Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among rural women in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Women are the driving force of agriculture in Nigeria and therefore need adequate and current information on agricultural activities and other aspects of their lives. This study assessed rural women’s utilization of ICT to source development information. Three Local Government Areas were purposively selected from the thirty-three LGAs in the State while random sampling technique was used to select two hundred and forty respondents across the three States. Data were collected through the use of interview schedule and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings from the study revealed that 40% of the women were within age range 20-40years, 46.7% had no formal education. About 88.3%, 16.7% and 1.7% utilized radio, mobile phone and internet respectively. Illiteracy (75.0%), low income (66.7%),lack of power supply(75.0%) and heavy workload (65.0%) prevented rural women from using ICT effectively. Chi-square result shows that age (?²=29.400),marital status(?²=76.133), level of education (?²=30.167) and occupation (?²=22.167) were significantly related to ICT utilization. Adult literacy education using extension agents should be encouraged among the rural women and there should be rural development in terms of social amenities especially electricity because all these ICTs need these amenities to function well.