Information and Communication Technology Usage among Extension Workers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The ability of the extension workers to access right and updated knowledge and information will assist them to accomplish their job as front liners in the agricultural extension delivery system. The study assessed the use of ICTs among extension agents in Kwara State ADP. One hundred and twenty extension agents were selected from all the zones. Data for the study were obtained with the aid of questionnaires aadministered to extension agents. The majority of the extension agents were in the age range of 41-50 years, were males (70.8%) and married (87.5%). The entire extension agents had formal education with the HND holders having the highest percentage of 39.2%. Most of the respondents had working experience of about 11-20 years. The result shows a low usage of IPAD (25.4%) and organization website (40.8%). ICT usage in agriculture shows that it was used mainly for dissemination of valuable information to farmers on new breeds and variety of crops (93.3%) However, on the level of severity of the constraints, ‘lack of exposure to ICT’ was ranked 1st(( ̅ 2.059). The result shows a positive correlation between ICT use and educational level (t=0.010).