Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice

The study examined the utilisation of the Farmers’ Helpline Call Centre (FHCC) for extension service delivery in North-eastern Nigeria. Specifically, the research described the socio-economic characteristics of FHCC users, analysed the levels of FHCC utilisation, and determined the relationship between socio-economic variables and levels of FHCC utilisation. The study also examined constraints to FHCC utilisation in the location. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 300 respondents across Borno, Bauchi, and Yobe States. The first stage involved purposive selection of three (3) out of the six (6) States in north-east Nigeria. The selection was based on the high prevalence of registered members in the states. The second and third stages involved a random and proportionate selection of 10% FHCC users to obtain the sample size. There was a total of 3000 registered farmers from the sample frame obtained from Lake Chad Research Institute. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and means were used, while the inferential statistic used was multinomial regression. The results obtained revealed that the majority (70%) were male, with a mean age of 45 years. Half of the respondents (50%) had a household size of 5- 10, with a mean household size of 9 members per household. Farm output stood at 2817 kg, with a mean annual farm income of 1,496,667 naira. The majority (91.3%) had fewer than 5 farm visits by field extension agents. The multinomial regression results revealed that age, education, household size, farm income, farm output, years of experience, and extension contact significantly influenced FHCC utilisation. The results also revealed a strong relationship between farm output (β=0.7843, p<0.01) and type of farming practices (β=0.7304, p<0.10) in high-level utilisation, while sex and marital status were statistically insignificant. The findings demonstrate that FHCC can function as an effective ICT-enabled extension model capable of bridging gaps in traditional extension coverage. To enhance general utilisation, the study recommended that government policies be established to ensure that telecommunication companies provide stable and efficient network connectivity. FHCC services should incorporate women-based training to encourage more women farmers' utilisation. Additionally, there should be an active partnership between government agencies, telecommunications companies, FHCC and funding bodies to create effective policy interventions to subsidise FHCC services.