Assessment of the Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Smallholder Rice Farmers' use of ICTS to access Market information in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the socioeconomic factors affecting smallholder rice farmers' use of ICTs to access market information in Nasarawa State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample respondents for the study, while primary data was used for the study, collected with a well-structured questionnaire. The study's objectives were achieved using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, and mean, as well as chi-square test and multiple regression analysis. The result revealed that the majority (70.7%) of the respondents were male, with a mean age and household size of 39 and 6, respectively. Most (38.6%) of the farmers had secondary education, 64.3% did not belong to cooperative societies, and 68.1% had farming as their primary occupation. The average farming experience, farm size, and annual income of the farmers were 11 3.187 and N471, 312.68, respectively. The majority, 93.9%, of the farmers never used ICT to access market information and digital skills such as basic computer knowledge, navigation of the internet, email marketing, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. The result of the regression analysis showed that gender, age, membership of cooperatives, farming experience, farm size, and annual income of the farmers significantly influenced the use of ICT to access market information. The study, however, revealed that the cost of ICT devices, limited access to a reliable internet connection, lack of digital literacy skills, unavailability of information tailored to meet specific needs, and lack of funding were the major hindrance to the use of ICT to access market information by smallholder rice farmers. The study recommends that efforts be put in place by the state government to increase digital literacy and training to improve digital literacy among smallholder rice farmers.