Socioeconomic Determinants of Farmers using Social Network in Advancing Agribusiness in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined socioeconomic determinants of farmers’ using social network in advancing agribusiness in Anambra State, Nigeria. Specifically, it described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, identified various social networks available and level of usage among the respondents, determined the influence of socio-economic factors on net marketing income among the respondents and identified the challenges of social network in advancing agribusiness by the respondents. Multi-stage, purposive and simple random methods were used to select one hundred and sixty respondents for the study. Data were collected from primary source. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, and multiple regression techniques. From the result, findings on the socioeconomic characteristics showed that farmers are relatively young, energetic, are in computer age and able to use phone and other devices to advance agribusiness in their area and beyond for optimum profit. Farmers are educated, married and there is male dominance in the use of social network in advancing agribusiness in the study area. The result showed that whatsapp, facebook, you tube and messenger were mostly used in advancing agribusiness in the study. Marital status, education, household size, means of delivery and marketing cost influenced net marketing income earned by the respondents. Lack of awareness, poor assessment of social network and costly charge of data when accessing the social network were perceived as the main constraints affecting agribusiness. Measures will be taken by appropriate authorities to reduce the tariff of data in accessing social network. Farmers should be trained more on the use of social network to advance their produce to the world. Network providers should of necessity improve their services to enable social network users to be effective. Keywords: Determinants, Social network, Agribusiness.