Abstract
The study investigated folk media preferences and prospect for use in agricultural extension service delivery in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Benue State. A total of 100 farmer respondents were selected using a random sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using frequency, mean, percentage and chi-square. Majority (62%) of the respondents were married while 65% were males indicating a non gender sensitive population. A chi-square analysis of the degree of association between respondents' personal and socio-economic characteristics and preference for folk media usage to obtain agricultural information indicated that marital status, educational status and farm size determine folk media preference. The study further revealed that folk media preference in descending order were: folk songs, town crier, folk dance, friends/relations and groups/association. Major reasons for folk media usage was effectiveness for information dissemination, entertainment and promotion of culture. It is, therefore, recommended that since marital status, educational status and farm size determine folk media preference, development agencies should take advantage of farmers' preferences to ensure optimum effect. Secondly, the major reasons for folk media usage reinforce the suitability of folk media for information dissemination in the study area. Therefore, agencies involved in rural development should use folk media to complement conventional media in Benue State. Key words : Extension; Folk Media DOI: 10.4038/tare.v12i1.1984 Tropical Agricultural Research & Extension 12(1):2009 47-50
Highlights
Folk media are the vehicles the common people or rural farmers employ for the delivery of their messages such as folk scripture, folk music, folk dance or folk painting (Ng’ombe 2000 Van Der Stichele 2000)
Marital status: Majority (62%) of the respondents were married, suggesting a stable population as married people tend to take profitable activities productively
Educational status: We observed a significant relationship between folk puppet theater (x2=27.395, p
Summary
Folk media are the vehicles the common people or rural farmers employ for the delivery of their messages such as folk scripture, folk music, folk dance or folk painting (Ng’ombe 2000 Van Der Stichele 2000). Far reaching innovations that are capable of boosting the farmer’s agricultural production do not get to the farmers and this has been attributed to lack of effective agricultural information dissemination machinery (Ozowa 1995; CTA 1996). The importance of communication in national development has been recognized in developing countries undergoing socio-economic changes. The search for appropriate communication media for information dissemination for development is on-going (Dare 1990; Olowu and Yahaya 1993; Ilevbaoje 1998). Many scholars have suggested that folk media should be used effectively to reach the rural people (Van den Ban and Hawkins1996; Kamlongera 2000). According to Van den Ban and Hawkins (1996) interest in the use of folk media is increasing in less developed countries because mass media have been less successful in promoting rural development
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