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Vol.1 , No. 3, Publication Date: Jul. 7, 2014, Page: 82-88
 Socio-Economic Characteristics as Factors in Usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): A Study of Three Selected States of North-Western Nigeria&description=This paper presents the results of investigation into the factors that influenced Village Extension Agents (VEAs)’ usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in three selected States Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) in Northwestern Nigeria. Two hundred and four (204) VEAs were sampled as respondents for the study. Results show that significant positive correlation exists between; access to ICT, perceptions on Government policy, and perception on customs/tradition and ICT usage. The paper therefore concludes that both socio-economic characteristics and perceptions of VEAs have considerable influence on their ICT usage. Hence, it was recommended that emphasis should be placed by the VEAs’ employers in improving the VEAs’ socio-economic characteristics and perceptions.&picture=http://www.aascit.org/aascit/decorators/img/journal/902.jpg)
| [1] | T. O. Fadiji, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria. |
| [2] | T. K. Atala, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. |
| [3] | D. F. Omokore, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. |
| [4] | Z. Abdulsalam, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. |
This paper presents the results of investigation into the factors that influenced Village Extension Agents (VEAs)’ usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in three selected States Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) in Northwestern Nigeria. Two hundred and four (204) VEAs were sampled as respondents for the study. Results show that significant positive correlation exists between; access to ICT, perceptions on Government policy, and perception on customs/tradition and ICT usage. The paper therefore concludes that both socio-economic characteristics and perceptions of VEAs have considerable influence on their ICT usage. Hence, it was recommended that emphasis should be placed by the VEAs’ employers in improving the VEAs’ socio-economic characteristics and perceptions.
Keywords
Usage, Factors, Information, Communication, Technology, Extension Agents, Socio-Economic, Characteristics, Nigeria
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