A model of access to information among Nigerian rice farmers

Facilitating access to information has been and will continue to be a dynamic process in light of the growing importance of information. Many studies have explored the socio-economic characteristics or attributes of farmers that affect access to information. Studies on models for their prediction are often lagged, particularly in developing countries. In this article, data on access to information and other attributes was collected from 1920 randomly selected rice farmers in Nigeria using structured interviews. Half of the farmers (49.0%) had access to information on rice farming and more than half (64.9%) belonged to a farmers group. The majority of the rice farmers were married (90.7%) and educated (73.1%). A logistic regression model with a 54.4% correct prediction showed age, education and membership of a farmers group to be predictors of access to information. Librarians should ascertain the attributes of rice farmers to enable them to repackage information for easy access.