Assessment of ICT Training Needs Among Officers of Farmers' Credit Cooperative Societies in Oyo State, Nigeria

Conducting training programmes without prior training needs assessment has constantly proved counterproductive. To improve the capacity of officers of farmers’ credit cooperative societies in Oyo State, we examined the ICT knowledge, assessed the perceived ICT skills, determined the gaps between them and categorized the identified training needs of these officers. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 204 respondents from the population comprising all members of the executive of farmers’ credit cooperative societies registered with the Agricultural Cooperatives Corporation of Oyo State. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from respondents. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, correlation analysis and the Borich Assessment Model. The respondents were knowledgeable in 64.71% and skillful in 47.06% of the investigated roles. WhatsApp messaging, use of Facebook, audio-visual recording, and GSM use as an electronic diary and reminders for meetings and events, all with MWDS of 2.08 are areas needing training the most. These gaps were then categorized. There was a significant relationship between the ICT skills and the identified training needs (r = 0.081, p ≤ 0.122). The gap between ICT knowledge and perceived ICT skills must be bridged while improving both.