ABSTRACT

 The purpose of the study was to investigate the information needs and in.fhrmation seekin1'! behavior of the rural farmers im lkwuano Local Government Area ofAhia State. The main objective is identify the information needs of rural Farmers in lkwuano Local Government Area of Abia State. ident[fy the information seeking behaviour of rural Farmers in lkwuono l,ocal Govern111t!11t Area of Abia Stale, Ascertain sources of information used by the rural Farmers in !loruano l.ocal Government Area of Abia State. Identify the problems a.fecling the satisfaction of the information needs of the farmers in 1/ornano /,ocal Government Area of Abia State. To suggest wavs of enhancing the satisfaction of the information needs of the rural Farmers in kwuano local Cim·ernmenl Area of Abia State. The research design used was a descriptive survey design. The study population consisted of 126.420 registered farmers in [lovuano in Ahia Stale. Simple Random technique was used to select a total sample of 129farmers. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard cle1·iatio11 to answer the five research questions that guide the study. The findings revealed that the information needs of the rural farmers in lkwuano are in various categories which include agricultural information, economic information. educational information, and political information. It also revealed that problems that af ect the satisfaction of information needs of the farmers in lkwuano /oc:al government area ofA hia State includes: some of the farmers express their dissatisfaction with the state and local governments for not meetie th,!ir promises. The findings revealed the information see kin;.: heha\'iuur of these farmers is matniy informal. they align more to information obtained from friends, age grades memhcn. £'1./,'J'.,. neighbors, farmers groups, sometimes retirees, fell· of them seem to occ:asiunally ,n·J.. . 1 ur information from the retirees for update in current trends in agriculture. It is also revealed that the channels of information available to them are both formal and informal. from the discussant the following informal source.,· were cited to include town criers. village meetings such as village markets, village axe grade meetings, farmers associations, church meetings and sometimes through retirees as educators. It was discovered that majority of the rural Farmers indicated interesl in adult education programme such .fimctional adult education schools should he established to educate them on new trends in agriculture.This will enable them adorer © and innovations in agriculture. The recommendations are: The politician in the three tit•rs of government should keep- to their promises during political campaigns. Adult literacy classes should be organized in the rural areas by the Ministry of Education so that the rural farmers will be educated and be able to access information in the printed media such as magazines, newspapers. posters, hanclbills etc. There should be provision of agricultural agents in every rural area like fadama workers.