Abstract

The growing challenge of food insecurity in developing nations has stimulated new research into cultivating crops in non-traditional farming environments. Innovative agricultural practices such as aeroponics, vertical farming, hydroponics, and urban agriculture are increasingly gaining global attention. This study investigated the awareness and utilization of digital tools for sourcing and sharing innovative agricultural production practices among sub-urban dwellers in Rivers State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 105 adult respondents, and data were collected through structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics - mean, percentage, ranking - and chi-square analysis. Results revealed that 88.6% and 99.8% of respondents were aware of bucket and bag farming, respectively, while less than 42% knew about other innovative production systems. Only about 9% had practiced aeroponics, hydroponics, aquaponics, or vertical farming. Approximately 29.6% of the respondents did not own Android phones. Among digital tools, WhatsApp was the most widely used (72.6%), followed by video calls (18.1%). Inadequate access to farm inputs, facilities, and materials ranked as the major constraint to effective use of digital tools. A significant difference was observed in favor of respondents not utilizing digital tools for information sourcing and sharing. The study recommends that Agricultural Extension Agents intensify awareness campaigns, link farmers to reliable sources of farm inputs, and train them on effective digital engagement. Furthermore, government policies should aim to reduce the costs of power, airtime, data, and agricultural inputs to enhance technology-driven innovation in food production.

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Introduction

Among the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put forward by the United Nations, ending poverty, achieving zero hunger and good health and well-being of all were prioritized as the first three (Sach et al., 2022). The hope of achieving these goals by 2030 seems bleak, especially in many developing nations where advancement in agricultural production appears not to be keeping pace with unabated population growth. In most of those nations, farmers are conservative, ageing and operating at subsistence level of production. The major challenge is that in spite of the fact that youths are characterized by energy, intelligence, innovativeness and risk-taking, the teaming youths (constituting over 45% in some countries), are negatively disposed to and hardly get involvement in agricultural transformation process (Jibowo & Sotomi, 1996; Olatunji, 2017). Aside these, there exist unabated rural-urban migration (especially of youths) and unfavourable land use pattern that do not prioritize agriculture. The combined effects of these are widespread food shortages, hunger, poverty and low standard of leaving among the citizenry (Nwokolo et al., 2023; United Nations, 2017).

Consequently, increasing food insecurity is leading to opening of new frontier of research into how food can be grown even in urban metropolis and sub-urban centres. Hence, several innovative agricultural production practices without the usual traditional planting in the farm have emerged (Ojoma, 2023). These zero acreage farming practices include: Bucket farming, Sack farming, aeroponic, vertical farming, hydroponic, Aquaponic farming, etc. (Naqvi et al., 2022; AlShrouf, 2017). Aeroponic farming is a method of growing plants in the air without soil. Plant roots are suspended in the air misted with solution that is rich in nutrient. Hydroponic farming involves planting crops in containers with the roots submerged in water containing essential nutrients. Aquaponic farming that combines aquaculture and hydroponic farming. Vertical farming involves cultivating crops on inclined surfaces using vertically stacked layers indoors or in a controlled environment.

Focussing and provision of zero-acreage-farming-related agricultural advisory services to urban dwellers will certainly lead to increased food production, hunger reduction and increased standards of living among the citizenry (Ojoma, 2023).

In the last two to three decades, advancement in research has led to significant improvement in Information-Communication Technology. Several hardware and digital tools developed have brought phenomenal changes into the processes of sourcing and sharing information (Kotarba, 2018; Schallmo & William (2018). The traditional use of Town-Criers, radio, television, etc is fast giving way to better, faster and more efficient use of mobile Button-phones, Android phones, Laptops, Tablets, e-mail, WhatsApp, Video conferencing (e.g. Zoom, Google Meet, Skype), Video calls, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and others. These digital tools are veritable for urban dwellers to use for sourcing and sharing relevant innovative agricultural practices. Most dwellers in urban centres are literate and not as conservative as most rural farmers (Chapman, 2022). This makes the job of field Agricultural Extension Agents easy. All he has to do is to create awareness about available innovative agricultural extension practices, provide links to digital tools that clienteles may utilize for sourcing and sharing relevant production information. The Extension Agent may be required to present specimen and sometimes demonstrate some of those innovative agricultural extension practices before clienteles.

The primary objective of this study was to assess the awareness and utilization of digital tools for sourcing and sharing innovative agricultural production practices among urban dwellers in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study aimed to explore the extent to which urban residents are informed about and engaged with emerging agricultural innovations that can enhance productivity in non-traditional farming environments. Specifically, the objectives were to determine the level of awareness of selected innovative agricultural production practices among urban dwellers, identify the specific innovative practices that respondents have experimented with, and examine the types of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices owned by them. Furthermore, the study sought to identify the digital tools commonly utilized by respondents, as well as the frequency of their use for sourcing and sharing agricultural information. It also aimed to assess the major constraints limiting the effective utilization of digital tools in accessing and disseminating knowledge on innovative agricultural practices.

Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study: (1) there is no significant difference between the frequencies of respondents who are aware and those who are not aware of selected digital tools; and (2) there is no significant difference between the frequencies of respondents who utilize and those who do not utilize selected digital tools. The findings of this research are expected to provide insight into the digital readiness of urban farmers and highlight the potential of digital platforms in promoting innovative agricultural practices for sustainable food production.

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