UTILIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ACCESSING INFORMATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES AMONG COCOA FARMERS IN ONDO STATE

Abstract

Social media refers to the internet-based digital tools for sharing and discussing information among people. Information on climate change needs to be assessable to farmers at the lowest cost through video, audio and multimedia outlet. climate change has emerged as one of the most devastating global environmental threats because it is projected to be major of the most important indices to agriculture, health, and water. Therefore, this research examined the utilization of social media for accessing information on climate change adaptation strategies among cocoa farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The data for this research was collected using structured interview schedule. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 160 respondents (cocoa farmers) from the study area. Descriptive statistics tool such as frequency counts, percentages, weighted mean score and ranking were used to analyze the objectives of the study while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to analyze the hypothesis. The resultfurther revealed that majority (68.1%) of the respondents indicated targeting raining season for planting, planting of improved cocoa varieties 66.9% as the climate change adaptation strategies information accessed via social media platforms. The result revealed that WhatsApp had the highest weighted mean score of 3.94. The study also found out that high cost of facilities and high cost of operation (cost of subscription) constitute the major constraint to the use of social media platforms. It could be concluded that WhatsApp were frequently used for accessing information on climate change adaptation strategies among the cocoa farmers. Thus, Stakeholders involved in agriculture should strengthen network infrastructure in rural areas to improve connectivity, addressing one of the primary constraints identified by the study and enabling more seamless access to vital information on climate change adaptation strategies.