Information Seeking Behaviour of Fish Pond Farmers in Delta State

This research examines the information needs and information seeking behaviour of fishpond farmers in Ogume and Onicha-Ukwani, two rural communities in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State. The study adopted the census sampling technique. The instruments of data collection were telephone interviews and focus group discussion. A census population of 50 respondents consisting of registered members of the Ogume/Onicha-Ukwani Fish Farmers Co-operative Association was used for this study. The objectives of the study are to identify the information needs and information sources of the farmers; examine their information seeking behaviour against the background of the information explosion in today's technology driven world; identify the problems confronting the farmers in their search for information as well as proffer solutions aimed at improving the information seeking behaviour of the farmers for enhanced performance and sustainable agricultural growth. The result shows that majority of the farmers depend on informal sources such as friends, relatives and colleagues for their information needs.

Autorentext

Chinenye Nwabueze è docente presso il Dipartimento di Comunicazione di massa, Facoltà di Scienze sociali, Università Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Stato di Anambra, Nigeria. Emmanuel Odishika è docente presso il Dipartimento di Comunicazione di massa della Novena University, Ogume, Delta State, Nigeria.