Adoption of Digital Financial Services Among Smallholder Farmers in North Central Nigeria

This study assessed the adoption of digital financial services (DFS) among smallholder farmers in North Central Nigeria. It investigated their usage, knowledge, and how their educational level affected the adoption of DFS. A total of 812 respondents were selected from three states: Kogi, Kwara, and Niger. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select eight hundred and twelve () crop farmers for the study. Collection of data was done using structured interview schedule. Frequency counts, percentages, and Pearson correlation were used to analyse the data. Results revealed that farmers had a relatively high level of knowledge of basic DFS features such as mobile money (????? =1.61), airtime recharge (????? = 1.67), and digital withdrawals (????? = 1.71). While DFS adoption was lowest for financial services, such as loan access (????? = 2.31), it was higher for purchasing agricultural inputs (????? = 3,23) and checking account balances (????? = 3.07). A significant correlation (r = 0.120, p = 0.001) was found between education and DFS adoption. Education significantly influences DFS use, underscoring the role of literacy in technology uptake. Extension agencies should implement targeted capacity-building programs aimed at improving farmers’ literacy and digital skills.