Journal of Agricultural Science; Vol. 5, No. 5; 2013 ISSN 1916-9752 E-ISSN 1916-9760 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 107 Agricultural Information Needs of Rural Women Farmers in Nkonkobe Municipality: The Extension Challenge Shehu Folaranmi Gbolahan Yusuf 1 , Patrick Masika 2 & David Ikponmwosa Ighodaro 3 1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Fort Hare, South Africa 2 Agricultural and Rural Development Research Institute (ARDRI), University of Fort Hare Alice Campus, South Africa 3 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Fort Hare Alice Campus, South Africa Correspondence: Shehu Folaranmi Gbolahan Yusuf, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Fort Hare, South Africa. E-mail: 201103255@ufh.ac.za Received: December 19, 2012 Accepted: February 5, 2013 Online Published: April 15, 2013 doi:10.5539/jas.v5n5p107 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v5n5p107 Abstract Access to agricultural information is vital for improving food security at the village level. This study accessed the agricultural information needs of women farmers in Nkonkobe Municipality of the Amathole District, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data was obtained from 118 households. The women farmers were identified from four villages using the snowball sampling technique. Findings revealed that backyard gardening (87.2%; n = 103) was common in addition to the rearing of indigenous chicken (65.2%; n = 77) to complement food security. Most (80.5%; n = 95) were confronted with weed problems after applying cow dung as manure. There was a high report (70.3%; n = 83) of insect attack on leaves of cabbage, spinach and carrot, while seed dormancy was low (24.58; n = 29). Problems of fowls’ theft (66.95%; n = 49) and fowl predators (40.68%; n = 48) were common. More than average (54.2%; n = 64) depends on friends, neighbors and farmers’ colleagues for agricultural information but the majority (99.1%; n = 117) preferred extension workers coupled with farm demonstration for agricultural information. The study identified the importance of farmer-to-farmer model of technology transfer among farmers. It is recommended that farmer-to-farmer model could further be investigated to complement efforts of the extension services towards providing agricultural information to the smallholder farmers. Keywords: agricultural information, rural women farmers, extension services, needs 1. Introduction Women farmers play a significant role in the food security of households. In sub-Saharan Africa, women do about 80% of the farm labor (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012). Banji and Okuade (2005) attributed 60% of the farm labor force to women who produce 80% of food and earn 10% of the monetary income but own just 1% of the farm assets. The report of FAO (2011) indicated that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%, lifting 100-150 million out of hunger. Furthermore, FAO (2011) reported that equal access to the resources by both male and female farmers will increase the total agricultural output in the developing countries by 2.5-4%, thereby contributing to both food security and economic growth. Thus, any effort designed to improve South Africa’s agriculture generally and the lives of its smallholder farmers in particular must take cognizance of women’s roles in livelihoods and food security Information, according to Belkin and Pao (1989), is the product that emanates from processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that creates value to the knowledge of the person receiving it. Though Stanley (1990) likened information as one of the basic necessities of life after air, water, food, and shelter, Rezvanfar et al. (2007) indicated that information is needed because of its significant effects on the living activities of man. Mudukuti and Miller (2002) suggested that in the information age, dissemination of information and applying this information in the process of agricultural production will play a significant role in the development of farm settlements. In farming entrepreneurs, Doss (1999) showed that access to appropriate information has had significant impact on agricultural productivity. In the same vein, the United Nations (UN) (2002), FAO (2004),