The information environment of agricultural stakeholders in Botswana

Abstract

The study surveyed the agricultural information needs, information sources used and the awareness of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)’s products and services by the various agricultural stakeholders in Botswana. The survey covered 52 agricultural researchers/educators, 30 extension agents, 54 students, 12 commercial farmers, and 45 subsistence farmers. Data collection instruments used for the study were the questionnaire, interview and focus group discussions. The findings reveal that the agricultural stakeholders in Botswana had a wide range of information needs, especially on government programmes, farm problems and identification of market for agricultural products. The prominent information sources used were the Internet, journal articles and technical papers. The study also revealed that most of the stakeholders were not aware of CTA’s products and services and that the Spore magazine was the product mainly used. The Question and Answer Service was rarely used by the stakeholders. The study recommends that the Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) Library should be selected as the agency to provide agricultural information services to all the stakeholders in Botswana, given its rich information resources in agriculture, and that CTA should reappraise its services in Botswana by ensuring that its services are well utilized by agricultural information stakeholders.