Abstract

The state of Information and Communication Technology utilization for agricultural and rural development by the youth in the rural areas has been very marginal. The study assessed the access and use of ICT in Agricultural and Rural development among youths in Obingwa LGA of Abia State. Data were collected with a well structured questionnaire, using purposive and random sampling techniques, a sample size of 124 respondents were sampled. Descriptive statistics such as tables, frequencies, charts and linear regression were used to analyze the data. The study found that majority of the respondents, (50.8%) were males, and 49.2% were female among the respondents. The result showed that most of the ICTs in the area were available and that many have access to these ICTs, the level of usage was moderate. There is significant relationship between the age (t=3.314), marital status (t=-2.353) and educational level of the respondents (t=-1.718) and the use of ICT. The study concludes that the government should intensify efforts to stabilize power supply, improve connectivity (Bandwidth) and private telecenters to actively enhance ICT use for agriculture and rural development youths.

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