Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?

Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Abay, Kibrom A.; Chamberlin, Jordan; Kassim, Yumna; Spielman, David J.; Tabe‐Ojong, Martin Paul

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102439

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The results are shown in column (7) and it can be seen that the coefficient of lnde is still significantly positive, thus confirming the robustness.…”

Section: Robustness Checksupporting

confidence: 57%

“…Strong governance is conducive to the development of agriculture. As shown in Column (7), a 1% increase in the improvement of government governance has promoted agricultural development by 0.11%. Therefore, the validity of Hypothesis 3 is verified.…”

Section: The Mediating Role Of Government Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…From mobile applications and text messaging to satellite imagery and remote sensing, ICT has provided multiple channels for delivering agricultural information. The structure, organization and efficiency of agricultural markets can be transformed and information asymmetries can be addressed by ICT, thus reducing the incidence of market failures that are common in agriculture [6,7]. The application of ICT throughout the agricultural chain helps to connect producers and consumers and improve market integration, so that agribusiness is taken out of the farm gate and integrated into global supply chains [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How Does Digital Economy Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Wang,

Lin,

Zhang

2023

Agriculture

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Understanding the impact of the digital economy on agriculture in developing countries holds significant importance in enhancing agricultural production and addressing hunger-related challenges. This study uses panel data of 35 SSA countries from 2006 to 2021 and investigates the relationship between digital economy and agriculture using dynamic regression models. The impact mechanism is also analyzed using mediating models. The results show that the digital economy has a positive impact on agriculture through the increase of agricultural productivity, human capital accumulation and the improvement of government governance. The effects of the digital economy are larger in countries with higher and lower levels of agricultural development, significant in middle-income countries, and insignificant in low-income countries. This study may provide a better understanding of the nexus between digital economy and agricultural development, and offer valuable insights for governments in developing nations to formulate relevant and effective policies.

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“…The results are shown in column (7) and it can be seen that the coefficient of lnde is still significantly positive, thus confirming the robustness.…”

Section: Robustness Checksupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: The Mediating Role Of Government Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How Does Digital Economy Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Wang,

Lin,

Zhang

2023

Agriculture

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“…Research has also shown that ICT more often serves to strengthen existing rather than create new market linkages (Boadi et al., 2007; Molony, 2006, 2008; Overå, 2006), thus potentially allowing established market participants to benefit more from the use of the technologies than marginalised users. Various demand‐side factors can also hinder the effective uptake and use of digital innovations among agricultural producers, such as affordability, human and technological capacity constraints, preference for face‐to‐face interaction, challenges in marketing digital services to marginalised groups, or structural deficiencies in the agriculture context (Abate et al., 2023; Deichmann et al., 2016; Molony, 2008). Moreover, information provided via ICT is not necessarily beneficial as ICT can also be used to spread false information more easily (Chowdhury et al., 2023).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential of ICT to increase land and labour productivity in agriculture: Global and regional perspectives

Rajkhowa,

Baumüller

2024

J Agricultural Economics

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Increasing agricultural productivity in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) is an important channel for reducing poverty and food insecurity. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to boost agricultural productivity by lowering transaction costs and enhancing access to information. Even though there are several micro‐level studies analysing the effects of ICT on agricultural productivity, there is scant research addressing the role of ICT in agricultural productivity at the global and regional levels. Using data from 86 countries for the period 2000 to 2019 and utilising a fixed effect panel regression with a feasible generalised least square approach, we find that globally there is a positive and significant association between ICT uptake and both land and labour productivity in agriculture. In each case, however, the magnitude of the effect is much smaller than other important determinants, such as human capital, access to inputs or environmental factors. At the regional level, the relationship between ICT uptake and land productivity is not significant in Africa and Asia, while we find a significant effect on labour productivity. This finding indicates that while ICT can provide valuable information and tools for land management, the effect on land productivity might be less immediate in these regions. Finally, we revisit the question of whether ICT expansion increases agricultural productivity gaps between high‐income nations and LMICs. In contrast to previous research, this study does not find significant differences in the effects of ICT on land and labour productivity between higher‐income and lower‐income countries.

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“…These platforms are meant to facilitate transactions either between farmers and traders or between aggregators and processors, and sometimes link farmers directly to retailers, such as Twiga Foods in Kenya ( Chege et al, 2023 ). Online marketplaces can also link with other services, including credit or advisory services ( Abate et al, 2023 ). Evidence about their effectiveness is mixed.…”

Section: Resolving Midstream Financial Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viewpoint: Finance needs of the agricultural midstream

Ambler,

de Brauw,

Herskowitz

et al. 2023

Food Policy

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Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?

Cited by 17 publications

References 64 publications

How Does Digital Economy Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

How Does Digital Economy Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Assessing the potential of ICT to increase land and labour productivity in agriculture: Global and regional perspectives

Viewpoint: Finance needs of the agricultural midstream

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