Farmers' use of mobile phone-based services for accessing agriculture and rural development information in northern zone of Edo State, Nigeria

Telephone-based services are becoming widespread and could be useful in agriculture and rural development (ARD). This study assessed the use of mobile phone based services (MPBSs) among farmers in the northern zone of Edo State. A multistage sampling procedure was used to draw a sample of 150 respondents. Data on the objectives were obtained with structured questionnaire and analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean, Likert scale and Spearman rho correlation. Results show that majority of respondents were males (72.7%), within the age group of between 51-60 years (53.3%), married (80.0%), had family size of 5-8 persons (62.0%) and had telephones (94.7%). The frequently accessed and regularly used MPBS were phone calls (x̅ =2.57; 3.39) and SMS (x̅ =2.28; 3.29).The ARD information frequently accessed using MPBSs included farmers’ meetings (x̅ =2.26), planting/breeding materials (x̅ =2.17), community meetings (x̅ =2.56), warnings and alarms (x̅ =2.47) and community projects (x̅ =2.52). Constraints to usage of MPBSs included shortage of capital to recharge, dearth of knowledge on application of MPBSs and poor electricity supply There was significant correlation between respondents’ age (r=-0.401), education (r=0.413) as well as farming experience (r=-0.229) and frequency of usage of MPBSs to access ARD information. It was concluded that access and usage of mobile phone based services was low due to several constraints. ARD information should be disseminated using MPBS and farmers’ sensitization and capacity building on MPBSs is necessary to improve extension delivery.