Abstract

This study assessed agricultural information channels used by livestock farmers in Wurno Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto State. A sample of 126 livestock farmers was selected purposively. Data were collected with the aid of an interview schedule. Findings revealed that majority of the farmers were males (87.3%), within 20-30 years of age (63.5%) and married (65.1%) with no formal education (67.5%). Their annual income were within ?100,000 and ?399,000 (46.0%) and ?400,000 ? ?699,000 (31.0%). The major livestock produced were goats (73.0%), sheep (70.6%) and cattle (58.7%). The main channels of obtaining information by the livestock farmers were radio (85.7%), mobile phones (78.8%), extension agents (77.0%), posters and flyers (73.0%), friends and families (70.6%) and television (54.8%). Improving livestock health care was ranked 1st with a mean of 2.04 among the benefits of agricultural information. Result of the Chi-square analysis shows that information use of agricultural information channels was significantly related to age (?2=9.890, p<0.05), family size (?2=9.32 p>0.05) and income (?2=8.93, p<0.01). Poor infrastructure and educational standard were among the most important constraints to agricultural information channels among the livestock farmers. It was concluded that the channels of information communication were affected by some socioeconomic factors such as age of the farmer, his family size and income

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