INNOVATIVE AGRICULTURE THROUGH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTS) FOR OPTIMIZED FOOD PRODUCTION BY WOMEN CASSAVA FARMERS IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The need to facilitate access to required information and knowledge through the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to empower women cassava farmers, especially in the rural areas of Imo state, Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. As a result, a structured questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) were used by researchers for data collection from 120 sampled respondents for the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Square regression as inferential statistics. From the data collected and analyzed, the result showed that major factors influencing the use of ICTs by women farmers are farming experience, economic status, years of education, and cooperative membership and they have a lot of bearing on the women's involvement in cassava production and ICT usage. The women farmers utilize improved cassava varieties, practice new agronomic techniques, and process cassava into value addition. The result also showed that the use of mobile phones, radio, WhatsApp, Facebook, and fliers top the mean rating of major ICT gadgets commonly used by women and it enhances their overall effectiveness, though the present economic crisis is their major challenge. Therefore, a free adult education policy is highly recommended to enable women farmers to have easy access to ICTs and process innovative information on improved cassava-based technologies to boost participation, and food production and enhance their income and output. More importantly, constant training and retraining of women farmers in the effective use of ICT devices in their farm business to improve efficiency and productivity is highly recommended.