Adoption of ICT-Based Information Sources and Market Participation among Smallholder Livestock Farmers in South Africa

Nwafor, Christopher Ugochukwu; Ogundeji, Abiodun A.; Westhuizen, C. Van der

doi:10.3390/agriculture10020044

Cited by 34 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Stakeholders belonging to developing countries, small holders, and laborers expressed some difficulties in the use and availability of agricultural ICTs. These findings are in agreement with those of other previous studies that reported the importance of supporting vulnerable groups, specifically in developing countries (South Africa [26], Sub-Saharan Africa [27], and China [46]), and how such support can ensure the transformation and integration of digital technologies necessary for readiness and innovation process [46].…”

Section: Relationship Between Role/position In the Farm And The Role ...supporting

confidence: 93%

“…Despite the existing barriers to the use of agricultural ICTs, a growing body of evidence shows that the progress of agricultural ICT access is a key enabler of agricultural sector change. Several studies have shown the acceptability of farmers, specifically those belonging to developing countries and/or having small-scale agribusinesses, to transform into digital agriculture and the use of agricultural ICTs to improve their agribusiness outputs [26][27][28].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agro-Livestock Farming System Sustainability during the COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of Information and Communication Technologies

et al. 2021

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In the near future, the year 2050, agricultural production should expand to fulfill the needs of approximately 9.7 billion inhabitants. Such an objective should be harmonized with social, economic, and environmental sustainability aspects to maintain safe food production and food security worldwide. For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised and is still strongly disrupting the agro-livestock production sector, similar to several other economic sectors. In this sector, the relationships between suppliers, producers, and consumers should always continue to maintain the activity of the production chain, which are impaired by social distancing decisions taken following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, a global cross-sectional survey (translated into four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish) was shared with people belonging to the agricultural sector to identify: (1) the role of the agricultural information and communication technologies (ICTs) in agro-livestock farming systems sustainability during the period of COVID-19 pandemic, (2) the need for such technologies in the agricultural sector, and (3) the factors that affect the use of such technologies. The results showed that the most frequently used agricultural ICTs were social media (Facebook and/or WhatsApp; 27.3%) and online platforms and Internet services (26.3%), whereas robotic vehicles and/or drones (6.6%) were less frequently used. During the emergence of the pandemic, the major reasons impacting agro-livestock farming systems’ sustainability were social distancing (30.0%), shortage of labor (17.7%), maintaining precision farm management (14.8%), product marketing (14.2%), access production inputs (7.2%), and others (16.1%). Applying agricultural ICTs solved many obstacles related to the production process, such as maintaining precision farm management (25.6%), product marketing (23.6%), and access production inputs (16.1%). The subgroup analyses of the results considering the degree of country advancement, size of agribusinesses, and role/position of respondents in the farm highlighted the importance of supporting the use, availability, and awareness of agricultural ICTs at least for some groups of people such as those belong to developing countries, laborers, and small-scale agri-business holders. This cross-sectional study highlights the urgent need to turn to and to expand the use of new agricultural ICTs to meet the growing demand for food production in the world and to ensure the resilience and sustainability of farming systems, specifically under unexpected and extreme conditions.

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Section: Relationship Between Role/position In the Farm And The Role ...supporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agro-Livestock Farming System Sustainability during the COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of Information and Communication Technologies

et al. 2021

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“…A variety of research-utilizing household data have sought to explain the factors that influence smallholder decisions regarding investing in livestock markets (Hagos et al, 2019;Kyaw et al, 2018;Musemwa et al, 2010;Nwafor et al, 2020). A literature review shows contradictory proof of factors impacting the marketing of livestock markets, such as environmental, political, human, and institutional influences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of smallholder commercialization of livestock: A case study from Tigray, Ethiopia

Belay

Mengstu

Kahsay

et al. 2021

Cogent Food & Agriculture

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In several developing countries, including Ethiopia, the change from a subsistence-oriented production system to a market-oriented production system as a means of raising smallholder incomes and mitigating growing rural deprivation has been at the center of the agenda. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the determinants of smallholder livestock commercialization in Tigray, Ethiopia. One hundred and eighty-three households were selected using a simple random sampling technique. The data were gathered through a structured survey. The data obtained were evaluated using econometric models of both concise and Heckman two-step collections. The results of the binary probit model revealed that in the decision to sell, household head education level, family size, distance from the nearest market center, and the total livestock ownership played a significant role. Heckman second-step selection estimation indicated that the education level of the household head, the extension agents' visit, the total livestock owned and the owned land size significantly affected the level of commercialization measures. The findings of this study will contribute to enhancing the efficient utilization of the existing limited farmland. In this study, smallholder farmers' access to the agricultural markets with higher value is seen as a critical opportunity to improve and diversify the livelihoods of lower-income farm households. As a result, better market participation is required to connect smallholder farmers to markets and increase demand for livestock products and income generation. The findings of this study may help in the development of appropriate policy intervention mechanisms to promote smallholder livestock commercialization in Ethiopia.

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“…In the context of agricultural development, information and communication technologies have played an important role in developing countries. ICTs are proving new approaches for communicating and sharing the information among livestock farmers (15,16) to improve their knowledge and skills. Among modern ICTs, mobile phones serve as a means for effective transfer of knowledge and information about agricultural market and technology to farmers that enable them to apply the knowledge directly to improve their farming output and make easy access to market (17).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Extension Interactive Voice Response (IVR) mLearning: Lessons Learnt From Uganda Pig Value Chain

Dione¹,

Kang'ethe

Poole

et al. 2021

Front. Vet. Sci.

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We assessed the effectiveness of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology in delivering biosecurity messages for the control of African swine fever (ASF) in Uganda using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 408 smallholder pig farmers. Our results show that IVR technology significantly improved knowledge of farmers who had not been exposed to training on biosecurity. Furthermore, it enhanced knowledge for farmers who had received face-to-face (f2f) training in biosecurity. This group of farmers recorded the highest knowledge gain following IVR training compared to farmers who did not receive f2f training. IVR technology was perceived by farmers as a new technology capable of transforming their lives because it is time efficient, has high potential for resource saving and flexibility. IVR also seems to be gender sensitive as it addresses some of the constraints women face in accessing conventional extension services such as time. IVR is an innovative way for delivery of advisory information to pig farmers. The scalability of IVR technology could further be explored and its feasibility assessed for wider use by the extension systems in Uganda and elsewhere.

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Adoption of ICT-Based Information Sources and Market Participation among Smallholder Livestock Farmers in South Africa

Cited by 34 publications

References 27 publications

Agro-Livestock Farming System Sustainability during the COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of Information and Communication Technologies

Agro-Livestock Farming System Sustainability during the COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of Information and Communication Technologies

Determinants of smallholder commercialization of livestock: A case study from Tigray, Ethiopia

Digital Extension Interactive Voice Response (IVR) mLearning: Lessons Learnt From Uganda Pig Value Chain

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