THE USE AND PERCEIVED IMPACT OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (MCT) IN BOTSWANA COMMERCIAL FARMING

Thato Mcnulty Pholele; Moakofhi Kago Moakofhi; Tawona Vanessa Phiri; Oratile Leteane

doi:10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i6.2017.2018

Authors

Thato Mcnulty Pholele Department of Basics Sciences, BUAN, Botswana
Moakofhi Kago Moakofhi Department of Basics Sciences, BUAN, Botswana
Tawona Vanessa Phiri Department of Basics Sciences, BUAN, Botswana
Oratile Leteane Department of Basics Sciences, BUAN, Botswana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i6.2017.2018

Keywords:

ICT, Commercial Farming, Agricultural Technology, Mobile Communication

Abstract [English]

There has been rapid development of mobile communication technology (MCT) in the last decade with Botswana having a tele density of 168 %, hence the need to find out if MCT is effectively used in agriculture. A sample of 36 commercial farmers answered a questionnaire. All commercial farmers in the study own at least one form of MCT device, the most common being mobile phone. In spite of ownership of such devices, commercial farmers do not adequately use MCT in their farm work as on average 53 % said they have used it in one form or another. The perceived impact of MCT in commercial farming is also not satisfactory as on average 50% of the farmers in the sample answered in the negative. The unsatisfactory use of MCT by farmers can be mitigated by having discussions with farmers and showing them the benefits of using MCT in their farm work.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Jenny C. Aker (2011). “Dial “A” for Agriculture: A Review of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries.” Center for Global Development, 1-37.

Vide Anosike and Mayowa Fasona. (2004). “Gender Dimensions of Urban Commercial Farming in Lagos, Nigeria.” Urban Agriculture magazine, 27-28.

Goyal Aparajita. (2010). Information, Direct Access to Farmers, and Rural Market Performance in Central India.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3), 22-45. DOI: 10.1257/app.2.3.22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/app.2.3.22

Ken Banks. (2011). ““Farming Out” Agricultural Advice Through Radio and SMS”. http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/26/%E2%80%9Cfarming-out%E2%80%9D-agricultural-advice-through-radio-and-sms/.

Romeo Bertolini. (2004). “Strategic Thinking: Making Information and Communication Technologies Work for Food Security in Africa.” International Food Policy Research Institute. https://ageconsearch.tind.io/record/45768/files/ib27.pdf

BOCRA. (2015). “BOCRA Annual Report 2015.” 1-84.

http://www.bocra.org.bw/sites/default/files/documents/BOCRA%20Annual%20Report%202015%20Web.pdf.

BTCL. (2016). http://www.btc.bw.

CEDA Agribusiness. (2016). http://www.ceda.co.bw/agribusiness.

Harsha de Silva and Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara.(2008). “Using ICT to reduce transaction costs in agriculture through better communication: A case-study from Sri Lanka.”

http://www.lirneasia.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/transactioncosts.pdf

Department of information and Broadcasting (2016). http://www.dib.gov.bw/.

Brian Dillon. (2011). “Using mobile phones to collect panel data in developing countries.” Journal of International Development, 518-527. DOI: 10.1002/jid.1771. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1771

Andrew D. Foster and Mark Rosenzweig. (2010). “Microeconomics of Technology Adoption.” Annual Review of Economics, 2, 395-424.

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.economics.102308.124433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.economics.102308.124433

Andrew D. Foster and Mark Rosenzweig. (1995). “Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture.” Journal of Political Economy, 103(6), 1176-1209. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/601447.

Mucemi Gakuru, Kristen Winters and Francois Stepman. (2009). “Innovative Farmer Advisory Services Using ICT.” IST-Africa 2009 Conference Proceedings.1-11.

Pierre Guislain, Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang, Bruno Lanvin, Michael Minges, and Eric Swanson. (2006). “Overview In 2006 Information and communications for development: global trends and policies.” World Bank, Washington, 1-23.

William O. Lesitaokana. (2013). “Key issues in the development of mobile telephony in Botswana (1998–2011): An empirical investigation.” New Media & Society. 1-16. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444813495161.

Mahabile, M. (2013). “Measuring transaction costs in marketing cattle in Southern Botswana: A case study.” Botswana Journal of Agriculture and Applied Sciences (BOJAAS), 9(2), 75-81.

Blessing M. Maumbe and Julius Okello. (2013). “Uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Agriculture and Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences from South Africa and Kenya.” International Journal of ICT Research and Development in Africa (IJICTRDA), 113-132. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1.ch009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1.ch009

Botswana Ministry of Agriculture, LIMID Forms, (2016). http://www.moa.gov.bw/.

Botswana Ministry of Agriculture, ISPAAD Guidelines, (2013).

http://www.moa.gov.bw/downloads/ISPAAD_guidelines_2013.pdf.

Surabhi Mittal, Sanjay Gandhi and Gaurav Tripathi. (2010). “Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Phones on Indian Agriculture.” Indian Council for Research on international Economic Relations, 1-53.

http://www.eaber.org/sites/default/files/documents/Socio-economic%20Impact%20of%20Mobile%20Phones%20on%20Indian%20Agriculture.pdf

Anne Moorhead. (2005). “Country Profile-Botswana.”

http://www.new-ag.info/en/country/profile.php?a=845.

Statistics Botswana. (2013). “Annual Agricultural Survey Report, 2013.”

http://www.cso.gov.bw/images/agricreport2013.pdf.

LeoVan Audenhove, L. (2003). “Towards an integrated information society policy in South Africa: an overview of political rhetoric and policy initiatives 1994–2000.” Communication, 29:1-2, 129-147, DOI: 10.1080/02500160308538024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02500160308538024