Use of ICT in Securing Marketing Information among Small Scale Farmers in Niger State, Nigeria

Transcription

1 Us of ICT in Scuring Markting Information among Small Scal Farmrs in Nigr Stat, Nigria Job N. Nmadu, Fatima. A. Aiylitsoya, and Halima Sallawu Abstract This study xamind th us of information communication tchnology (ICT) on scuring markting information among small scal farmrs in Nigr Stat, Nigria. Data wr obtaind from 90 rspondnts through th us of structurd qustionnair. Th information collctd was analyzd using dscriptiv statistics and multinomial logistic rgrssion tchniqu. Rsults of th analysis showd that majority of th rspondnts wr in thir activ ag of production and wr marrid. Most of th rspondnts obtaind thir information from radio, tlvision, and nwspapr. Th finding also indicatd that th yars spnt in school and not th ducational achivmnt is what is likly to incras th probability of awarnss. Problms idntifid with rgards to th usag of ICTs by th rspondnts includ languag barrir, povrty, and illitracy. It was thrfor rcommndd that govrnmnt and nongovrnmntal organizations should collaborat to includ ICT workshop and training in farmr ducation programms, ncourag programms lik NYSC ICT voluntr group, and translat tchnology to local languags. Indx Trms Information communication tchnology, markting, small scal farmrs. I. INTRODUCTION Information and Communication Tchnology (ICT) is an umbrlla trm that includs any communication dvic or application ncompassing; radio, tlvision, cllular phons, computr, ntwork of hardwar and softwar, and satllit systm. It covrs all forms of computr and communication quipmnt and softwar usd to crat, dsign, stor, transmit, intrprt, manipulat, produc and prsnt information in its various formats [1]. Th intrst in th application of ICT tools in agricultur ariss from th prnnial problms farmrs fac in accssing agricultural information [2]. Small scal farmrs, who form majority of th farming population of Nigria, tnd to b poor in trms of accss to agricultural production and markting information srvics linking ths farmrs to markts thrfor continus to b a major challng. This challng is as a rsult of poor connctivity, illitracy, contnts and costs [3]. Similarly, Information tchnology is bcoming th main ngin of conomic growth. It will displac oil, just as oil displacd stl in th scond half of th last cntury, as th main ngin of th conomic growth. Production will incrasingly b knowldg basd, and incrasing advancs in ICT, spcially Manuscript rcivd January 28, 2013; rvisd March 13, Th authors ar with th Dpt. of Agricultural Economics and Extnsion Tchnology, Fdral Univrsity of Tch., Minna, Nigria (-mail: job_nmadu@yahoo.co.uk, job_nmadu@futminna.du.ng, nightingal4vr@yahoo.co.uk, ralhalma@yahoo.com). in th tlcommunications sctors, will quickn th pac of globalization of trad [4]. ICT provid rsarchrs with a stady avnu for th dissmination of rsarch rports and findings [5]. Lack of Information and Communication Tchnology has ld to low lvls of agricultural commrcialization among small scal farmrs. This information-povrty traps farmrs in subsistnc farming thus prvnting thm from adopting profitabl production and also kps thm supplying low paying markt outlts [6]. In th absnc of markt information, opportunistic bhavior (by tradrs and othr markt actors) tnd to dvlop; such bhavior ncompasss chating on th quality which in turn rsults in failur of tradrs to stablish long-trm businss rlations with farmrs and othr tradrs [7]. Information and Communication Tchnology has playd a vital rol in food production in Nigria. Th assssmnt of th awarnss and th us of ICTs is worthwhil not only bcaus of its contribution to th conomy of th nation, but in th final analysis, it will improv th livs of small scal farmrs sinc information is an ssntial ingrdint in agricultural dvlopmnt programm. Knya Agricultural Commodity Exchang (KACE) is a privat sctor firm launchd in 1997 to facilitat linkag btwn sllrs and buyrs of agricultural commoditis, provid rlvant and timly markting information and intllignc, provid a transparnt and comptitiv markt pric discovry mchanism and harnss and apply information and communication tchnologis (ICTs) for rural valu addition and mpowrmnt. Studis in rural Thailand and Columbia also showd that th introduction of tlphons nabld farmrs to chck prics rgularly which ld to a doubling of farm incoms whil in Columbia, community tlphon accss incrasd trad, mploymnt and govrnmnt srvic dlivry [8]. Djankov t al. [9] rportd that indpndnt radio broadcasting srvics hav bn found to b positivly and significantly corrlatd with a rang of dvlopmnt outcoms, including improvd livs and bttr functioning markts. In Albania, studis show that information that is availabl to diffrnt markts has rducd pric diffrncs across markts [10]. Soutr t al., [11] in his thr country study (India, Tanzania and Mozambiqu) finds significant corrlations btwn tlcommunications and indicators of socio-conomic dvlopmnt. In Nigr, Akr [12] found that mobil phons rducd sarch costs by 50 prcnt compard with prsonal travl and that mobil phon us incrasd both tradrs and consumrs wlfar. Tradrs profits incrasd by 29 prcnt not bcaus thy tradd mor products but bcaus thy obtaind bttr prics through ral-tim markt rsarch DOI: /IJTEF.2013.V

2 conductd via mobil phon. Mobil phons wr also associatd with a 3.5 prcnt rduction in avrag consumr grain prics [13]. In Albania, studis showd that information that is availabl to diffrnt markts has rducd pric diffrncs across markts [10]. Som bnfits of ICT includ rduction in costs of agricultural information xchang and spurs commrcialization thus improving th wlfar of th farming communitis. Th availability of markt information also nabls farmrs to chck on th prics thy rciv vis-à-vis th prvailing markt prics. In addition, an intrnt ntwork among farmr organizations has dramatically incrasd farmrs' incoms by providing information about crop status, wathr, global markt prics and training [14]. Timly accss to markt information via communication ntworks also hlps farmrs maks wll informd dcisions about what crops to plant and whr to sll thir produc and buy inputs. ICT provids opportunitis for farmrs to communicat with on anothr through mail, mailing lists, and chat rooms. It also provids a quickr and asir accss to mor xtnsiv and currnt agricultural information. ICT incras fficincy, provid accss to nw markts or srvics, crat nw opportunitis for incom gnration. It is basd on ths advantags that this articl sks to xamin th us of ICT in scuring markt information among small scal farmrs in Nigr Stat by sking answrs to th following rsarch concrns: th socio-conomic charactristics of th farmrs in th study ara, th various ICT mdia through which farmrs obtain thir information, th lvl of awarnss of ICT by th rspondnts in th study ara, th factors that affct th lvl of usag of information by th farmrs and th constraints militating against th usag of ICT in th study ara. To provid information on ths rsarch concrn, this papr sks to dscrib th socio-conomic charactristics of th rspondnts; assss th lvl of awarnss of ICT among small scal farmrs; assss th various ICT mdia through which th farmrs obtain thir information; dtrmin th factors that affct th lvl of awarnss on ICT gadgts and thir usag by th rspondnts; and idntify th constraints militating against th usag of ICT in th study ara. Th findings in this study would provid a full undrstanding on th various ICT mdia through which th rspondnts obtain thir markt information, and what factors influncs thir lvl of awarnss on ths ICT mdia. Th findings will provid a basis to policy authoritis on th ndd policy dirction in ordr to intgrat farming with ICT and thus promot gratr commrcialization of farmrs by providing th ncssary framwork upon which thir oprational dcisions ar basd. II. METHODOLOGY Th study ara was Nigr Stat. Th stat s population is 3,950,249 [15] and covrs a total land ara of 76,363km 2. It xprincs distinct dry and wt sasons with annual rain fall varying from 1,100mm in th northrn part to 1,600mm in th southrn parts. Th maximum tmpratur usually not mor than 60 C is rcordd btwn March and Jun, whil th Minimum is usually btwn Dcmbr and January. Th rainy sasons last for about 150 days in th Northrn parts to about 120 days in th Southrn parts of th Stat. Th thr principal thnic groups of th stat ar th Nup, th Gwari and th Hausa. This study was basd on primary data collctd by administration of qustionnair. Simpl random sampling tchniqu was usd to slct Minna mtropolis mad of thr Local Govrnmnts Aras (LGAs) namly Bosso, Chanchaga and Paikoro out of th four mtropoliss in Nigr Stat i.. Minna, Bida, Sulja and Kontagora. Minna mtropolis has th addd advantag of bing mor divrs in trms of th living population bing th sat of th Stat Govrnor and is th only mtropolis with mor than on LGA. It also has both urban and rural aras and of highr living conditions than th othr mtropoliss. Thr villags wr thn slctd randomly from ach of th LGAs and 10 rspondnts wr randomly slctd in ach of th villags, making a total of 90 rspondnts for th study. Th data collctd wr socio-conomic, awarnss, frquncy of us, importanc and othr information on ICT gadgts. Som of th information wr collctd using likrt scal. Th data was collctd btwn January and July Th data collctd wr analyzd using dscriptiv statistical tool such as frquncy tabls, mans, prcntags, and standard dviations. Ths wr mployd to analyz socioconomic charactristics, th lvl of awarnss, importanc and frquncy of us of ICT gadgts, as wll as constraints militating against th us of ICT in th study ara. Th factors affcting th lvl of awarnss of th various ICT gadgts wr dtrmind using th multinomial logistic modl. Multinomial modls ar appropriat whn individuals can choos only on outcom from among th st of mutually xclusiv, collctivly xhaustiv altrnativs. Th choic of this mthod is basd on th fact that th lvl of awarnss (dpndnt variabl) is a catgorical variabl which can tak thr lvls (low awarnss=0, mdium awarnss=1, and high awarnss=2). Th probability that th ith farmr blongs to th jth risk bhavior group rducs to: Pij j 1 j X i k j k X i Th gnralizd multinomial modl is xprssd as Pij j 1 j X i k 0 k X i Whil th probability of bing in th bas outcom group is P i k 0 k X i (1) (2) (3) To stimat th modl th cofficints of th bas outcom 67

3 ar normalizd to zro (0). This is bcaus th probabilitis for all th choics must sum up to unity. Hnc, for 3 choics only (3-1) distinct sts of paramtrs can b idntifid and stimatd. Th natural logarithms of th odd ratio of quations (1) and (2) giv th stimating quation as Pij ln P i0 X This dnots th rlativ probability of ach of th othr groups to th probability of th bas outcom. Th stimatd cofficints for ach choic thrfor rflct th ffcts of Xi`s on th liklihood of th farmrs choosing that altrnativ rlativ to th bas outcom. Th stimation was don using Stata Statistical/Data analysis 11.2 softwar [16]. Th final stimats wr slctd basd on th variabls that convrgd during itration. Th cofficints of th bas outcom wr thn rcovrd in lin with in lin with Nmadu t al. [17] i i (4) β 3 = -(β 1 +β 2 ) (5) whr β 3 = cofficint of th variabl of th bas outcom (risk avrsion), β 1 = stimatd cofficint of th mdium lvl awarnss group, β 2 = stimatd cofficint of th high lvl awarnss group. In addition, th partial drivativs or marginal ffcts and quasi-lasticitis of th modl wr obtaind from th softwar. Finally, McFaddn s [18] liklihood ratio indx (LRI) also known as psudo R 2, similar to th R 2 in a convntional rgrssion, was computd as ln L LRI 1 ln L whr, lnl = log-liklihood function lnl 0 = log-liklihood computd with only th constant trm. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Th Socio-conomic and dmographic charactristics of th rspondnt of th rspondnts is prsntd on Tabl I showing that majority of th rspondnts ar mal and marrid with avrag of on wif and six childrn. Th rspondnts ar still in thir productiv yars (33±13 yars). Lss than 50% of thm hav acquird scondary ducation, which is th highst attaind havn spnt about 6yars acquiring formal ducation. Thir farm holdings tnd to b mdium scal (9.985±9.6 ha) scattrd in mor than thr locations. Th lvl of awarnss of ICT gadgts and formats and th importanc attachd to ICT gadgts for scuring markt information ar prsntd on Tabls 2 and 3 showing that awarnss is high for , Mobil phon, Radio, Tlvision, Satllit rcivr, Nwspapr and I-pad whil much importanc is attachd to Mobil phon, Intrnt, Radio and Tlvision. Frquncy of us of ths ICT gadgts is prsntd on Tabl 4 showing that by th rspondnts frquntly usd Mobil phon, Intrnt, Radio, Tlvision and Satllit rcivr in sking markt information. Tabl V shows th numbr of ICT gadgts possssd by rspondnts, thir man purchas pric and man amount thos who do not hav ar willing to spnd to purchas on indicating that most 0 (6) rspondnts hav only mobil phons, radio and tlvision among all th ICT gadgts survyd whil quit a numbr xprssd willingnss to purchas what thy do not hav. Th various markt information sought for by th rspondnts is prsntd on Tabl 6 showing that only institutions involvd in markting is not sought by th rspondnts. TABLE I: SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESPONDENT Variabls Frquncy Prcntag Ag Gndr Mal Fmal Marital Status Singl Marrid Numbr of wivs Numbr of childrn Rligious affiliations Muslims Christians Educational lvl Non Primary Scondary Polytchnic Collg of ducation Yars spnt in formal ducation Farm Siz Numbr of plots of land Incom Blow 10, ,001-20, ,001-30, ,001-40, Abov 40,

4 TABLE II: DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THE LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF ICT GADGETS AND FORMATS ICT Formats Low Mdium High Intrnt Mobil phon Radio Tlvision Satllit Nwspapr Journal I-pad Blackbrry Onlin Papr Podcast TABLE III: DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THE IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO ICT GADGETS FOR SECURING MARKET INFORMATION Vry important Intrnational Journal of Trad, Economics and Financ, Vol. 4, No. 2, April 2013 Not sur Not important Not vry important Important Mobil phon Intrnt Radio Tl Satllit Nwspapr Journal I-Pad Blackbrry Onlin nwspapr Pod cast community radio Laptop Dsktop TABLE IV: FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE VARIOUS ICT GADGETS BY THE RESPONDENTS Rgularly Occasionally Rarly Nvr Mobil phon Intrnt Radio Tlvision Satllit Nwspapr Journal I-Pad Blackbrry Onlin information Pod cast community radio Laptop Dsktop Othr Tabl VII givs th cofficint stimats of th variabls includd in th chosn multinomial logistic modl of factors affcting th lvl of awarnss of ICT in th study ara. Th final modl shows that that th liklihood ratio (χ2) is statistically significant at th 1% lvl maning that th variabls considrd jointly xrt a vry significant influnc on th lvl of awarnss. This is an indication that all or som of th slop cofficints ar significantly diffrnt from zro. It thrfor mans that th modl is capabl of showing and xplaining th dtrminants of lvl of awarnss of th rspondnts. This indication is also confirmd by th LRI of rspondnts, amount spnt on purchas (+), farm siz (+) and which is quit highr than that obtaind by Nmadu t al. [17], Rahji and Fakayod [19], Abadi ghadim and Pannll, [20] and Zpda [21]. Th modl furthr shows that whil numbr of yars spnt in formal ducation (+) and ducational ag (-) also dtrmind th probability of high lvl of awarnss significantly. Finally, Tabl VIII shows th constraints ncountrd in using ICT and thir svrity showing that povrty and languag barrir ar th most svr stback to th us of ICT by th rspondnts. TABLE V: NUMBER OF ICT GADGETS POSSESSED BY RESPONDENTS, THEIR MEAN PURCHASE PRICE AND MEAN AMOUNT THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE ARE WILLING TO SPEND TO PURCHASE ONE Mobil phons intrnt Radio Tlvision Satllit dish rcivr Nwspaprs Journals I pad Blackbrry Onlin nwspapr Podcast Community radio Laptop Dsktop PC Othrs =Total Numbr possssd, 2=Thos who borrow to us, 3=Thos who rnt to us, 4=Man purchas pric, 5=Man amount willing to spnd to purchas by thos who don't hav TABLE VI: DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THE MARKET INFORMATION SOUGHT FOR Typs of markt information sought Rgularly Somtims Rarly Nvr Pric of th products Pric changs Grading of products Institutions Availabl markts Consumrs Sals information Product planning Wathr rport Th rsult on Tabl I shows that most of th farmrs wr still within th conomically productiv and tchnological ag. This agrs with Mra t al. [22] and Ndag t al. [23] in thir studis hav concludd that youngr farmrs prfr to 69

5 us ICT mor compard to oldr farmrs. On factor rsponsibl for this is that th youngr farmrs hav highr ducational achivmnt and hnc xposd mor to ICT gadgts and formats. Th lvl of ducation of farmrs is assumd to influnc th lvl of awarnss and ability to adopt innovation. Whthr this assrtion is th cas in this study is to b confirmd shortly. In addition, thr is an indication that th farmrs incom lvl is high, as of thm possssd mor than on ICT format (Mobil phon, Radio). This agrs with th rsarch carrid out by Ccchini and Scott [24] which rvald that Farmrs with high incoms had mor than on ICT (normally radio and mobil phon) and thrfor wr in a bttr position to accss markt information through ths itms than thos with lss incom who had only on typ of ICT. TABLE VII: MULTINOMIAL LOGISTIC REGRESSION ESTIMATES OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF ICT IN THE STUDY AREA Low (bas outcom) Mdium High Rligion ( ) ( ) Amount spnt on purchas ( ) ** ( ) Numbr of yars alrady us ICT ( ) (.22577) Incom from non-farm sourcs -6.1E ( ) ( ) Total farm incom E-06 ( ) ( ) Farm siz * ( ) ( ) No of plots ( ) ( ) No of childrn ( ) ( ) Numbr of yars spnt in formal ducation ** ( ) *** ( ) Educational lvl (scondary) ** ( ) ** ( ) Marital status ( ) ( ) Ag * ( ) ( ) Constant ( ) ( ) LR chi 2 = 66.28*** Log liklihood = Psudo R 2 = NB: Valus in parnthsis ar standard rrors, ***P<0.01, **P<0.05, *P<0.10 TABLE VIII: DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO SEVERITY OF CONSTRAINTS ENCOUNTERED WHEN USING ICT Not a Constraints Srious Mild constraint Illitracy (lack of ducation) Poor ntwork covrag Poor accss to ICT infrastructur Povrty Lack of tchnical know-how Poor accss to intrnt connctivity Inadquat capacity and affordability Languag barrirs Th rsults on Tabls III-IV indicatd that lvl of awarnss, importanc of th ICT gadgts in scuring markt information, frquncy of us of th ICT gadgts and formats, and th typ and numbr of gadgts possssd ar not uniform. Th rsult furthr shows that th rspondnts usd radio, tlvision, nwspapr and mobil phons mor to obtain thir markting information. Th last ICT gadgts usd wr podcast, onlin paprs and blackbrry. This implis that vn though th rspondnts own ths gadgts, thy do not us thm to obtain markting information. According to Djankov t al. [9], indpndnt radio broadcasting srvics hav bn found to b positivly and significantly corrlatd with a rang of dvlopmnt outcoms, including improvd livs and bttr functioning markts. Th rsults on Tabl VI showd that prics and pric chang information ar most sought aftr by th rspondnts. This probabl was to nabl thm st prics that would satisfy thm and th consumrs. Th last sought aftr is information on markting institutions, product planning and wathr. Probably this information is not ndd bcaus thr is no spcialization in Nigrian agricultur. Farmrs tnd to produc basd on prvious yars xprinc thrby bing caught in th so-calld cobwb problm. In addition, various grads of agricultural produc is not a ky information bcaus most agricultural produc in Nigria ar not sold by grads nithr is thr any standard unit of masur. Th rsults on Tabl VII is quit contradictory with rgards to numbr of yars spnt in formal ducation (+) and ducational lvl (scondary) (-) and contrary to th viws xprssd arlir. Th implication of this finding is that th yars spnt in school and not th ducational achivmnt is what is likly to incras th probability of awarnss. Th avrag numbr of yars spnt in school is about 6 yars which suggst that most of th rspondnts might hav just attmptd scondary school but did not complt. Of cours, it is important to strss to th farmrs that ducation is ky to achiving a sustaind incras in farm output through asy and chap information xchang, th platform which is providd by ICT. Evn th plannd distribution of mobil phons to 5m small scal farmrs in Nigria during th 2013 fiscal yar can only achiv th statd objctivs if th issu of ducation and training is intnsifid to lt th farmrs know th bnfit drivabl by th xrcis. Surprisingly, ag of th farmr tnds to rduc th probability of awarnss of ICT platform. As th farmr grow oldr, so also ar th rsponsibilitis growing, lik paying childrn school fss or cost of halth car; providing food for his growing family tc. In fact in this community, th siz of th family sms to b larg. This might dpriv th farmr for sking anything outsid th basic ncssitis of lif including ICT. Purchas powr and farm siz tnds to incras th probability of awarnss which is in lin with xpctation. As th farmr opn mor farmlands, thr is incras incom which incrass his purchasing powr. Th rsults on Tabl VIII shows that most of th rspondnts had languag barrir as th most srious constraint as indicatd by Draman and Samsul [25]. Thy assrtd that languag is on of th main problms facd by th agricultur community in using ICT. Th rsult also showd that Povrty was on of th major problms facd by small scal farmrs; this dprivs th farmrs from xpanding thir farms and making us of ICT as a rsult, information 70

6 povrty sts in. This information povrty traps farmrs into subsistnc farming thus prvnting thm from adopting profitabl production [6]. IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS This study was dsignd to xamin th us of ICT in scuring markting information among small scal farmrs in Nigr stat. Dscriptiv analytical tool and multinomial logistic rgrssion analysis wr usd to analyz th data. Th rsult of th dscriptiv analysis showd that 63.3% of th rspondnts wr btwn th ags of 21-40yars. It was noticd that larg proportion of th rspondnts wr marrid (67.8%), with fairly larg houshold siz, and 41.1% of th rspondnts wr not ducatd. Th rsult also shows that majority of th rspondnts wr mor awar of Radio, Tlvision and Nwspaprs as a sourc of markt information but thy obtaind thir information through Radio, Tlvision and Nwspaprs rspctivly. Th typ of information thy mainly sought for wr thos of prics and pric changs rspctivly. Furthr analysis of th rsult shows that languag barrir, povrty, and illitracy wr th most srious problm ncountrd by th rspondnts. Th finding also show th numbr of yars in formal ducation incrasd th probability of awarnss whil th attaining th lvl of scondary ducation tnd to rduc awarnss. Basd on this, fforts should b mad by th govrnmnt to nsur that ICT workshops and trainings ar includd in farmr ducation, ntrprnur dvlopmnt and skills acquisition programms in agricultur, which will assist in markt orintation and appropriat tchnology acquisition. In addition, thr is nd to translat th tchnologis to local languags spcially radio broadcasts. Th govrnmnt should ncourag programms lik National Youth Srvic Corps (NYSC) ICT Voluntr Group to provid snsitization at th rural communitis whr thy ar postd. Th NYSC can b an ffctiv tool for fostring ICT dvlopmnt in rural communitis as it can provid th man-powr and high lvl comptnc rquird to manag ICT cntr and train locals on ICT us for agricultural dvlopmnt purposs. Bsids, du to its wid covrag of rural aras, ntworking btwn NYSC groups in various communitis can fostr rural-urban communication, xtnding information to rural farmrs and providing rlvant markt accss information. REFERENCES [1] E. C. Madu, Computrizd Rfrnc Sourc and Traditional Printd Rfrnc Sourc: A Comparison of th Old and th Nw in Library Srvics, Information Scinc and Tchnology for Library Schools in Africa, Madu, E.C. t al. (d) Ibadan: Evi-Colman Publications, [2] J. J. Okllo, R. M. Okllo, and E. Adra-Ofwona, Awarnss and us of mobil phons by smallholdr farmrs in Knya, in Blssing Maumb (Ed), E-Agricultur and E-Govrnmnt for Global Policy Dvlopmnt: Implications and Futur Dirctions, [3] CTA. ICTs: Transforming Agricultural Extnsion? An -discussion, 20th August 29th Sptmbr, [4] B. 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Nmadu was born in Nigr Stat, Nigria, bcam a Mmbr of Agricultural Socity of Nigria (ASN) in 1992, Nigrian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE) in 2001, Asia-Pacific Chmical, Biological & Environmntal Enginring Socity (APCBEES) in 2012 and Intrnational Economics Dvlopmnt Rsarch Cntr (IEDRC) in H startd his carr dvlopmnt at St. John s Primary School, Bida in H obtaind GCE in 1982 at GSS Sulja and procdd to Ahmadu Bllo Univrsity whr h obtaind BSc (Agricultur) in 1987, MSc (Agricultural Economics) in 1998 and PhD 71

7 (Agricultural Economics spcializing in conomtric modling of sorghum conomy) in Dr. Nmadu has srvd in a numbr of Committs within and outsid th acadmic community including Environmntal Impact Assssmnt Panl Rviw for Fdral Ministry of Environmnt, Abuja, Honourary Dgrs Committ for Fdral Univrsity of Tchnology and Human Capacity Syndicat Rsarch Group for Univrsity Board of Rsarch, Fdral Univrsity of Tchnology among othrs. H also srvd as consultant for Environmntal Impact Assssmnt for Etisalat. Fatima A. Aliyu was born in Kaduna Stat on th 29 th of Octobr, Sh is a graduat of th Fdral Univrsity of Tchnology, Minna, Nigria (2012); whr sh obtaind a B. Tch. dgr in Gnral Agricultur with option in Agricultural Economics and Extnsion Tchnology with a First class. Sh obtaind hr scondary ducation in Iykhi Girls Collg, Auchi, Edo Stat. Halima Sallawu was born in Agai Local Govrnmnt of Nigr Stat on 19th Novmbr Attndd Suliman Primary School Agai from 1986 to 1992, Maryam Babangida Girls Scinc Collg Minna from 1994 to 1999, Fdral Collg of Education Kontagora from 2001 to 2004 and obtaind NCE in Agricultural Education (doubl major). Shn thn procdd to, Fdral Univrsity of Tchnology Minna btwn 2005 and 2011 whr sh obtaind B. Tch. dgr in Gnral Agricultur with option in Agricultural Economics and Extnsion Tchnology. Sh workd with Nigr Stat Ministry of Scinc And Tchnology as Agricultural Officr from 2003 to Sh is currntly Graduat Assistant Fdral Univrsity of Tchnology Minna, Nigria. Mrs. Halima is a Mmbr of Nigrian Association of Agricultural Economist. 72