Abstract:

The agricultural sector is a very important sector in Uganda. The provision of agricultural
information is very important in the development of this sector. Many people influence or
policy makers, and community leaders among others.
This study looks at ARIS as the body responsible for disseminating agricultural research
information first by evaluating its resources and services and then looking at the partners
in providing the information and the major targeted users who are the rural farmers.
The survey design was used and data was obtained by use of questionnaire for ARIS
users and interviewing key informants, the staff of ARIS as well as the rural farmers. The
information obtained was centered around the nature of ARIS resources, the users of
ARIS and their attitudes towards the services provided, information needs of the users,
methods of providing information and the problems faced.
The preliminary results of the study show that the services provided by the ARIS library
are fair but that the dissemination of information to the rural farmers still has a lot in
question. It was also found that users at ARIS and in the rural areas differ in many
aspects and so the means for disseminating information must be different. The major
problems identified in disseminating agricultural information are lack of sufficient funds,
lack of trained and skilled personnel, low literacy levels in the rural areas and little
involvement of farmers in the whole process. Cooperation of all stakeholders has been
strongly emphasized if the whole process is to be successful.