Traditionally, extension services are used
as a means of conveying to rural areas knowledge
derived from different studies and surveys. These
extension services are an important way to help
livestock farmers to improve their lives and production
methods, which in turn leads to an increased and
improved livestock and livestock products. Nowadays,
extension services deliver far more beyond the
traditional role. They involve helping farmers to form
collaborative groups, solving marketing challenges,
etc. This fact has been confirmed by the study reported
in this paper. The main objective of the study was to
evaluate the current recording system and information
flow among livestock stakeholders, and how ICT it has
been used as a tool to bridge the gap of information
deficit.
This paper presents an analysis of data collected from
15 wards from Arumeru district, Arusha region –
Northern Tanzania including data from; district
council, livestock farmers, extension officers and
researchers from three institutions, Livestock
Training Agency (LITA), National Artificial
Insemination Centre (NAIC) and Nelson Mandela
African Institution of science and Technology (NMAIST).

The results reveal that the current recording system is
poor and there is a gap in the flow of information
among the stakeholders of livestock farming. This gap
has significantly contributed to the deterioration of
access to extension services to livestock farmers. Along
with other factors, this gap is also attributed to the
researchers, who publish their research findings
through various online journals. The gap signifies that
it has been hard for extension officers to fulfil their
roles due to a large number of farmers they serve and
the challenge of traveling long distances to deliver such
services to farmers. Based on the results of this
analysis, the paper concludes with a set of identified
approaches on how ICT can play a part in minimizing
the gap that has been found for increasing the
efficiency of the extension services in reaching
livestock farmers.