Analysis Of Village Extension Agents’ Use Of Information And Communication Technology In Extension Services Delivery In South-South, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The imperatives of ICT in extension services delivery necessitated this study that analyzedVillage Extension Agents’ use of information and communication technology in extension service delivery in South-South Nigeria.Specifically, the objectives included to ascertain the socio-economic characteristics of the extension agents, ICT awareness, available ICT facilities, level of ICT knowledge, level of ICT use, benefits from the use of ICT and the constraints to ICT use. The study was guided by the following hypotheses: There is no significant relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of VEAs and their level of ICT use; there is no significant relationship between the level of knowledge and use of ICT by the VEAs; there is no significant difference in the level of use of ICT by VEAs in the selected States; and male and female extension agents do not differ significantly in the level of use of ICT in extension service. A multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 300VEAs from the study area.Using a set of structured questionnaire,data obtained were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean score, standard deviation, ordinary least square multiple regression (OLS), Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient,z-test and Analysis of Variance. The results showed that majority of the VEAs were male (54.7%), married 89%, had average age of 46 years, household size of 5, tertiary education (87.3%), working experience (30 years) and average monthly income of N60,000. The ICT facilities available to VEAs include phone (GSM), radio, television, video, computer, personal email andinternet and the ones of importance for extension service include phone (GSM), television, radio, computer, video, personal email, personal website, internet, cinema, digital wallet, organizational e-mail, organizational website, and blog. The level of ICT knowledge was high (2.51) while the use was low (2.14). The ICT used included phone (GSM), radio, television, video, computer, personal e-mail and internet. The socio-economic determinants of level of use of ICT were age(t = 4.051), education level(t = 3.708), working experience (t = 2.281) and income (t = 3.930). ANOVA result also shows statistical difference in the level of use of ICT facilities in the three selected States. The constraints to ICT use were lack of internet access in the rural areas, lack of ICT infrastructure, high cost of internet subscription, lack of training on ICT, among others. It was recommended that the pre-service curriculum of prospective VEAs be reviewed with adequate inclusion of ICT courses and capacity building should be organized for VEAs on ICT use through workshops and seminars.