Usability of E-Extension Technology and Growth of Agricultural Productivity in Southeast Nigeria: ADP Extension Worker’s Survey
Usability of E-Extension Technology and Growth of Agricultural Productivity in Southeast Nigeria: ADP Extension Worker’s Survey
Chukwujekwu A. Obianefo1,2*, Ngozi J. Obiekwe1, Nma O. Okoroji3, Zahoor A. Shah4, Uzochukwu V. Uchemba5 and Ebele G. Osegbue5
ABSTRACT
The role of e-extension in wider information communication should be emphasized. E-extension will help accelerate agricultural growth, expand agricultural research, and strengthen customer systems. Farmers are exposed to multiple types of extended information. However, this study examined the ease of use of e-extension techniques or tools by advisors when contacting farmers. The ability of extension staff to disseminate agricultural information using electronic tools should always be evaluated. A structured questionnaire was used to randomly select 150 agricultural development program officers. Simple descriptive statistics, multinomial regression, and principal factor analysis were used for data analysis. According to the survey, ADP officials perceive e-extension as a cost-effective method of extension advisory services that goes beyond the role of technology transfer to serve farm stakeholders and provide an efficient feedback mechanism. Determinants of ease of use were gender, age, educational background, work experience, household size, work motivation, and organizational support, these were significant at various levels of probability. Constraints on the use of e-extensions were rotated into three factors (commitment, political, and institutional), and in the commitment factor, the extension worker suffered from a lack of support and inadequate training for the e-agriculture extension. At the political level, the advisors lacked the needed skills due to underfunding from the government, and at the institutional level as well. E-extension does not have government guidelines to support e-extension services that are not integrated with the system. The study, therefore, recommends that the advisors should be given the necessary support to strengthen e-extension capacity for agricultural growth.
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