Factors influencing utilization of mobile phones among maize farmers in Iwo (ADP) zone of Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed utilization of mobile phones among maize farmers in Iwo (ADP) Zone of Osun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected with the aid of well-structured interview schedule and subjected to frequency counts, percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square and correlation analyses. The results reveal that the mean age of the respondents was 48.51 years. Majority
(86.7% were male and majority (88.3% were married. Majority (67.5% indicated moderate level of utilization of mobile phone. High cost of maintenance/repair of mobile phone gadget ranked first, WMS (3.98) of all the constraints to utilizing mobile phone. Results of the hypotheses show significant association between possession of functional mobile phone (χ2=4.754, p=0.093), level of formal education (χ2=23.303, p=0.001), cooperative society membership (7.256, p=0.027) and utilization of mobile phone. Also, there was significant relationship between duration of usage of mobile phone (r=0.276, p=0.002), years of formal education (r=0.375, p=0.000), farm size (r=0.310, p=0.001), constraints to utilization of mobile phone (r= -0.367, p=0.001) and utilization of mobile phone. The study concluded that possession of functional mobile phone, level of formal education, cooperative society membership, experience in mobile phone usage, years of formal education, farm size and constraints to utilization influenced utilization of mobile phone among the respondents in the study area. The study recommended that policy makers should consider these factors in order to enhance utilization of mobile phone among the respondents in the study area.