Information Dissemination Strategies in Agricultural Extension Research of Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute during COVID-19

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Abstract

The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has drastically altered the world as we know it. This has been especially felt in the agricultural sector, where farmers and food producers have been hit hard by the pandemic. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) was tasked with helping farmers combat the impacts arising from the pandemic. This paper seeks to evaluate the information dissemination strategies employed by the NSPRI in agricultural extension research during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research used a qualitative case study design to examine the NSPRI's information dissemination strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six key informants from the NSPRI. Themes were identified by manual coding and data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that the NSPRI used a variety of strategies to disseminate information to farmers during the pandemic. The most employed strategies were radio broadcasts and awareness 
campaigns, followed by text messaging and in-person visits. Additionally, the NSPRI utilized social media platforms such as 
Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp to reach out to farmers. The study concluded that the information dissemination strategies employed by the NSPRI during COVID-19 were effective in reaching out to farmers and disseminating valuable information. However, the impact of these strategies was not uniform across the country, as access to technology and digital literacy varied greatly from region to region. The study recommends further research to measure the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by NSPRI more precisely, as well as the use of more innovative approaches to enhance the effectiveness of information dissemination.