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Home > CIIMA > Vol. 7 (2007) > Iss. 1

 

Communications of the IIMA

Abstract

Farmers face constraints in farming activities with differing impacts in terms of type and dept. The, relatively recent, GSM introduction in Nigeria has eased the conduct of business activities including agricultural business with elimination of hitches in the communication system. This study assessed constraints to the use of GSM in farm activities of crop farming households in South-west Nigeria. Two out of six States’ Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in South-west Nigeria namely Oyo and Osun States were selected for the study. 130 farmers were randomly sampled from two randomly selected agricultural zones in the (selected) State ADPs. Primary data was obtained with the use of well-structured questionnaire through interviews of respondents. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and chi-square techniques were used in data analysis. Result revealed that males (79.2%) dominated crop farming in the study area. The major constraints in GSM use by farmers were network coverage (31.58%) and financial (36.84%). All (100%) of the farmers asserted that using GSM in farm business activities is worthwhile and a necessity. Furthermore, the constraints to effective use of GSM by farmers differed significantly for different levels of socio-economic variables such as farm household expenditures and income (p < 0.01 respectively). It was recommended that any action plan to tackle constraints to GSM use by farmers must take into consideration farmers’ dynamics such as differences in social interactions, farm households’ expenditures and income as well as cultivation practices. Consequently, it is expected that enhanced technology and extension information dissemination to crop farmers will be achieved.

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