Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the Implementation of Participatory Agricultural Reforms and Rural Development Initiatives in the South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

This study was intended to examine the policy imperatives of participatory agricultural reforms and rural
development initiatives through effective application of the technologies of information and
communication. Four research questions and two null hypotheses were raised for the study. A structured
questionnaire was used for data collection. T-test and ANOVA were used to test the hypotheses, while
Mean and Standard deviation were applied on the research questions. Findings show among others that
non-involvement of rural people in needs identification and policy formulation, and poor communication
network were responsible for the failure of previous programmes. It was recommended that the
government and other stakeholders should initiate a model that would encourage the joint use of modern
and traditional technologies in disseminating agricultural reforms and rural development information to
the rural people