Marketing information needs of cattle farmers in Ngakamodiri Molema District, North West Province, South Africa

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to: determined the socio-economic characteristics of cattle farmers; investigate the sources of information available to cattle farmers; determine the preferred sources of information of cattle farmers; and determine the information needs of cattle farmers in the study area. The study was conducted in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District of the North West Province of South Africa. Two hundred and forty respondents were randomly sampled from a total number of 2270 cattle farmers in the District. Data was largely quantitative in line with the specific objectives of the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as, percentages, means and multiple regression were used for the interpretation of results. From the study, it was revealed that majority of cattle farmers were males (70%)and 30% females. In terms of education, 40% of respondents completed primary level of education, 37.5%completed high school and 0.4% university studies. In terms of farming and agricultural experience, 26.8% of respondents had more than 10 years of farming experience 14.6% had 21-30 years of farming experience while 47.6% had less than 10 years of farming experience. In terms of sources of information used by farmers, the major sources of information used by farmers were television with 83.3%, C5ll phone (85%), and Radio (93.3%). Critical marketing information needs identified in the study include; Procurement (supply) (83.3), Product Launch (85), Market Segments (90.4) and Market framework (88.3).The indicator variables measured revealed very high levels of significance to information needs with the test statistics (t-test) at p<0.05 such as gender (t= 2.622), religion (t= 2.868), highest education level attained (t= 1.554), number of dependents (t= -2.492), size (t= 2.235), number of workers (t=-2.238), contact with state vet or extension officers (t=2.305), internet (t=1.624) and cell-phone (t=2.082).From the study, it can be concluded that marketing information needs are critical to the sustainable production of cattle in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District of the North West Province. It is recommended that more sensitisation on the needs and benefits of information to sustain cattle rearing be done by the Department of Agriculture and the meat company of South Africa.