Sorghum Farmers’ Access to Agricultural Information Related to Water Stress Adaptation Strategies through ICTs in the Semi-arid Region of Cameroon

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of farmers' access to agricultural information through Information and Communication Technologies (radio, telephone, agricultural magazines). The purpose of this research work is to assess sorghum farmers' access to ICTs, and ICTs’ contribution to the diffusion of agricultural information related to water stress adaptation strategies. The study was conducted in the Diamaré division from September 2011 to December 2014. The choice of the study area and sites was influenced by both ICTs’ access and sorghum production basins. In all six hundred farms’ household heads from twenty villages were randomly selected and submitted a questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (W Kendall test of agreement, chi-square test). It appears that radio is the farmers’ most used and most preferred ICT, while agricultural magazines are perceived as the most effective ICT in terms of dissemination of information related to water stress adaptation strategies. The phone is the ICT that has mostly contributed to the effective diffusion of the water stress adaptation strategies currently in use by farmers. The ICTs’ features that attract farmers include diversity of broadcast languages, diversity of agricultural information disseminated, and ability to facilitate direct communication between actors. To promote broad dissemination of agricultural innovations through ICTs, agricultural stakeholders must consider all the above results, while integrating farmers and journalists in all phases of the process. The integration of the agricultural innovations’ diffusion through ICTs in the agricultural policies and the ITCs’ operators’ agendas is a priority.