Analysis of Ownership and Utilization of Mobile Phones among Farmers and Extension Workers in Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria

Donye, A. O

 

Full Length Research Paper  I Published October,2017

 

Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Technology  Vol. 3 (5), pp.88-95

 

 

ABSTRACT

 

The study analyzed the ownership and utilization of mobile phones among farmers and extension workers in Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was employed in the sampling of the districts, villages and respondents. A total of five (5) districts, twenty five villages (25), seventy five (75) farmers and fifteen (15) extension workers were sampled for the study. The specific objectives were to: identify the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; ascertain the ownership and utilization of mobile phones by the respondents; determine the socio-economic characteristics influencing ownership and utilization of mobile phones by the respondents. The primary data generated from the survey were subjected under analysis. The first three objectives were addressed using percentages and frequencies, while the Logit regression was used to address objective four. Major findings of the study indicated that majority (76%) of the farmers was males, while 24% were females. Similarly, the majority (80%) of the extension workers was males and 20% were females. Almost 95% of the farmers have an educational qualification of at least the secondary school level certificates. However, 73.3% and 26.7% of the extension workers have college certificates and degrees, respectively. Only 64% and about 73% of the farmers and extension workers, respectively have mobile phones. Of these, 88% and 60% utilize their mobile phones for agricultural communication. Age (X₁), income (X₃) and level of education (X₅) were found to have positive and significant relationships at 5% level of significance with ownership of mobile phones. Income (X₃) and level of education (X₅) of the respondents have positive and significant relationships at 5 and 1% level of significance, respectively with utilization of mobile phones. Poverty and the relatively high cost of mobile phones were the major constraints identified, while poor network service and inability to type and send text messages were the major problems identified on utilization.

Key Words: Ownership, Utilization, Mobile Phones, Farmers, Extension Workers.
 

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