MOBILE APPLICATIONSANDAGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE OF SMALLHOLDER FAMERS IN KURA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KANO STATE, NIGERIA

MOBILE APPLICATIONSANDAGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE OF SMALLHOLDER FAMERS IN KURA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KANO STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT
This study investigated the relevance of mobile applications in enhancing the agricultural knowledge of smallholder farmers in Kura local government, Kano State, Nigeria. The study was guided by the following objectives: i) to assess the relevance of mobile phones applications in agriculture to smallholder farmers in Kura local government, and ii) to find out the relevance of mobile phones applications in enhancing agriculture knowledge among smallholder farmers in Kura local government. The study used a cross-sectional survey design. The target population was 168,1760 people and the sample size was 384 respondents. The response rate of 73% gave a final participant population of 280 respondents. The main research instrument was questionnaires. Data was analyzed using frequency and percentage tables. The study found that smallholder farmers use mobile phones mostly for making calls (85%), entertainment (50%), making transactions (45%), and social media (40%).Furthermore, the study found that mobile phones seem to be relevant to smallholder farmers to research about market prices (65%), making calls to customers and other farmers (50%), and to get information about the market and availability of different commodities (50%). The study concluded that mobile phones can help smallholder farmers in Kura local government to improve their agricultural productivity by giving them access to basic financial services, new agricultural techniques, and new markets, in turn helping them to secure better prices for crops and better return on investments. As their income improves with each harvest, they can invest in better seeds, fertilizers, and chemicals

Keywords – Cell Phone, Contact, Production, and Smallholder farmers.

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LAYER 3 MULTI-PROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHING BASED ON VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK

LAYER 3 MULTI-PROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHING BASED ON VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK

ABSTRACT
This research was devoted to the design of a Layer 3 Multi-protocol Label Switching based on Virtual Private Networks, which is one of the major key technology of Service Providers' Services for corporations who desire to use remote connectivity.
In spite of the complexity of the underlying architecture of Layer 3 Multi-Protocol Label Switching, it was easy to configure and maintain a Virtual Private Network with Layer 3 Multi-Protocol Label Switching as it is flexible and omnipresent in internet service provider`s network
To attain the objectives of this research, we used GNS3, a Graphical Network Simulation tool used by network structural engineering for simulating a real world scenario. A number of steps for configuring various routers and firewall were followed in order to come up with a simple Virtual Private Network structure consisting of two Provider Edge routers, two Provider routers, and four Customer Edge routers.
All configurations were accurate configure, including complete routing tables and end-to-end connectivity verification using the Ping command. The designed implementation is through the Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Therefore, the research would lead to lower costs of the network infrastructure while benefiting from the advantages of fiber optic connectivity among others. 

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