This seminar presentation discusses the use of ICTs among extension workers and farmers in Nigeria and its relevance to sustainable agricultural development. It begins with introducing the background and challenges facing Nigerian smallholders, such as poverty, illiteracy, and lack of access to information. It then provides an overview of the traditional agricultural extension model and discusses how ICTs could complement extension efforts. The research aims to explore how ICTs, specifically mobile phones, could improve farmers' adoption of good agricultural practices and increase productivity. The study will be conducted in two communities, interviewing extension workers and surveying farmers on their information needs, ICT access, and farming practices. The findings could help establish information centers and contribute to knowledge on

1. Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester
School of Agriculture
Research Seminar
Presenter
Samson Olayemi Sennuga
PhD Candidate
12 May, 2015

2. Thesis
The use of Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) among Extension workers and Farmers and its
Relevance to Sustainable Agricultural Development in
Nigeria

3. What I will talk about …….
• Introduce the background and context of the study
• Consider the challenges facing Nigerian Smallholders
• Give an overview of Extension and the use of ICTs in
the context of the Nigeria Agricultural Information
Systems
• Link these to Good Agricultural Practices
• State the Research Aims in the context of the key
Agricultural Information needs of farmers
• Introduce the Study Area
• Give an overview of the Research Strategy and data analysis
• Discuss the Relevance/Potential Contribution to Knowledge
and farmer livelihoods improvement

4. Introduction and background of the study
Extension is defined broadly to include:
 all system that facilitate access to farmers, their organizations and other
market actors to knowledge, information and technologies.
 facilitate their interaction with partners in research, education, agric-business
and other relevant institutions.
 assist them to develop their own technical, organizational and management
skill and practices.
FAO, 2012; Christopolos et al., 2013

5. Problems for Small-scale farmers in Nigeria
 Small scale farmers are the back bone of food production in Nigeria.
 Estimated that 90% of all agricultural production in Nigeria is derived
from the output of smallholder farmers (Arokoyo, 2013).
However, in spite of public extension services they are faced with some challenges
ranging from:
 Extreme poverty.
 High level of illiteracy and use of primitive tools.
 Extension agents that do not visit farmlands away from road or in remote areas.
 Extension workers that do not have updated knowledge of new crop varieties,
pest control and government schemes and subsidies.
 Weak and even dysfunctional Research-Extension-Farmer linkages.
 Political neglect of Agriculture largely due to the oil boom
There is now a need to:
 Raise these farmers out of poverty into productive agriculture and improve their
livelihoods.
 Will ICTs accelerate this?........................

6. Agricultural Extension Model
However, the attendant ineffectiveness and inefficiency of these traditional extension models
in meeting information needs of rural households, triggered a serious debate among scholars
to advocate for the use of ICTs tool as a complementary tool to disseminate information that
will increase productivity and generate higher income among farmers (Aker, 2011).
Source: Davis, 2008

7.  ICTs refers to set of tools, equipment, applications and services that are
utilized to produce, capture, store, disseminate and exchange information
(World Bank, 2012)
 By this definition, it is imperative to note that ICTs are for information
dissemination, which is expected to improve the farmer’s knowledge and
productivity.
Sources of Agricultural Information for farmers include;
 Radio and Television, Mobile phones, Short Message Services,
Computer, Email, Video, The Web, Search engines, CD-ROM, DVD,
Printed Material, Photographs, Group meetings and Workshops etc
 In Nigeria, ICTs are increasingly becoming underlying drivers of social,
economic and agricultural development. Since 2001, Nigeria has
witnessed the explosion in the use of ICT (Mwakaje, 2010).
Definition of ICTs

8. Nigeria Agricultural Information System
• Dissemination of agricultural information in a participatory approach
ensure farmers have adequate knowledge and skills to address their
needs and increase productivity.
• The achievement of high productivity depends on the availability and
access to appropriate agricultural information.
• The under utilization of ICT in dissemination of agricultural information
are thought to have contributed to the reduction of agricultural
productivity, economic performance and food security in Nigeria.

9. Research Aim
The overall aim of this study is to explore how ICTs could be used
to improve the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices and to
increase productivity of smallholder farmers in Nigeria by using
mobile telecommunication (GSM) as an extension tool supporting
traditional extension approaches.
The focus will be around improving agricultural practices which
leads us to ask:
• What are Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)?
• How can GAP and Information increase productivity of farmers
in Nigeria?

10. Definition of Good Agricultural Practices
 Good Agricultural Practices are a collection of principles to apply for on-farm
production and post-production process, resulting in safe and healthy food
and non-food agricultural products, while taking into account economical,
social and environmental sustainability (FAO, 2013).
 Such as maintaining soil fertility, water resource and irrigation, animal
production and welfare, as integrated pest management, integrated
fertilizer management and conservation agriculture.
 GAP, helps to improve market access and farmer’s livelihoods (FAO, 2013).
 Good practices at farm level can make a huge difference and create rural
prosperity!

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK I NEED TO KNOW
TO INCREASE MY PRODUCTIVITY?
Extension
worker

12. The key Agricultural Information needs of farmers
 Market information; market prices
 Information on upcoming pest and
diseases attack and weather/rain patterns
 Information on Government Agricultural and NGOs subsidies schemes
on seeds, fertilizers; online loan facilities and online trading.
 Information on cropping pattern and fertilizer use
 Information on new crop varieties,
irrigation frequency and setting up farm-
based enterprises.
According to World Bank 2012; FAO, 2013 &
Aker et al., 2013; listed the following:

13. The Study Area
Shika community
Tunwada community
The study will be conducted in two communities (Shika and Tunwada) in the Semi-arid
region of Kaduna State, North Western, Nigeria. The participants shall be smallholder
farmers and extension workers from Government, NGO’s, Academia and the Private
Sector, in the North Western Nigeria.
Note: Semi-arid is defined as area falling within the rainfall zone of 300-600mm (FAO,
2013). The region is low in rainfall and agricultural harvest are likely to be irregular
(Goodin & Northington, 2000).
MAP OF NIGERIA SHOWING THE STUDY
MAP OF AFRICA

14. Research Methodology
 The target population for this study include smallholder farmers from Shika and
Tunwada communities and extension officers.
 Stratified sampling procedure will be used to select 20 workers to represent
age, experience, training and gender and 60 households from each community.
Farmer, Community and Industry Engagement
 Initial community meeting to introduce researcher and research objectives.
 Adapted livelihood survey will be used, 120 farmers will be targeted (60) per
community to create a baseline.
 Key theme in the survey include household assets, farm characteristics, extension
advice, income generating activities and enterprises involved in by farming households
along with additional questions on market information.
 Specific questions on how ICTs could improve adoption of improved technologies and
it constraints, farmers coping strategies and available guidance.
 Focus group discussions with extension officers from Government, NGO’s,
Academia and the Private Sector.
 Shika and Tunwada communities will be divided into those that use ICTs and
those who do not or rarely use it (adopter and non-adopter of ICT) based on the
first livelihood survey.

15. Research Methodology cont’d
 Extension workers will be interview and may also participate in community meeting.
After analysis of the first livelihood survey, all participating farmers and extension workers will
be trained in the Climate Smart GAP’s so as to be able to reduce the negative impact of climate
change and be given action plans to follow, that will be supported by usual extension visit.
Half of the farmers from Shika and Tundawa communities consisting adopters and non-
adopters will be giving training on the effective use of Mobile phones to obtain relevant
information that will improve their productivities.
Timely reminders through ICT to find out whether ICT (mobile phone) improve adoption of
technologies or not.
The Final survey will include some key questions about types of communication ranging from
the value of traditional extension, ICT and the popular “I saw my neighbour doing it the activity”.
Farmers will be given improved seeds as an incentive for participating in the study.

16. Data Analysis
• A qualitative software (NVivo) shall be employed in coding
and analysing qualitative data from interviews to be
conducted.
• Other analytical techniques to be used include graphs,
pictorial, charts and tables

17. Relevance/Potential Contributions to Knowledge
• Complement extension with the use of ICTs in order to boost
production and improve rural livelihood which is seriously lacking
in the literature.
• Use of Good Agricultural Practices and ICTs has never been
conducted in Africa before.
• This study will create rural prosperity in the Northwestern Nigeria.
• Through this study Agricultural Information Centres will be
established in the two communities via Ministry of Agriculture, in
order to reach the unreached.

18. Conclusion
• Access to relevant and timely Information have the capacity to
increase productivity of smallholder farmers.
• A good agricultural practices and step-up prices (farm prices)
would put more money into the hands of farmers.
• Finally, Agriculture in Nigeria needs a productivity and quality
revolution, which can be brought out through the much-needed
reforms; information access, extension services, credits,
marketing, pricing and rural infrastructure and land reforms.

19. References
Aker, J.C. (2013). Dial “A” for agriculture: a review of information and communication
technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries, Agricultural Economics 42,
631–647
Davis, K.E. (2008). Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa: Overview and Assessment of Past and
Current Models, and Future Prospects. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension
Education, 15 (3):15-27
FAO (2013). Progress report - 2001. Farmer innovation and new technology options for food
production, income generation, and combating desertification. KEN/99/200. Nairobi: FAO.
farmers to manage plant diseases. Plant Disease, 85 (7):684–695
World Bank (2012). World Development Report: Agriculture for Development. Washington
DC, World Bank

20. Thank you !