An Assessment on the Information Needs and Seeking Behaviours of Rural Farmers in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated assessment on the information needs and seeking behaviours of farmers in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. There were four primary goals for the study and four related research topics that helped direct the investigation. Descriptive survey methodology was utilized in this research, with a questionnaire serving as the primary data collector. There were 2,000 farmers in the population, and 190 of them were randomly selected to be in the sample. The information was gathered with the use of a well-structured questionnaire. Farmers in Jos North Local Government Area face challenges like a language barrier, insufficient extension services/workers, and an inaccessible agricultural information infrastructure, among others, according to the study’s findings. Farmers previously relied on word of mouth, cooperative societies, family, and friends for agricultural advice. It was determined that the agricultural information resources available to farmers in the Jos North LGA of Plateau State are uninspiring. There is a lack of language support, extension worker services, financial support, public awareness, and current information that prevents farmers in the Jos North LGA from making informed decisions. Many suggestions were made, including that politicians at all three levels of government keep their word, that rural areas establish adult education programs, that agricultural agents, such as extension workers, be made available in all rural areas, and that the government hire and send extension workers to the countryside to help them produce higher-quality crops.