LITERATURE REVIEW

Poultry farms are primarily establish for eggs and meat production and for generating revenue from its products; it is a fulltime occupation of numbers of Nigerians (Umeh and Odo, 2002 cited in Lawal, Torimiro and Makanjuola, 2009). It is an important livestock agricultural subsector with several benefits and investment opportunities. The successes recorded in this important subsector could not have been possible without poultry farmers’ access to relevant information which is a sin-qua-non for human, societal, and for every form of business development. Nigerian protein intakes stand at 3.5g per caput per day (Ironkwe and Amefule, 2008). This is far less than the 35g per caput per day recommended by the World Health Organization (W.H.O). The shortage of animal protein consumption is partly due to the high cost of conventional meat sources like cattle, goat, and sheep (FAO, 1994 cited in Waziri, Chidebelu and Nweze, 2011). It is therefore necessary to search for a cheaper alternative source of meat to meet the ever-increasing demand for animal protein. Though Nigeria poultry is less capitalised because it is mainly smallholding, if adequate attention and concern is invested by stakeholders in the vanguard of poultry development, this industry will further boost Nigerians protein intake requirement and help to absorb a large number of unemployed youths across the country searching for unavailable ‘white collar jobs’.

Poultry industry in Nigeria is bedevilled by enormous problems, such as unavailability to poultry drugs and vaccines are problems in Nigeria poultry enterprise (Lawal, Torimiro and Makanjuola, 2009). Similar observation was made by Oyeyinka, Raheem, Ayanda and Abiona (2012) that diseases/pests, poor access to poultry drugs and increasing cost of medications/drugs are some of the problems of poultry agricultural subsector. This is an indication that farmer access to relevant information enables them advance beyond the subsistence level of production. There is need for a steady flow of accurate, understandable, and factual links between the farmers and the various information sources. Information about improved agricultural practices passed to farmers when adopted by them is likely to lead to increase outputs and overall farmer and rural development. It is the primary responsibility of extension service agents to search for and disseminate relevant farm-related information to farmers.

Conceptual Framework

Concept of Information, Information Needs and seeking Behaviour

In today’s world, the rural people’s information requirement is increasing steadily. The rural dwellers also needs information on multiplicity of issues that border around: Agricultural related information like supply of fertilizer, supply of other farm inputs, modern methods of farming, income generation, good roads, health information etc.

Development communication is the way in which information is communicated in order to contribute towards development. It is the way in which information is accessible and disseminated through media in different format, in order to solve problems and to make decisions which will lead to improved living standards in a development context. (Skosana, 2006). However, agricultural knowledge is changing rapidly and it is obvious that the development of agriculture is highly dependant on this new knowledge and information. Agricultural production requires the use of knowledge based technology which requires understanding some basic information (Nemponya, 1986). According to FAO (2002) Rural communities need a wide variety of information such as availability of agricultural support services, government regulations, crop production and management systems, disease outbreaks, adaptation of technologies by other farmers, wage rates, and so on. The content of the information services needs to reflect the farmers’ livelihoods and other diverse circumstances.

The concept of information is viewed as a basic resource used by all people to improve their condition of living and is essential for development. Aluko (1997) observed that the status and power of a nation by the 21st century will be partly determined by the information at its disposal and the recognition of the importance of such information to the development of societies. Information is important and useful to everyone in the society, because information is a vital resource for development in our fast- growing world. It lifts an individual from a state of ignorance, illiteracy and poverty to a state of enlightenment, prosperity, and literacy. Ononogbo (2005) states that, a competitive economy depends on the free flow of information because good decision-making depends on reliable and timely information.

Information is central to the teaching and learning process and reduces or eliminates uncertainty, its absence means policy mistakes, educational disparities, slower productivity and growth as it affects the quantity, success and effectiveness of public policy. In fact, information is essential to survival; it provides individuals, societies and nations with a second chance for rediscovering missed opportunities and the means for improving human conditions. Information is an asset and a resource for development of governments, agencies, and the target population (Kanba, 2009). Information has received a widespread acceptance as the essential feature of production, consumption and exchange in this modern era (Opeke, 2004). This means that the world has entered an era where the source of wealth and power is increasingly attributed to information and human mental creativity rather than physical resources.

To talk about the requirement is to determine the needs of the users. Kumar (2010) opines that determining the needs of the users’ means knowing their requirement for information. In order to determine their requirements, it is essential to know the following; who the users are, their background (qualification, mastery of language, areas of research and specialization) and the purpose for which they need the information. According to Laloo (2002), need means what a person ought to have, circumstance under which something is lacking, that which one cannot do without and that which is necessary for an organism’s health and wellbeing. He further said that “information need” is a difficult concept to define, to isolate and especially to measure. It involves a cognitive process, which may operate on different levels of consciousness and hence may not be clear even to the inquirer himself. Information needs can therefore be better understood if the concept of ‘need’ is clearly defined. Aninweze (2004) has highlighted much on need and to him, need represents an imbalance or lack of adjustment between the present condition or situation or status quo and a new or changed set of conditions assumed to be more desirable. More simply, ‘need’ may be looked at as the difference between what is and what ought to be, hence implying a gap between these two conditions. Aboyede (1987) made it clear that information needs relate first to the main characteristics of the people – what they are and what is important to them. The needs reflect the social, cultural, political and economic dimensions of their development and aspiration. The above statement implies that individuals differ and so also their approach to issues. The approach people use in tackling assigned task or issues vary depending on who is involved. For this study, information seeking behaviour is a purposive way of seeking for information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goals.

Information seeking behaviour is a function of the recognition of one’s information needs as perceived by him, which propels him to make use of information services and resources to satisfy such perceived needs (Ekoja, 2002). He also noted that information seeking behaviour are the noticeable, and in some instances, the unnoticeable traits and actions an individual exhibits or adopts in the course of seeking for needed information. To Johnson and Meishke (1993), information seeking behaviour may be influenced by the characteristics of the individual seeking information or by the characteristics of the information carrier. Demographic characteristics, experience, salience and beliefs are individual factors that may affect information utilization. Information carrier may include message design and utility. While Oketunji (2000), Afolabi (2003), and Utor (2003) in their studies observed that, information seeking behavior of people vary according to their age, gender, occupation, location, education, exposure, enlightenment, religion and even their culture. It can also be influenced by the sources of the information, content, medium and language of presentation, time and nature of information.

In another development, information seeking behaviour is a broad term encompassing the ways individuals articulate their information needs, seek, evaluate, select, and use information. According to Pettigrew (1996), information-seeking behavior involves personal reasons for seeking information, the kinds of information which is being sought, and the ways and sources from which the needed information is being sought. In other words, information-seeking behavior is purposive in nature and is a consequence of the need to satisfy some goal. In the course of information seeking, the individual may interact with people, manual information systems, or with computer-oriented information systems.

Information Needs of Farmers

Rural farmers needs information to improve their farming practices and these information needs may include the use of fertilizers, pest and disease control, higher yield/agricultural production, planting at the right time, weed control, improved seeds, post-harvest losses/preservation techniques, agricultural credits, agricultural cooperation etc. The researcher further observed that rural farmers need agricultural information to enhance or boost their productivity and also to be informed of modern farming systems in order to meet up with challenges that may arise in their occupation.

Today, information has assumed greater importance because of the link between the provision of agricultural information and increased and sustained agricultural productivity (Ekoja, 2004). While Ozowa (1995) observed that no one can categorically claim to know all the information needs of farmers especially in an information-dependent sector like agriculture where there are new and rather complex problems facing farmers every day.

Agricultural information, according to Ofuoku (2008), is all published knowledge in all aspects of agriculture and that the quality of such information depends on three attributes which are accuracy, timeliness and relevance. Access to adequate information is very essential to increase agricultural productivity. While Daniel (2008) is of the view that agricultural information are operationally the various sets of information and messages that are relevant to agricultural production activities of farmers such as crop production and protection, animal production and management, and natural resource production and conservation. Similarly, Samuel (2001) defined agricultural information as the data necessary for decision-making and as a resource that must be acquired and used in order to make an informed decision. Umali, (1994) classified agricultural information into two broad groups: pure agricultural information and agricultural information inherently tied to new inventions. Pure agricultural information refers to any information which can be used without the acquisition of a specific physical technology. On the other hand, agricultural inventions or technologies are those that come in the form of agricultural inputs, management technologies facilitating farm management, and marketing and processing equipment.

Small scale farmers also require information according to Munyua (2003) who asserted that small scale farmers require information on supply of inputs, new technologies, early warning systems (for drought, pest, and diseases), credit, market, prices and their competitors. Ozowa (1995) identified the types of information that farmers need. These are information on production technology, credit and marketing. Production technology, to him, encompasses improved varieties of inputs, modern farming implements, fertilizers, agrochemicals, weeding and harvesting. Ozowa further stated that farmers need to be provided information on sources such loans, location of the lending institutions, interest rates, and amount of credit available and modes of repayment. Provision of marketing information would enable the farmers make rational and relevant decisions. These information needs of rural farmers may be grouped into five headings:

agricultural inputs

extension education

agricultural technology

agricultural credit

marketing.

Modern farm inputs are needed to raise small farm productivity. These inputs may include fertilizers, improved variety of seeds/ seedlings, feeds, plant protection chemicals, agricultural machinery, and equipment and as well as water (Ozowa, 1995). In another development, Swanson (2006) identified two main categories of agricultural technologies transferred to farmers: materials technology and knowledge-based technology. To him, in material technology, knowledge is embodied in technological products such as tools, equipment, agrochemicals and plant varieties or hybrids. On the other hand, knowledge-based technology embodies technical knowledge, management skills and other processes that farmers need to successfully grow a crop or produce an animal product. Visakhi (2002) said the information needs of farmers may be divided into six groups.

Field acquisition: Farmers are required to know the different types of schemes and subsidies for purchasing of agricultural land.

Agricultural inputs: Farmers need information about improved variety of seeds, pesticides, agricultural equipments, weather conditions, harvest and post harvest technology.

Agricultural technology: Farmers should be fed with information about innovative technology in farming.

 Agricultural credit: Farmers need information about credit facilities, terms of loans etc.

Agricultural marketing: Day to day market trends on prices of different variety of crops are necessary for the farmers.

Food technology: Information on post harvest food technology is needed by the farmers to get optimum benefit out of their crop.

Sources and Channels of Information for Rural Farmers

The worth of agricultural information lies in its application. The effective communication of information to the ultimate end user is just as important as the information itself. In providing information to users, the information officer and librarian must come up with clients-centered information services that can meet the needs of users in terms of both the content of the information and the channel(s) by which it is communicated (Ekoja, 2002). He also noted that all farmers especially the Nigeria farmers require a lot of information in order to develop successful practices. Information managers i.e. those in extension service, librarian and information officers must know the kind of information packages and communication channels that farmers prefer in order to communicate the desired information to them effectively.

A number of channels exist in communicating information to the rural farmers. According to Abraham (2009), who identified several channels and sources used to bring information to the audience such as the media, internet, institutions, social functions, town- criers, but in the traditional African settings, where most residence are illiterates, the mode of communicating information to such categories of people is through “Town-criers”, While Zaniki (1991) in his study found that the source of agricultural information most often used by farmers is personal experience (74.7%). The second and third most often used sources of agricultural information are friends/relatives/neighbours (34.9%) and the radio (20.9%).

In his study of the rural communities in Africa, Odini (1990) identified the fact that oral communication from neighbours tends to be the primary source of information due to a shortage of more standard organized information services. In addition to this Ofuoku (2008) said sources of information among rural farmers include other farmers, farmers groups, extension agents, research institutes, universities and NGOs. Radio is one of the fastest and most powerful channels and in many countries has been used in communicating farm information to farmers. Radio reaches people at all levels that understand the language of transmission. The use of radio as mass communication tool for agricultural development has long been recognized. Radio has been used as a tool for learning and community address system. Bereh, (2002) suggested that in remote regions, without telephones, people use radio to announce meetings, funerals and weddings. People learn about their government programmes and policies on radio and hear about events and issues in their communities. They also use their local or community radio stations to voice their own views. Television adds another dimension to radio broadcasting, thus increasing the range of methods available to extension workers. The agricultural extension agent can present a whole series of demonstration results through pictures thus emphasizing differences over time. Pineapple farmers obtain information daily from radio, television and neighbors and less often (weekly/ monthly) from newspapers and extension agents. Consequently, extension agencies and related organizations should ensure that more information is disseminated through these channels to pineapple farmers.

In Fawole study (2008) it was suggested that usage of available information among respondent is frequent, except for treatment of planting material with benomyl fungicide and that

contact farmers are the main intermediaries between pineapple farmers and extension agents. He also suggested that more extension agents be trained to reinforce information obtained from mass media sources. The sources and channel through which the rural women satisfy their information needs are available both formally and informally. The formal channels include radio and television, Local Government information office, agricultural extension workers, primary health care workers, and the Public Libraries. The informal channels on the other hand comprise Village or Ward Heads, the School Headmaster, The Imams (Religious Leaders) and other elite group in the community others include Friends and relatives, market women, as well as Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) e.g. the Kanem Women, have been cited as important informal channels of information (Gambo, 2011).

This calls for a new approach to information dissemination in the rural communities. The use of audio-visual materials in preference to information of the print format should be adapted for the rural communities. This is because even when the information is available in the non- print format it will be useless unless it can be understood. In view of this, the on-farm demonstrations, films shows, Radio and television progammes become very strong electronic media for information dissemination to the rural people. According to Ekoja (2000), is of the view that Information, if effectively communicated, plays a big role in getting farmers to accept and adopt new technologies and innovations. This implies that the inability to manage and coordinate agricultural information is one of the major constraints besting agricultural development in a country.

The Extent to which Rural Farmers use the Information Sources

Access to information that is put to use in order to derive the end result is very important, which is the desire of communicators of such information for the end users. Information is the use of the knowledge or experience arising from the communicated information. Information can only be said to have been used when the knowledge or experiences embedded in the information accessed (shared or exchanged) are put to practical and relevant effect, resulting in changing farm/agricultural practices for the better (Ekoja, 2004). It is also hoped that the use of relevant information would increase the productivity of the farmers.

The information source most preferred by farmers in a country is a function of how farmers have been sensitized to the usage of the various media and their educational status – whether literate or illiterate (Ekoja, 2002). Farmers would prefer and use information sources that are readily available and discuss interesting and credible topics that are applicable to their practices (Onweagba and Anyanwu, 1992). This is much supported by Stefi-Mabry (2003) who was discussing information users generally, asserted that information satisfaction, and in consequence channels preference is a function of the accuracy, reliability, and meaningfulness of information sources consulted.

From the foregoing, it is not enough to know the most popular channels for communicating information to farmers but also important to know whether the use of the preferred channels to communicate information to farmers would lead to their quest for information, and in some instances increased information use.

Methods of Disseminating Information to Rural Farmers

Rural farmers need information for their day-to- day farming work for enhancement of productivity and this information needs to be well packaged in a way that will make great impact on them. In packaging the information, the language of communication needs to be properly addressed, bearing in mind that most of the rural farmers are not learned. The researcher observed that most of the rural dwellers embrace educative programs that are being broadcast in their local language more than the English language because of inability to understand or comprehend the message. Effective access to accurate and comprehensive information enhanced agricultural or farming practices (Andre, 1996). This statement agreed with the researcher’s view of well packaging information for achieving its goal.

Agricultural information is very important to farmers of all categories. Aina (1990) averred that farmers need agricultural information because it has assumed greater importance in view of the link between the provision of agricultural information and increased and sustainable agricultural productivity. In recognition of the above, Ekoja (2002) stated that having recognized the importance of information to farming or agriculture. Agricultural information practitioners have equally accepted the need for efforts to improve transformation in this sector by building links between those who generate information and those who need it. These links ensure sustainable agricultural production, which according to the International Agricultural Center and Royal Tropical institute (1998), holds the key to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable management of natural resources.

One of the agencies or services put in place to diffuse agricultural information is the agricultural extension services. Agricultural extension is a service meant to educate the farmers and encourage them to adopt new technologies. The work of extension service revolves around

information diffusion because information communication is the process through which innovation, agricultural knowledge, etc is passed on from researchers, policy makers. etc. to the frontline people or farmers (Ekoja, 2002). The common meaning made out for extension is that it involves the conscious use of communication of information.

This information can be disseminated to the rural farmers through the following media:- Farm broadcasts, extension publication, training, extension advisory services, demonstrations and exhibitions including those mounted at agricultural shows, farmers’ field days etc.

Problems Associated with the Information Seeking Behaviour and Meeting the Information Needs of the Rural Farmers

Most rural farming communities have the basic issue of lack of community infrastructure to overcome; the provision of infrastructural materials alone however, does not guarantee adequate information that should satisfy the needs of rural communities.

A number of studies on the problems affecting the provision, dissemination, and utilization of information at grassroots have been carried out, where the following obstacles to information flow emerged. (Aina 1990, Kirk 1991, Olunlade 1991 and Ugoji 1991). These studies asserted that the provision of information on any area of need of the rural community depends on the existence of relevant matters on the said areas of need and recognition of fiscal barriers. It also depends on institutional inertia such as inadequate service, information gap, leadership gap, and relationship with other similar organizations, reading problems and education and training for information work. In addition to that, Adimorah (1995) postulated that information provision to rural communities should be coordinated for the following reasons: effectiveness, focus on national objectives, political implications, monitoring and evaluation. The national rural information policy should therefore include the coordinating agency since the change agents may not have been trained for evaluating the use of information at grassroots. Opportunities also exist for the rural libraries to become involved in community information services. Some of these barriers have also been identified by Aina (1990) who sees low literacy level, inadequate number of trained personnel and poor access to mass media as factors inhibiting the flow of agricultural information to farmers. Dissatisfied with reaction for these barriers, Dutta (2009) attributes the barriers to information needs of rural women to high rate of illiteracy, inability to access formal channels of information due to poverty, lack of adequate and efficient information delivery mechanism, ignorance of government’s responsibilities to its citizens, skepticism of the rural woman towards government and its information agencies, attitude of extension workers towards effective rural information service as well as inaccessibility of the rural areas by NGOs

The information needs of an individual or group of individuals depend on the vocational activities of such an individual or group of individuals. The information needs of a Medical doctor will definitely be associated with the treatment of sicknesses and correction of anomalies in the state of health of his patients while that of a student is all about his/her academic work. For the rural farmers, their information need will be based on how to improve their crop yield. This agrees with the postulation of Okwilagwe and Opeke (1998) who stressed that the five factors which affect the information needs of human beings are:

Their background: Information is culture-dependent: There is also the problem of cultural dependence. If it is accepted that information is socially conditioned and shaped by social environment from which it originated (Shields and Servaes, 1989), it should be remembered that if that information is transferred to a rural community with a different social background and environment, chances are that the information will not be

understood in the way it was intended to. This is because background knowledge is not transferred along with the information.

Professional orientation

The full array of information sources available

Motivation and other individual characteristics such as the social, political, economic and other systems that affect the users and their functions.

Illiteracy: The factor of illiteracy or low level of illiteracy acts as a great inhibitor to information access and assimilation in rural communities in Nigeria (Samuel, 2011).

To achieve high productivities by the rural farmers however, there is need to develop the information consciousness of the rural men and women by the provision of efficient, effective and reliable formal and informal information delivery mechanisms.

Problems of Information Dissemination to Rural Farmers

Rural dwellers in their search for information encounter some problems. Kizilaslan (2006) argues that proper dissemination of information for agricultural and rural communities is a crucial tool in the fight against poverty and deprivation. Information helps the poor to avail themselves of opportunities and also reduce their vulnerability. Kiplang’at (1999) postulates that dissemination of relevant information to the farming communities can facilitate the effective adoption of agricultural inputs, decision making on markets and adoption of scientific methods. However, lack of dissemination of information across the agricultural supply chain is a major concern in the developing world. According to Dauda (2008), Problems confronting the local farmers include: Poor feeder roads and inadequate road network between the rural areas where agricultural production mainly takes place and the urban areas; lack of appropriate on farm and off-farm storage facilities; the rural electrification programmes in Nigeria have not fully taken off as the government battles with the supply of electricity in urban areas. She further said that the absence of all these lead to poor dissemination of agricultural information.

The extension service delivery system still suffers from the inadequate number of extension men and women. The few that are in place, lack mobility to improve on extension- farmer contact while women extensionists are too few to handle gender issues. The frequency of extension message discovery is limited by poor research situations in universities and research institutes, shortage of experienced professional and technical manpower, especially for tractorisation and mechanization, most especially when, able-bodied people are leaving farming/rural areas. This has negative effects on labour availability, productivity and production. The wage rates have increased, thereby increasing the cost of food production; the land tenure systems in this part of the country, limit land availability to would be farmers, women and the landless, hence, low returns and low farmers income (Dauda, 2008). A major constraint to agricultural information dissemination is the inadequacy of existing extension programs. Some of these extension programs are conceived without well thought out plans and are prepared in a hurry without consulting the farmers whose attitudes are to be changed. Such agricultural information packages can neither sustain the farmers' interest nor effect the desired attitudinal change. Farmers' interests are disregarded considering the fact that most of the agricultural innovations are written and broadcast in English instead of the local language (Ozowa, 1995). This implies that agricultural innovations should not only be written and broadcast in English but also in local languages for the interest of the rural farmers.

The major challenge is that small, rural farmers have trouble keeping up with the big croppers. One of the problems is that many rural farmers do not have the same communication or information options as the larger companies. For a farmer to stay competitive, he needs to

understand market prices, growing trends, product information, potential crop problems, and he must be able to reach his buyers. Unless the farmer has a way to communicate and receive information rapidly, he/she misses great opportunities. The best way to connect to the outside world and stay on top of the competition is via computer and internet. However, because such services are virtually non-existent in the rural areas, this has made farming difficult (Satellite Internet, 2009)

There are some limiting factors and constraints in agricultural information dissemination in Nigeria, including status differences between extension agents and their clients; agents' inadequate knowledge of how communication works lack of interagency cooperation both in program planning and implementation and the conventional extension's general lack of interest in traditional media. e.g. town criers, group meeting etc.

Well intentioned agricultural programs can be marred by poor implementation and too much bureaucracy. For example, the Cooperative Extension Centre of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, has a competent crop of subject specialists without adequate funding, facilities and logistic support like visual aids, equipment, transportation and adequate communication channels, the Centre has not been able to achieve the expected impact on the immediate university community (Ozowa, 1995). He further noted that the present ratio of 1 extension worker to 3,000 farmers is inadequate for effective agricultural information diffusion. The problem is compounded by the paucity of women as extension agents especially in a society where cultural and religious taboos make it impossible for male extension workers to reach women farmers who outnumber male small scale farmers.

Many people in extension are ill-prepared for extension and extension communication job. The emphasis in their training is more on technical proficiency rather than on rhetorical and persuasive skills. An extensionist trained in this way, is unlikely to make an impact on a conservative farmer who is not likely to put his farm inputs at risk by trying the extensionist's improved technique. There is real need for extension agents training to be relevant to their jobs at the grass root.

Strategies for Reducing the Militating Factors

The factors militating dissemination agricultural information to rural farmers can be reduced through the following:

Agricultural shows: An agricultural show is a public event showcasing the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The work and practices of farmers, animal fanciers, cowboys and zoologists may be displayed. The events are good sources of agricultural information, as organizers can arrange for guest speakers to talk on a range of topics of farming (Osdell, 2008). In addition Southwest research and the extension center (1998) see demonstrations and on-farm field trials as another strategy: field trials fall into one of two categories: side-by-side trials (often referred to as strip trials) or small-plot replicated trials. Side-by-side trials are the most common form of on-farm tests. As the name suggests, these trials involve testing practices or products against one another in plots arrayed across a field, often in strips, the width of the harvesting equipment. These strips should be replicated across the field or repeated at several locations to increase reliability. Small-plot replicated trials often are conducted by universities and companies at central locations because of the complexity of managing them and the special planting and harvesting equipment often required. Replicated treatments increase the reliability of an experiment. They compare practices or products against one another in multiplicative under uniform growing conditions in several randomized small plots in the same field or location. Both types of plots can provide good information.

In another development Guenter (2007) view demonstration plots as a strategy for reducing militating factors that affects the satisfaction of the information needs of rural farmers. The demonstration is a time of the year when many farmers visit and evaluate hybrid demonstration plots planted by seed companies and country extension personnel, among others. When checking out these plots, it’s important to keep in mind their relative value and limitations. Demonstration plots may be useful in providing information on certain hybrid traits and field variability in growing conditions and crop performance.

Extension education: Extension is a type of education which is functional rather than formal. It is better provided by extension workers whose main task is to convey information in a meaningful form to farmers. One of the ways they do this is by training a group of model farmers with the hope that such farmers come in contact with other farmers. This is particularly necessary because farmers outnumber available extension workers with the present ratio of 1.3000 (Ozowa, 1995).

Institutional and governmental organs have been put in place to ensure that farmers get to know and adopt agricultural innovations relevant to their situations, e.g. the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), the extension services of the Agricultural Development Project (ADPs) etc. These bodies serve as facilitators of agricultural messages by acting as communication departments. They use media such as leaflets, newsletters, posters, exhibits, visual aids and radio programs in communicating agricultural information

(Ozowa, 1995). This gives one a picture of communicating agricultural information to farmers of all categories using the media to satisfy the information needs of the farmers.

Review of Related Empirical Studies

This section is concerned with the empirical studies done in the area of information needs and information seeking behavior of rural farmers. A number of studies have been conducted by different people and organizations on the adoption of different agricultural technologies both within and outside Nigeria. On the other hand, there is limitation of empirical studies related to the factors influencing access to and utilization of agricultural information.

Ekoja (2004) carried out a study titled Sensitizing Users for Increased Information Use: The Case of Nigerian Farmers. His aim was to find out how much Nigerian farmers know about, and access, the NAERLS information services, and how much their desire for increased information use as evident in their articulated information needs. The research design used for this study was the descriptive survey. The population comprised the NAERLS and Nigerian farmers (including fishermen, livestock farmers and agro-foresters), found in the five ecological zones are Bida, Ibadan, Maiduguri, Umudike and Zaria. The sample was made up of farmers found in and around the zonal headquarters. A sample of 100 farmers was studied in each zone, making a total of 500. The research instruments for data collection were questionnaire and documentary sources and both were complemented by interviews. The findings of the research are that the little known and accessed information services were television programmes, English language radio programmes, and most extension publications. As a result, most Nigerian farmers have great desire for agricultural information which is attested to by the findings relating to their information needs in this study. The work of Ekoja reviewed above is similar to this study

because it is all about farmers. The difference between this and the current study is that it is limited on sensitizing users for increased information use in Nigeria in general where as the present concerns itself with information needs and information seeking behaviour of rural farmers in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.

In other study, Njoku (2004) investigated the Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour of Fishermen in Lagos State, Nigeria. The survey was carried out in the rural fishing communities of the state. Using questionnaire supported with interviews, personal observation and examination of relevant records, data were collected from 500 fishermen in the different fishing communities in the state. The simple percentage was used to analyze the data. The study examined information needs, sources and information seeking behaviour as well as problems encountered by the fishermen in a bid to obtain information. Results show that the information needs of fishermen in Lagos state are mostly occupation directed. Their chief sources of information include colleagues, friends, neighbours and relatives. Results also show that the fishermen in Lagos State are mostly illiterate, married and male adults in their middle ages; where and how to obtain credit facilities remain the most important information need of the fishermen; lack of awareness about where to obtain information on modern fishing technology is the most common problem of the fishermen in their attempt to seek information. This shows that there is acute shortage of information and fisheries extension officers in the field of information dissemination. It was concluded that the means and sources of information sort after by fishermen in Lagos State are no longer adequate to meet advanced technology in the field and this can be detrimental to the profession. Suggestions that would facilitate information seeking and use among fishermen in Lagos state were given. Njoku’s work reviewed above is related to the present study in the sense that the researcher investigated information needs and seeking behaviour like the on-going study. The study adopted survey design, as well as questionnaire, interview and personal observation were used as instrument for data collection, while the current shall adopt complete focus group discussion for data collection. Both studies are on farmers but in different geo-political zones of Nigeria as well as different farming system/practices.

In a similar view, Ozioko (2007) studied the Reproductive Health Information Needs of Rural Women in Enugu State. The survey research technique was used while five research questions were formulated to guide the study. A reproductive health information needs questionnaire (RHIQ) was developed and focus group discussion (FGD) schedule was also formulated to guide discussions with the rural women. Means were used to analyze data while responses from the focus group/discussion were qualitatively analyzed. The objectives of the study were: to find out the reproductive health information needs on maternal mortality, anemia, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy compilations and menopause of women living in the rural areas of Enugu state, to find out the extent that lack of information has contributed to these problems such as maternal mortality, anemia, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy complications, to determine the sources of satisfying their reproductive health information needs. To find out the problems encountered in the process of meeting these needs and to determine how such problems could be overcome. The findings of the study were: that rural women in Enugu State have many reproductive health information needs, they are not aware of many reproductive health problems and sometimes do not believe in their existence, lack of adequate reproductive health information has led to high incidence of reproductive health problems among them, and there are many barriers to meeting their reproductive health information needs. The implication of these findings for government and other stakeholders were discussed. The recommendations based on the findings were that: Both

the state and federal governments and their relevant agencies should embark on an aggressive sensitization of the rural women through seminars and workshops on the prevalence of reproductive health problems; the rural dwellers should be re-oriented on their cultural beliefs to erase the misconceptions they hold about certain diseases and infections, the government should provide more health centers, clinics and hospitals to the rural communities, Adult education programmes should emphasize reproductive health problems. Public libraries should in addition to repacking information materials, provide relevant information materials that would help to eradicate illiteracy as well as create awareness on some of the devastating reproductive health problems. In a striking relationship, Ozioko’s work share the present is about information need. The work also adopted a descriptive survey design and the instruments for data collection focus group discussion (FGD) will be employed in the on-going study. However, Ozioko’s work is about the reproductive health information needs of rural women restricting it to Enugu State whereas the on-going focused more on information needs and seeking behaviour of rural farmers in a different geo-political zone, State and Local government.

In another development, Opara (2008) carried out a study on Agricultural Information Provision to Farmers. The study adopted ex- post facto research design based on a survey of agricultural development programme zones of Imo State. A total of 1386 farmers formed the sample population for the study. Stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to select sample of the study. The methods of data collection were questionnaire as interview schedule or non- self administered questionnaire in situations where farmers could not read and write in English. The data collected was analyzed using frequency tables and percentages. In the study, it was found that their information needs were mostly marketing and processing cooperative attributable to small scale level of farming operations, credit facilities, improved crop varieties,

agrochemicals, agro- machinery, inputs and implements and how to access them and provision of information on government fiscal policies and environmental policy and laws are other areas of information needs of the farmers. The work of Opara is also related to the current study because it dealt with rural farmers. The differences that exist however between the former and the current is that, Opara’s work was on agricultural information provision for farmers while the present study is on information needs and information seeking behaviour of rural farmers, the former employed ex-post facto research design, the present will adopt descriptive survey research design. In addition, while the present work adopts purposive sampling technique to select sample, the former adopted stratified proportionate sampling technique. The former study was also conducted in a different state (Imo) in rain forest different agricultural programme zone while the current study is in Benue state a savanna transition zone.

Similarly, Olabode (2008) studied the Information Needs of Selected Rural Communities in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti state. The study was aimed at identifying the information needs of the selected rural communities, how these information needs are met as well as problems militating against access to information needs and possible solutions to these problems. The study employed survey research method and the total sample of the comprised

120 opinion leaders which include civil servants, farmers, traders, and among others. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire and structured oral focus grouped interviews schedule with 12 questions on agriculture, politics, education and health. The study discovered that majority of the respondents had secondary education and few with university education. The main occupation of the respondents is farming, while few engaged in teaching, trading, civil service and others. The study also discovered that the rural community needs information on agriculture, health, politics, education and employment. The findings also shows that the

problems of the rural dwellers include high illiteracy rate, absence of rural public libraries and information centers, absence of radio and TV broadcast in local dialect among others. The sources of information available include radio/TV broadcast, traditional ruler’s friends, billboard/posters and magazines. And majorities do not use these information services and the researcher attributes this lack awareness of such information services provided to the high cost of information materials. Suggested solutions include, motivating the educated people in rural communities to assist the illiterate people to have access to the information, order translation of information on radio and TV into local dialect which rural dwellers understand, create awareness of available information centers and provision of good roads. Olabode’s work reviewed above is akin to the present study in the sense that the researcher studied information needs in selected rural Communities in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The study also employed the same design and one of the instruments for data collection (Focus Group Discussion interview) that will be used in the present study. However, the difference between the former and the present work is that Olabode’s work was carried out in a different agro-ecological and geopolitical location from my study. He used both the questionnaires and structured oral focus grouped interviewed schedule for data collection.