SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL FACTORS AS PREDICTOR OF AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION UTILIZATION AMONG FARMERS

Abstract

Utilization of Agricultural information among rural farmers is a major challenge
facing governments, rural development experts, and stakeholders across Africa. Thus,
this study was conceived to examine socioeconomic and personal factors as a predictor of agricultural information utilization among rural farmers in Imo State Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted in conducting the study. Three research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population of the study was made up subsistence farmers in all the three senatorial district in Imo State -Nigeria. The instrument for data collection was self-designed validated survey questionnaire developed by the researcher. Data collected were analyzed using multiple regression. The findings from the study showed that all the socio-economic variables, as well as the personal factors when taken together, were effective in predicting farmers’ use of agricultural information. The observed F-ratio (F-statistics =56.216) was statistically significant at, p<.05 given 7 and 423 degrees of freedoms-an indication that the effectiveness of a combination of the independent variables in predicting farmers’ use of agricultural information could not have occurred by chance. The magnitude of the relationship between farmers’ use of information and a combination of the independent variables is reflected in the values of coefficient of multiple correlations (0.694) and multiple correlation R2 (.482). It may, therefore, be said that about 48.2% of the total variability in farmers’ use of agricultural information is accounted for by a linear combination of the personal and socio-economic variables. Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things that there is a need for change agents to identify and use farmers’ preferred media of information delivery, as this is likely to facilitate their acceptance and use of information presented to them.