50 14 17.7 2 10 Total 79 100 20 100 Source: Field Survey, 2010 With mean incomes of N 17,555.30 and N 23,304.00 for EAs and SMSs respectively, the average monthly income of the extension officers appear too low for them to afford the purchase of personal computers. The mean years of work experience given as 12.3 years for EAs and 15 years for SMSs can be expected to have a positive effect on the extension officers’ disposition to ICT. This is because length of time on the job could portend negative influence on attitude since ICT is a new innovation. The fact that only 8.8% of the EAs had university degrees is worrisome given the fact that the use of ICT in sourcing information requires intellectual ability. 65% of the SMSs are university graduates and can be expected to have higher access. The modal household sizes stood at 7 for EAs and 10 for SMSs. The larger the household size, the larger the negative financial impact on the respondents with implications for ICT access. The study also revealed that about 70% of the agricultural extension officers were below the mean ages of 42.5 for EAs and 43 for SMSs respectively .Still being relatively young, it can be expected that they should be able to adapt to new innovation in agricultural development brought about by ICT. Access to ICT This section examines the level and nature of extension officers’ access to ICT. The nature and the level of extension officers’ access to ICT is as presented in table 2 Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(2), pp. 220-225 223 Table 2: Respondents Access to ICT Variables Extension Agents Matter Specialists Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage iv. Access to Official P.C. Yes 0 0 20 100 No 79 100 0 0 Total 79 100 20 100 v. Connectivity of Official PC to the Internet Yes - - 0 0 No - - 20 100 Not Applicable 79 100 0 0 Total 79 100 20 100 vi. Private Ownership of PC Yes 9 11.4 13 65 No 70 88.6 7 35 Total 79 100 20 100 vii. Connectivity of Private PC to the Internet Yes 2 2.5 4 20 No 7 8.9 9 45 Not Applicable 70 88.6 7 35 Total 79 100 20 100 viii. Mode of Internet Access Personal 2 2.5 4* 20 Handset 12 15.2 11* 55 Cybercafé 17 21.5 20* 100 None 48 60.76 0 0 Total 79 100 Source: Field Survey, 2010 *Multiple responses Table two shows that none of the EAs had computers in their offices. This is at variance with the SMSs, all of whom have access to official computers. While 11.4% of the EAs had personal computers of their own, only 2.5% of these personal computers were connected to the internet with about one - fifth of them paying visits to cyber cafes. This points to a very poor access level among the extension agents with its implications for their level of knowledge of agricultural information available on-line. The level of access recorded among Subject Matter Specialists was observed to be much better with 65% of them owning personal computers. Even though all SMSs have computers in their offices none of these computers was connected to the internet. This may explain the reason for all of them visiting cyber cafes. The difference in level of access between both groups may not be unconnected to the varied job designation. Extension agents being the field officers are mostly on the road and hence may require a more mobile means of access. Selected Socio-economic Characteristics and Access to ICT This subsection carried out an assessment of the relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics of the EAs. As revealed earlier (Table 2), all the SMSs had access to ICT. Since the analysis of the relationship between their socioeconomic characteristics and access to ICT could not be carried out, the results of the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics and access to ICT among the EAs are as presented in Table 3. Table 3: Result of Partial Correlation Analysis between Selected Socio-economic Characteristics and Access to ICT among EAs Selected Socio-economic Characteristics PPMC Correlation Coefficients Income (X1) -0.157 Experience (X2) -0.481** Education (X3) 0.270** House hold size (X4) -0.482** Age (X5) -0.555** Gender (X6) 0.11 Source: Data Analysis, 2010 NB **Coefficient significant at 1% Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(2), pp. 220-225 224 As shown in Table 3, experience, education, household size and age were found to be related to the respondents’ access to ICT. While education was positively related to access, all other related characteristics showed a negative correlation with the respondents’ access to ICT. Education plays a significant role in creating awareness and interest in innovations. It is also fundamental to the understanding of the usage, and functionalities of computer appliances. As shown in Table 3, educational level of the EAs was found to be significantly and positively related to their access. This therefore implies that the more educated the respondents were, the better their access to ICT. It also explained about 27% of the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and access to ICT. Older people are likely to have put in more years of work experience and be more resistant to change and innovations. With age and experience having about 50% correlation with ICT, it can be implied from this study that the older and or more experienced the respondents, the lower their access to ICT. In view of the effect of household size on their per capita income, increase in household size reduced access to ICT among the EAs. This is as shown in Table 3 where household size had about 50% relationship with access to ICT among EAs. Therefore, the higher the household size, the lower the access. This is probably due to the negative effect of higher household size on the available income of the respondents. Constraints to ICT Access among Respondents This section examines the constraints to ICT usage among the extension officers. The constraints to ICT among the respondents are as presented in Table 5 Table 5: Constraints to ICT Usage among Respondents Constraints Extension Agents Matter Specialists Mean Mean High cost of ICT equipment. 4.48 4.3 Inadequate Electricity Supply 4.34 5 Weak Communication 3.91 4.05 Distant Location of ICT Facility 4 2 Low Economic Status 3.95 3.3 Low Educational Level 2.32 1 Poor Technical Know-how 3.82 1.75 Poor Training on ICT 3.89 1.8 High Cost of Internet Access 4.1 4.85 Fear of ICT Usage 1.89 1 Source: Field Survey, 2010 Table 5 reveals that high cost of ICT equipment, inadequate electricity supply, weak communication and high cost of internet access were major constraints common to both EAs and SMSs in terms of their access to ICT. Furthermore, low economic status and distant location of ICT facilities constituted additional constraints to the EAs in acquiring access to ICT. This may be as a result of the low income level of the EAs and the field nature of the EAs job.The fact that poor technological knowhow and poor training were also identified as constraints to ICT access by the EAs generally implies that there is generally low level of education among the EAs. Conclusion and Recommendations This study was embarked upon with a view to assessing the level of access to ICT among agricultural officers in Kwara State. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that agricultural extension officers particularly the EAs have low level of access to ICT. This is in spite of the importance of ICT to effective agricultural extension service delivery. In order to improve on the situation, this study makes the following recommendations: There is the need for an upward review of the salary of extension officers. This is because an increased income would guarantee better chances of personal acquisition of ICT equipment for the officers. In the interim, agricultural extension officers should be assisted to access ICT at affordable prices such as through hire purchase arrangements with payment extended over a period of time. Members are also encouraged to take advantage of cooperative societies common in most government establishments to acquire ICT devices at reduced interest rates and convenient payment terms. Government should make adequate provision for internet facilities for use by extension service providers particularly the SMSs in their various offices. In this regard, laptops equipped with modems are recommended for EAs given the field nature of their job. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(2), pp. 220-225 225 While the problem of electricity is being addressed at the national level, alternate power sources such as generator sets should be provided in offices. The solar energy alternative which is not only cheaper but also environmental friendly is recommended. 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