Information Behaviour and Quality of Life of Agronomists in the North Central, Nigeria
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Date
2019-12
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Abstract
Crop farming is one of the leading agricultural practices all over the world. It is the major source of food and livelihood. However, farmers’ information behaviour directly or indirectly affects their quality of life which has been described as a concept of economics, sociology and political science which encompasses an individual’s spiritual (emotional), social and physical well-being. This study examined farmers’ information behaviour in relation to their quality of life. This study adopted a survey research design. The population for this study consists of 13,383 agronomists in the three Local Government Areas with the highest participation in crop farming in Kwara State. Proportionate sampling technique was used to determine the sample size for the study. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study
showed that agronomists in the study areas engaged in information behaviour activities that affected their quality of life. The study showed that information behaviour accounted for 50.1% of the total variance in agronomist’s quality of life in the study area. It revealed that frequency of information seeking (β = 0 .51, t = 7.72, p< 0.05) significantly contributed more to agronomist quality of life than information utilization (β= 0.24, t = 4.26, p< 0.05).However, information sources accessed (β= -0.02, t = -.25, p > 0.05) and methods of information retrieval (β= 0 .05, t = .70, p > 0.05) did not significantly contribute to agronomist quality of life.
The study thus concluded that agronomists in the study areas engaged in information behaviour to a great extent and this positively impacted on their quality of life.
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Information behaviour, Agronomists, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria