IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC WALLET SYSTEM (E-WALLET) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION TOOL ON CASSAVA PRODUCTION IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Agricultural revolution is happening in Nigeria via engagement of ICT in information dissemination to rural cassava farmers. Recently, Adewumi Adesina was awarded Forbe's African person of the year (fmard.gov.ng), for introducing the electronic wallet system that enables rural smallholder farmers to receive electronic vouchers for subsidized farm inputs and other information on agriculture. Ten million e-wallet dedicated mobile phones were planned to be issued to rural farmers. Cassava production benefits from this ICT-based programme. Nigeria currently leads in world cassava production and research is ongoing to develop high quality cassava flour (H.Q.C.F) to substitute bread wheat flour. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the GES electronic wallet system on cassava production in Delta State. This study was a survey design. The study population comprised of the Two hundred and four thousand five hundred and seventy six (204,576) cassava farmers registered under the GES programme. A study sample of One hundred and eighty (180) respondents was involved and the GES Cassava Production Assessment Questionnaire (GES CPAQ) was administered. It had been validated by agricultural experts with a reliability coefficient of 0.74 (Crobach alpha). Convenience and random sampling procedures, frequencies, means and percentages were used. Findings revealed effective use of e-wallet system to access cassava inputs, increased productivity and partially improved quality of life of farmers. Recommendations included improved network connectivity, increase in farm inputs and redemption centers and better transport system to be introduced by government.