Attributes of Diffusion of Innovation’s Influence on Smallholder Farmers’ Social Media Adoption in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Abstract

The adoption and utilization of social media as an advisory tool among smallholder farmers is relatively unexplored. Social media has the potential to enhance communication, making agricultural information easily available in the sector. This study investigated the relationship between the attributes of the diffusion of innovation theory and the socio-economic characteristics that influence social media adoption. An independent samples t-test and a one-way ANOVA were used for data analysis. The sample size was 217 smallholder farmers in the Nkomazi local municipality. The results revealed that the difference in the diffusion of innovation attributes based on gender, age, co-operative membership, and level of education had a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). The findings suggest that extension services and other stakeholders including those in the private sector and policymakers should encourage wider adoption of social media by smallholder farmers. Governments need to invest in infrastructure such as community computer labs for training and access to social media. Open-access social media platforms that allow free internet access should also be considered for development. Additionally, policymakers should consider developing guidelines that encourage online advisory services, learning and information dissemination.

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