Williams P.G., Sa’adu M., Egbeadumah M.O., Jolly A.

Keywords: WhatsApp, agriculture, innovation, extension service, rice farmers

Abstract

This study analyzes factors influencing the use of WhatsApp as emerging platform for innovative agricultural extension service access among rice farmers in Wukari Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria. A multi- stage sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 107 small scale rice farmers through a well-structured questionnaire. The study revealed that 65.4% of respondents were males, 84.1% had tertiary education, 82.2% had smart phone, 95.3 per cent had no access to steady network services, 93.5% lacked the ability to effectively operate smart phone. Also, the logit regression results show socio-economic factors as cost of WhasApp (X1), gender (X2), age (X3), farming experience (X6) and educational level (X7) to be the significant variables influencing small scale rice farmer’s adoption of WhatsApp. The study indicates that 97.2% had no access to constant electricity supply, as 82.2 % had no active whatsApp page as major factors affecting the use of whatsApp. The study concludes that factors influencing the use of WhatsApp as emerging platform for innovative agricultural extension service access among rice farmers in Wukari Local Government Area include: increased online criminal activities, high cost of smart phones and inadequate awareness about the use of WhatsApp platform for agricultural information dissemination. The study recommends the urgent need for increased supply of electricity among rice farmers in Wukari Local Government Area.

Author Biography

Williams P.G., Sa’adu M., Egbeadumah M.O.

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture and Life sciences, Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]

Jolly A.

Department of Agricultural Extension and Management, College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Jalingo. Taraba State, Nigeria

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