Factors determining ICT adoption in rural smallholder farms in southwestern Nigeria

This paper examines the interaction between socioeconomic characteristics of rural smallholder farmers in Oyo North Area in Nigeria and the adoption of ICT facility. One hundred and fifty-four (154) respondents comprising 92 beneficiaries and 62 non-beneficiaries were selected for participation in the study, using the multi-stage random sampling technique. Using the farm business survey method, data and relevant information were elicited using a structured questionnaire, while the bivariate probit model was employed to determine the factors influencing the patronage (adoption) of the ICT facility. Results indicate that beneficiaries had larger farm size (19.5 acres compared with 12.4 acres), more years of farming experience (41.9 years compared with 29.14 years), and recorded higher income (N262 537.93 compared with N247 779.82 per annum) than the non-beneficiaries. Beneficiaries also were members of executive (leaders) in their various social and occupational groups. The study revealed that marital status, educational status, farm size and farm income were key socioeconomic features of respondents that encouraged the adoption of the ICT. Specifically, a 1% increase in farm size would encourage the patronage of the ICT centre, and there was a 21% and 5% probability that married respondents and educated respondents respectively, would adopt the use of ICT. KEYWORDS: ICT, social participation, farmer’s patronage, innovation adoption, dprobit analysis