Farmers' knowledge and attitude towards agricultural mobile phone applications in Nigeria

Abstract

In order to enhance the dissemination of agricultural information to farmers, numerous Agricultural Mobile Phone Applications (AMPAs) have been developed to bridge the knowledge gap between experts and agricultural practitioners. However, the extent to which farmers are aware of these Applications remains uncertain. The study therefore aimed at examining the knowledge of and attitude towards AMPAs among cassava farmers in South-west, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 410 respondents for the study. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, including frequency counts, percentages, means, and regression analysis. The findings of the study were that farmers exhibited a high level of knowledge for IITA herbicides calculator (80.4%), Airtel 4-2-1 call App (88.6%), and Akilimo App (75.3%). Farmers had a positive attitude towards the use of the IITA herbicides calculator (75.0%), Airtel 4-2-1 call App (84.5%), and Akilimo App (80.4%). Regression analysis showed that level of education (b = 0.260, p=0.044), and smart phone (b= 0.278, p=0.022) owned were also positively significant to the knowledge level while age (b= -0.278, p=0.021) have negative significance. The study concluded that farmers in the study area had good knowledge and favourable attitude about AMPAs. The study therefore recommended that designing user interfaces that cater to the preferences and usability needs of different age groups is important noting that younger users may navigate complex interfaces, while older users may prefer simpler and more intuitive designs.