ACCESS TO AND UTILIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION AMONG RURAL YOUTH IN EASTERN SIERRA LEONE

Résumé fourni par la source

Abstracts: Access to timely, relevant and usable agricultural information is essential for improving farmers’ decision-making, adoption of improved technologies and agricultural livelihoods. This study assessed access to and utilization of agricultural information among respondents in Kenema District, Eastern Sierra Leone. A cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data from 242 respondents using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were used to summarize respondents’ characteristics, sources, access and utilization of agricultural information, while the Pearson chi-square test and Phi coefficient were used to examine the association between sex and access to agricultural information. The findings revealed that 96.7% of respondents had access to agricultural information and 94.2% reported using agricultural information. However, access and utilization were predominantly occasional, with 45.0% accessing information sometimes and 41.3% using it sometimes. Farmer groups/cooperatives (40.1%) and radio (36.8%) were the leading sources of agricultural information. Major constraints included low literacy level (95.4%), complexity of messages (95.1%), high cost of information (91.3%), lack of awareness (91.3%), language barriers (90.9%), and time constraints (90.5%). Inferential analysis showed no statistically significant association between sex and access to agricultural information, χ²(1) = 0.001, p = 0.973, with a negligible effect size (φ = 0.002). The study concludes that although agricultural information is widely accessible and utilized, important barriers continue to limit its regular and effective use. Strengthening farmer groups, improving extension–farmer linkages, simplifying agricultural messages, using local languages, expanding radio and appropriate digital advisory servicesare recommended to improve the effective utilization of agricultural information in the study area. Keywords: Agricultural information, access, utilization, agricultural extension, farmer groups, youth,