Information Needs of Illiterate Female Farmers in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050710874278 |
| Pages | 38-42 |
| Date | 30 October 2007 |
| Published date | 30 October 2007 |
| Author | Joseph Welfare Irivwieri |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Information Needs of Illiterate Female Farmers
in Ethiope East Local Government Area of
Delta State
Joseph Welfare Irivwieri
38 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 9/10 2007, pp. 38-42, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050710874278
Introduction
Agriculture is as old as the history of
man. In Nigeria and other West Africa
countries are peasant illiterate female
farmers who produce food crops for
their own consumption, of which only a
few also produce some crops for export.
Agriculture is the growing of plants
and raising of animals for food, clothing
and other basic needs of man. Before
the advent of crude oil, agriculture was
the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
Despite the fact that the country's
foreign income comes mostly from
crude oil, the role of agriculture in the
socio-economic development of
Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized.
For this role to continue, there is the
needs for adequate attention needs to be
given to the agricultural sector.
The illiterate f emale, who farms, a s
her forefathers did, cannot produce
much food no matter how rich the land
or how hard she works. The factors
relating to the provision and use of
agricultural information in Ethiope East
are consideredfirst based on the needs of
users and then on the existing facilities
that promote or hinder the provision and
effective use of agricultural information.
Yet it is common knowledge that these
people are among the most conservative
group in the society.
Owing to the high level of illiteracy
among the female farmers, it is often
difficult to teach them any scientific
ideas, much more so to get themto adopt
new ideals. Most of the farmers are wary
of the risk they may be required to take.
To a great many of th em, maintaining
the age-old practices handed to them
generations ago insures them against
some of these experimental risks.
Another issue at stake is the attitude
of extension officers who are often
carried away by scientific jargon and as
such make it impossible for farmers to
comprehend what they are trying to put
across. As a result of their inability to
come down to the level of the farmers
very essential information is often
misunderstood, leading to a waste of
manpower and other resources. Added
to these is a wide variety of traditional
modes of communication, which have
considerable yet untapped potential, for
disseminating agricultural information
especially to the illiterate population.
With regards to radio and television,
there has been inadequate availability
of agricultural films, tapes and trained
personnel in Ethiope East. Furthermore,
traditional modes of communication
have remained undeveloped and are not
linked in to mainstream mass media.
A country dependent upontraditional
agriculture is inevitably poor. But when
a country develops its agricultural sector
such as Denmarkhad in Europe, Israel in
the near East, Mexico in Latin America
to mention a few, food becomes more
abundant, income rises and less of the
income of the country is spent on food
(Agbamu, 1993).
The fact is that agriculture is a
source of economic growth; and it is of
the utmost importance to determine
how cheaply and how much growth can
be realized by transforming traditional
agriculture into a more productive
sector by means of investment. The
system of agriculture in Nigeria is
purely primitive. Agriculture makes the
largest contribution to most developing
nations' national income.
According to Sully (1990),
``agriculture is regarded as the beast
from which the state derives support
and nourishment''. The economic
significance of food production in the
world cannot be overstressed.
According to Oluwasami (1976)
``Agriculture has a crucial role to play
in the early stage of economic
development by producing food to meet
the increasing need for raw materials
for industries''. Contributing to this
view, Akinsami (1975) says that ``the
West African economy depends mainly
on agriculture''. Agriculture, according
to him, not only supports food but most
of the available employment
opportunities. It feeds industries and
ensures local domestic trade. It is the
source of income of illiterate female
farmers and, through external trade, is a
major source of foreign currency in
most undeveloped countries. About 75
per cent of able-bodied females are
workers without industrial skills.
These illiterate female farmers are
faced with many problems that prevent
them from developing into outstanding
farmers.
According to Akinsami (1975),
some of the problems relate to issues of
land tenure by inheritance. Land that is
supposed to be used for farming
activities has been acquired through
inheritance within the extended family
system.
Webster and Wilson (1966)
identified the problems of tradition and
belief. They assert that agricultural
improvement cannot be effected by
merely attempting to change the
techniques but necessitates a process of
general education and guided social
change.
Abumere (1978) identified storage
problems, which result in production
loses. At the same time there are
instances wheresome farmers have been
identified as part-time farmers (Aina,
1985) because they only work the land
or keep livestock to supplement their
other sourcesof livelihood.
Norman (1970) claimed that
inherited land is the most common type
of tenure and cannot be used by
illiterate female farmers.
Webster and Wilson (1966) assert
that land fragmentation means that
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