ABSTRACT
Despite the fact that information and communication
technologies (ICTs) have been proposed as a means to improve extension delivery
in Nigeria, very little has been done to identify the ICT training need of
agricultural extension agents. The study examined the ICT training need of
agricultural extension agents in Bayelsa and Rivers States of Nigeria. A
descriptive survey design, content validated and pretested questionnaire were
used to collect data from 100 public extension agents in the two States. Descriptive
statistics, T-tests and stepwise regression were used to analyse the data with
the help of SPSS version 20 Software. The study revealed that hardware,
software and World wide web were not frequently used for extension activities.
There were differences in ICT training need for hardware, word-processing,
statistical and presentation software, World wide web, social media and
electronic mail according to State, sex, income, specialty of EAs, location of
operational area, educational qualification, age and experience of extension
agents. Selected socioeconomic characteristics determines ICT training need.
Human, financial, policy, infrastructural and institutional constraints prevent
extension agents from accessing training in ICT. The study recommends among
others training in the use of hardware, software and World wide web for
extension agents taking into consideration the sex, location, income of
extension agents. Moreover, there should be stakeholders collaboration to
address the numerous constraints preventing agricultural extension agents from
accessing ICT training.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter examines the Information and Communication
Technologies Training Needs of Extension Agents in Bayelsa and Rivers States,
Nigeria. It discusses the background to the study, statement of the problem,
research questions, objectives of the study, hypothesis, significance of the
study, scope and definition of terms.
Background to the Study
Agriculture as a field of study, is concerned with activities
of rearing animals, cultivation of soil to grow crops, and improvement of the
quality of agricultural produce, products and by-products for utilisation by
man, animals and industries. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of many
nations and in most developing countries, agriculture provides employment for
over 70 percent of the entire population (Anthony, 2010). For instance, in
Benin, Tossou and Zinnah (2005) asserted that agriculture is the foundation of
the economy, accounting for about 70 percent of export income and 40 percent of
Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy as
the sector remains the principal source of livelihood for more than 52 percent
of the population and contributes 14.2 percent to the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) (Raghavalu, 2012).
In Mozambique, agriculture is the pillar of the national
economy with 80 percent of the population employed in the agriculture sector
and 11 percent contribution to the national GDP
(Ministry of Agriculture, 2010). The strength of the Ghanaian economy is based
on agriculture, which contributes some 45 percent to the nation's GDP and
employs about 70 percent of its labour force (Okorley, Gray & Reid, 2009).
In the case of Nigeria the situation is not very different. In addition to
petroleum sector, agricultural sector is a key sector in the Nigerian economy
with the sector accounting for over 26.8 percent of the national GDP and two
thirds of the employment (Umaru & Zubairu, 2012).
The rural farmers are the backbone of agricultural production
in Nigeria. Largely, the resource poor with fragmented farm plots, indigenous
agricultural production and post-harvest activities, the rural farmers have
continued to provide some level of sustenance and even contribute to the
economic growth (Omotesho, Ogunlade & Muhammad-Lawal, 2012a). Nigeria is
largely described as an agrarian society with at least 70 percent of her estimated
population living in the rural and sub-urban areas constituting the major food
producers (Ibe, 2011). Despite the endowment of Nigeria with 74 million
hectares of arable land and 2.5million hectares of irrigable land, Nigeria is
unable to take comparative advantage of the climatic condition, the large
expanse of land and ever increasing teaming population to make her sufficient
in food production, irrespective of variety of crops that thrive well with
maximum yield in different ecological zones of the country (Oriola, 2009). The
problems militating against agricultural productivity in Nigeria had been
traced to use of primitive technologies and over-dependence on human labour
(Ibe, 2011) and ineffective extension system (Nwachukwu & Kanu, 2011).
Nigeria's Government in a bid to achieve sufficiency in food
production and food security, introduced several programmes such as School to
Land Project, Farmers Settlement Scheme,
Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, River Basin Development Authority
(RBDA), Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), Federal
Roads Management Agency (FERMA), Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment
Programme (SURE-P) and Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) which is the
extension arm of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD)
in Nigeria. Agricultural extension services were identified with most of the
programmes of Government to improve the livelihood of the people. Agricultural extension
as an organisation supports and facilitates the people involved (engaged) in
agricultural production to access or obtain timely beneficial knowledge,
information, skills and technologies to address the problems of clienteles so
as to improve the livelihood and overall standard of living of people (Birner
et al, 2006).
Agricultural extension also links research with farmers by
communicating agricultural innovations from point of innovation development to
innovation users and then from farmers problems to research stations. Adekunle
(2013) demonstrated the relationship between research, extension and farmers
systems when he emphasised that knowledge (technology and information) would
not be communicated from research to farmers and farmers problem(s) to research
stations if extension is absent. In contributing to the pivotal role played by
extension, Mabe and Oladele (2012) posited that agricultural extension bridges
the gap between available technology and farmers' practices through the provision
of technical advice, information and training and, they further indicated that
without this bridge of gap, farmers' ability to adopt new technologies and
plant varieties to enhance production and income would be limited. Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO, 2013) posited that in order to effectively
bridge the gap between technology developers and technology users that is
capable of improving livelihoods of the technology users, there has to be
sufficient extension service system and timely agricultural knowledge transfer
from point of invention to point of use. Suffice to say that insufficient
extension services and poor access to information are known to widen the gap in
the adoption of new technologies.
More so, agricultural information to and from farmers to
research are time bound, and effective agricultural extension service delivery
therefore depends on ability of extension to deliver agricultural knowledge to
farmers and take farmers problems in turn to research on time. The extension
agent who is the only extension staff saddled with such responsibility is
therefore key to information delivery. Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) have enormous potentials to facilitate timely communication
of agricultural knowledge, bridge the gap between agricultural information
developers and farmers, and also develop the agricultural sector especially by
improving the performance of agricultural extension agents and the overall
extension sub-system if, the extension agents are equipped with necessary
competence in the effective use of ICTs for extension activities.
Unfortunately, agricultural extension agents in Nigeria,
still depend on traditional system of agricultural information communication such
as face-to-face home and farm visits. Aboh (2008) opined that extension agents
in most developing countries have used all sorts of traditional information
communication technologies such as radio, television, drama and video in the
delivery of extension service to clienteles. The traditional system of communication is no longer effective
for time bound innovation transfer and, is unable to manage the high farmer
extension agent ratio in recent time, thus, limiting farmers' productivity. The
goal of the knowledge transfer is to raise farmers knowledge that will
translate into increased efficient and effective agricultural production.
The agricultural development programmes (ADPs) which is the
extension arm of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (FMARD) in
Nigeria, realising the immense benefits of ICTs and in a bid to establish an
effective extension system as well as alleviate the problems militating against
high agricultural productivity, have made information and communication
technologies (ICTs) an integral part of the extension communication process.
ICT according to Odiaka (2011), is an umbrella term that includes all
technologies for the storage, retrieval, manipulation, and communication of information.
ICT is any device, tool or application that permits the exchange or collection
of data through interaction or transmission (World Bank, 2011). Information and
communication technologies (ICTs) are those technologies that are currently in
use to interlink information technology devices such as personal computers with
communication technologies such as telephones and their telecommunication
networks (Okon, 2013). Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
encompasses the use of existing technology such as hardware, software and
telecommunication options, including the internet and telephony (mobile and
landline) systems (FAO, 2013).
Meera, Jhamtani and Rao (2004) had stated that some of the
numerous areas ICT play an important role are in agricultural extension
activities, development of farming system research and extension, having
location-specific modules of research and
extension, promoting market extension, sustainable agricultural development and
participatory research. The present rapid changes that information and
communication technologies are causing in agriculture as well as agricultural
extension work environment, is as a result of new practices and new ICT
gadgets. The rapid changes make it imperative for agricultural extension agents
who are employed in agricultural extension delivery organisations such as the
ADPs to be skilled in the use of ICTs in performing extension activities in an
efficient and effective manner.
ICTs enable extension system orient towards overall
agricultural development of small production systems by creating the enabling
environment for small scale farmers with appropriate knowledge to compete in
the agricultural sector (Nnadi, Chikaire, Atoma, Egwuonwu & Echetama,
2012). ICTs such as mobile telephones, Internet web and search engines, radio,
television, optical disks, electronic communications, computer, digital
cameras, videos, audio recorders, software and many more are known to play
diverse roles in agriculture. World Bank (2011) opined that the types of
ICT-enabled services such as, the use of mobile phones which serve as a
platform for exchanging information through Short Messaging Services (SMS) are
growing quickly in usefulness and improving the capacity and livelihoods of
poor smallholders.
Similarly, Qiang, Kuek, Dyamond and Esselaar (2012) opined
that mobile communications technology has become the world’s most common way of
transmitting voice data and services and, no technology has ever spread faster.
Extension agents trained in the appropriate use of ICTs, are able to answer
faster with greater ease and increased accuracy, many of the questions asked by farmers (including questions
on how to increase yields, access markets and adapt to weather conditions)
(World Bank, 2011). Hence, appropriate use of ICTs by extension agents improve
performance of extension agents and the overall performance of the extension
organisation such as the ADPs.
The performance of an organisation such as the ADPs, depend
on the performance of the extension agents who are the human resource capital
of the ADPs that play an important role in the growth and performance of the
extension system in Nigeria. It has however been established that the public
extension organisation is not effectively and efficiently delivering extension
service, hence, the training of extension personnel is regarded as the quick
way to assess the necessity of agricultural extension transformation agenda,
and the overall goal of agricultural transformation agenda (ATA) is to develop
well-trained staff that will carter for a variety of actors along the targeted
value chain in the States (Haruna & Abdullahi, 2013). The training of
personnel in any organisation is increasingly becoming an important issue to
the need for the management and its employee to be successful. Ovwigho (2011)
had argued that the training of agricultural extension workers is an integral
part of the overall agricultural production process since it is the duty of
agricultural extension agents to reach farmers with useful and practical
information for increased agricultural production. More so, jobs are becoming
more technical and organisation specific and there are fewer candidates whose
qualifications meet such requirements, hence the need to increase the
technological knowledge and abilities of staff (McConnel, 2003). To improve organisational and employee performance, the
employee of the organisation is trained (Khan, Khan & Khan, 2011).
Training is the process of providing knowledge and skills
that are capable of bringing about desired changes in attitude in order to
improve the competence of people being trained with the ultimate goal of
improving performance (Youdeowei & Kwarteng, 1995). Armstrong (2009) opined
that training is the use of systematic and planned instructional activities to
promote learning, and training involves the application of formal processes to
impart knowledge that assist people acquire necessary skills to perform jobs
satisfactorily. Armstrong (2009) further posited that training is one of the
several responses an organisation such as the ADP can undertake to promote
learning. In order to improve the performance of extension agents in ADPs
across the 36 States of Nigeria, the extension agents are trained during
fort-nightly technological training (FNTs) and monthly technological review
trainings. To effectively and efficiently respond to training need of extension
agents through training, the training need of trainees (agricultural extension
agents) have to be identified through need identification assessment in order
to channel resources toward the desired need.
Training need refers to the competence that must be acquired
by employees to enable them perform jobs at optimal level (Youdeowei &
Kwarteng, 1995). ICT training need, thus refers to ICT competence that must be
acquired by agricultural extension agents to perform assigned tasks at optimal
level. ICT training need identification is not conducted in proxy but by
identifying needs from the extension agents who need the training through
survey. The survey method of training needs identification is supported by McConnell (2003) who defends that,
the most used need identification method is survey approach whereby
questionnaire is used. The training need identification survey assisted in
revealing agricultural extension agents training needed in ICTs such as
hardware, word-processing, presentation and statistical software, social media,
electronic mail and internet browsing to successfully integrate ICTs in the
agricultural extension communication process and, improve ICTs competence of
agricultural extension agents through training such as in-service training.
Thus, the need to examine ICT training needs of extension agents in Bayelsa and
Rivers States.
For more Agricultural Economics & Extension Projects Click here
================================================================Item Type: Ghanaian Topic | Size: 126 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.