Willingness to pay for rural telephone services: implications for agricultural technology transfer and poverty reduction in south east Nigeria

This study examined the determinants of the rural people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for rural telephone services and the implications on agricultural technology transfer and poverty reduction in Southeast Nigeria. The key research problem was the inability of the telephone providers or regulatory agencies to estimate the amount the people were willing to pay for telephone
services. This led to their reluctance to extend telephone services to rural areas where agriculture is practised based on the notion that the people are unable to pay. The sample was made up of 240 agro-based entrepreneurs and 60 extension staff. Primary data were collected using structured interview schedules and well-structured questionnaires containing stochastic payment card design. The data obtained were analyzed using both descriptive (means, percentages, cross-tabulations) as well as inferential statistical tool (logit analysis). Results showed that 60.2% of the respondents were males and had higher WTP for telephone services than females. Majority of the respondents were within the age bracket of 31 – 40 years. Farming was the predominant occupation where 38.9% of them made an annual farm income of about N30000. Only about 17.7% of them had access to telephone services while 59.2% had preference for mobile telephones. The maximum, minimum and mean amounts the respondents were willing to pay per minute of telephone service were N38, N7 and N17 respectively. Respondents accepted that rural telephone where available helped them to get information on latest packages on agricultural technology. The perceived problems of agricultural technology transfer using telephone was lack of practical demonstration of technology.
Rural poverty was indicated as reduced through provision of employment opportunities for the jobless. The null hypothesis was tested using t-statistic which revealed that years of schooling and access to telephone services significantly influenced WTP at 1% level. Finally, it was recommended that both the Federal and State government should equip the agricultural officers
with modern communication technology to enhance their extension activity and that government agencies/or private telecom providers should extend telephone services to rural areas because of the rural people’s high WTP