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

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 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.