Awareness and Use of Digital Payment Channels by Livestock Farmers in Oron Agricultural Zone, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study examined the awareness and extent of use of digital payment channels among livestock farmers in the Oron Agricultural Zone, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 140 randomly selected livestock farmers using a multi-stage sampling procedure and analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Likert scale rating technique and multiple linear regression analysis. Findings showed that most livestock farmers (52.1%) were male and married (81.4%), with low access to credit (5.7%) and extension services (25%). The mean household size, age, farming experience, years of education and number of livestock kept were 6 persons, 40 years, 9 years, 8 years and 201 herds, respectively. The results further revealed awareness rates of 100%, 90.7%, 82.1% and 60% for point of sale, mobile banking, automated teller machines and internet banking, respectively, with a mean rate and extent of use of 58.6% and 2.67. The most frequently used digital payment channels were point of sale, followed by automated teller machines and mobile banking. Additionally, the use of digital payment was significantly influenced by group membership, information intensity, educational attainment, access to digital payment facilities, financial literacy and the age of the farmer. Constraints to digital payment use included poor network connectivity, low information technology/computer literacy, government policies, security concerns, technological setbacks and poor infrastructure to support e-banking. Therefore, adequate security measures should be implemented to curb incidences of online banking fraud, and a regulatory framework should be established to compel network providers, financial institutions and payment agents to upgrade their facilities.