CHAPTER ONE
1.0INTRODUCTION
Information and Communication have always mattered in Agricultural. Communication may be defined as giving or exchanging information, option and idea by writing, speech or visual means (Ganguly, 2006). Even since people have grown crops, raised livestock, and caught fish, they have sought information from, one another. What is the most effective planting strategy on steep scope? Where can I acquire a land title? Who is paying the highest price at the market? How can I participate in the government credit program? Producers rarely find it easy to obtain answers to such questions (Ganguly 2006). Up dated information allow the farmer to cope with and even benefit from these changes of weather patterns and soil conditions and epidemics of pest and diseases, but providing such information can be challenging because of the highly localize nature of agriculture.
Agriculture is the most vital sector for information and communication technology intervention most especially that majority of the population around the world rely on agriculture to live sustainably (Alexander 2009). Information and communication technology for development, agriculture provides our most basic human needs that are food clothing and shelter. Even since people have this natural way of thing on how thing can survive and make a living by harvesting crops used for food and fibres make a living by harvesting crops used for food and poultry that produce animal product like wool, dairy and eggs, catfish or any edible marine life for food or for sale, forestry and logging to grow and harvest timber to build shelter with agriculture, people learned and acquire knowledge through sharing information with each but of course this is not enough as there are also changes and developments in agriculture. Farmers should be able to take hold of updated information like price, production techniques, services, storage, processing and the like. Evidently, update information with the change and developments in agriculture can be addressed by the effective use of information communication and technology. (Edward Elgar 2004).
There is increasing evidence that infrastructure such as telecommunications helps to reduce poverty and provide opportunities to people in developing countries (Bertolini, 2005).making information readily ad cheaply available can enhance production, increase bargaining power and incomes, and ultimately lead to poverty reduction and economic development. Furthermore, making information readily and cheaply available can enhance production by enabling farmers to plant and harvest at appropriate times (weather information), improve the functioning of credit markets (by facilitating social capital as through increased communications farmers develop and gain trust and reputations), facilitate access to more efficient technologies (through finances obtained through increased credit ratings/worthiness), and in the long run, transform production processes through more rapid and diffuse spread of technological innovations amongst a broader range of interacting agents – consumers (with different tastes and preferences leading to product differentiation or new product development), sellers (of inputs products and services) , traders and processors (Eggleston et al., 2002).
Poor families in the rural areas have limited or no access at all to information and communication technology. However, these people also needs access to information communication and technology, since this technology would help lessen their expenses on their resources like time, labor, energy and physical resources, thus, would have a greater position impact on their livelihoods and income, the lives of the rural poor could be alleviated through the application of information and communication technology by supplying information to inform the policies, institutions, and processes that affect their livelihood options. In the advent of ICT, it offers new opportunities to support development of the rural livelihoods. It strengthened the production and increased market coordination which is the main processes that can contribute to the future opportunities of the sector and create income for the people that depend on it. (Songan, 2004).