COMPETENCIES OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGENTS IN THE USE OF INTERNET FOR EXTENSION DELIVERY IN THE EASTERN REGION, GHANA

ABSTRACT

Internet has been introduced by Ministry of Food and Agriculture to

improve extension delivery in Ghana. However the extent to which extension

agents have acquired the knowledge and skills to use it was not known in Eastern

Region. The study assessed competencies of agricultural extension agents to use

Internet in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study used descriptive survey

design, stratified proportional sampling technique and validated questionnaire to

collect data from 217 AEAs in ten districts of Eastern Region. Statistical tools

such as frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation, appropriate

correlation coefficients were generated to describe or identify relationships among

variables of the study. The study revealed that age, educational level, marital

status, rank, location, years of experience, monthly salary, duration of use, years

of using Internet, and training of AEAs relate significantly to Internet

competencies of AEAs. The AEAs used the Internet for extension delivery by

sending and receiving e-mails, accessing pay slips, searching for information on

agriculture reading agricultural news and chatting with colleagues. The overall

Internet competency of AEAs was moderate. The best predictors of Internet

competencies of AEAs were training, location, duration of use, age and

educational level. The study recommends among others the need for MoFA to

organize in-service training on Internet since AEAs have positive attitude to use

Internet but low to moderate knowledge and skills. Furthermore, specialized

mobile phones and tablets that can access Internet easily should be procured for

AEAs.