TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION AND MODERN ADOPTION OF FISHING TECHNIQUES AMONG FARMERS IN BONNY LGA, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study was anchored on the need to provide a scientific explanation for the place of traditional communication in the adoption of modern fishing techniques among Bonny farmers. Among the objectives of the study were to identify the traditional media of communication used in passing information among the Bonny fisher folks and ascertain the modern fishing methods Bonny fishermen learnt through traditional communication. Anchored on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory propounded by Everret Rogers and Development Media Theory propounded by McQuail as theoretical base the study adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative approach to survey 385 sample from a population of 108, 477 in Bonny using a set of questionnaires and an interview guide. The study found that the town crier, popularly called “newsmen or newsvendors” and constitutes a traditional link between the difference segments and strata of the community and that interpersonal interactions the mainstay of communication among the farmers. More so, the study showed that fishermen were introduce to modern methods on the average level through traditional means of communication. In the light of the findings, the study recommended that the fishermen and women in Bonny should always apply the use of traditional communication channels as they have done in reaching out to the farming community since it has proven to be effective.; and that government at all level should encourage the adoption of the modern fishing techniques through the provision of the necessary educational materials and equipment that are needed to make the acceptance of innovation easier.