Analysis of information needs of agricultural extension workers in Southwest of Nigeria

Extension workers cannot be said to be effective in their responsibilities to their clientele if they are found to be deficient in information dissemination resulting from not being adequately informed on some subjects. It is on this basis that this study was undertaken to investigate the information needs of the extension workers in the southwest of Nigeria. The study was carried out in the southwest of Nigeria. Three states were randomly selected from the six that make up the geo-political zone. Fifty extension workers were randomly selected from the list of extension workers from each state. Data was collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The information needs of the respondents were classified into technical, commercial, social, legal and general information. It was found that only the working experience of the respondents displayed a significant relationship with their information needs. Findings also showed that the respondents perceived some information sources namely training, research stations, books, technical bulletins, seminars and supervisors to be effective, while others namely clientele and colleagues were perceived not to be effective. It was therefore recommended that the training of the extension workers should include computer literacy to enable them access to internet and other electronic information technologies. Keywords: Information, needs, agricultural extension, workersSouth African Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 36 (1) 2007: pp. 62-7