The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic and Agricultural Knowledge Sharing for Small Scale Farmers in Katsina State

The global pandemic of Corona Virus Disease of 2019 (COVID- 19) has affected many sectors including small scale farming. This study assess the effect of Covid-19 in agriculture and identified Small Scale Farmers’ (SSF) information sharing platforms and its efficiency level used for agricultural activities during the pandemic for the sustainability of human life and economic survival. Katsina state government has taken some measures that include luck down, restriction of movement, market closures, social distancing and self-isolation in majority of local government areas to stop the spread of the virus. Three research questions were developed to guide the study. Survey design was adopted and 700 small scale farmers in Katsina state were the target population. A total number of 280 respondents were randomly sampled using cluster sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The medium and platforms used by farmers to share agricultural information include traditional and modern methods. During the Pandemic the finding revealed that farmers used modern methods which include; Agric Dealers, Facebook, WhatsApp, Phone calls and SMS plat forms. But prior to the pandemic, farmers mainly used traditional methods that include; farmers association, farm visits, personal relationship, family house and market day plat forms to share their agricultural information. The study also recommends that Government and banks should provide non interest loans, financial support and free android phones that can be accessible to small scale farmers with less assessment criteria to invest in their farming to address COVID- 19 challenges and improve agricultural knowledge sharing