A Survey of Strategic Information Services to Rural Farmers in Anambra East and West Local Government Areas of Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Lack of strategic information has been a major hindrance for agricultural development. Thus, effective information services for rural farmers underline the importance of sustainable agriculture. The survey was carried out in Anambra East and West local government areas of Anambra State. Three hundred and fifty-seven (357) community dwellers were sampled through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and scorecard activities. There was also an FGD on Civil Society Organization (CSOs) personnel. Key Informant Interview (KII) was used on the state and local government actors. It was discovered that rural farmers need information on agricultural loan, extension service workers and seedlings. They showed the evaluation of these information gaps by scoring them very poor. Moreover, the CSOs and the local government disclosed their challenges of rendering effective information services. Another discovery was that library services are not offered in the communities under study. Therefore, the study recommended that librarians should repackage information resources and services to include the rural dwellers as well as key into the activities of CSOs in order to render the services to which they are trained for.