The Role of ICT Tools in the Access of Climate Information in Rural Communities

Yohannis, Michaelina Almaz; Wausi, Agnes; Waema, Timothy Mwololo; Hutchinson, M. J.

doi:10.23919/istafrica.2019.8764875

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Additional key roles played by ICT in farming include the adaptation, monitoring, mitigating, and strategising of climate change related matters in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Aleke and Nhamo, 2016;Ospina and Heeks, 2010;Shabajee et al, 2014); agro-information dissemination in Tanzania and India (Churi et al, 2013); and gaining access to markets (Beza et al, 2017). Nevertheless, the deployment of ICT alone is unlikely to combat the menace of climate change among SHFs (Yohannis et al, 2019). For this reason, Subashini and Fernando (2017) argue that integrating ICT with agriculture, particularly CSA, is pivotal to achieve sustainable development in the agricultural sector.…”

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of the relationship between smallholder farmers' ICT literacy levels and demographic data w.r.t. their use and adoption of ICT for weather forecasting

Alant

Bakare

2021

Heliyon

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Food insecurity caused by climate change has become one of the main issues on the global agenda. Worldwide, the importance of digital tools as a means to enhance adaptive capacity and resilience of smallholder farmers (SHFs) in the face of climate variability has long been recognised. Technology-based systems in agriculture frequently neglect to consider the actual context of use and adoption by SHFs in rural and developing contexts. These conditions, as pointed out in the literature, range from high "illiteracy" rates to poor technology infrastructure to a requirement for smartphone-based technology of which very few SHFs in the developing world can take advantage. However, very little is known about the information and communication technology (ICT) literacy levels of SHFs in general in terms of supporting them in their farming decisions. This paper, therefore, explores the ICT literacy levels of Msinga SHFs in order to understand what could enhance their use and adoption of ICT for weather forecasting. Msinga is a hotspot for climate change. Consequently, the means of livelihood of the SHFs in this municipality have been negatively impacted. Volunteering sampling was used, in which 35 SHFs were purposively selected from a population of 100 SHFs who belong to the Asisukume Msinga Agricultural Cooperative (AMAC)all irrigation farmers. A sequential transformative mixed method design, embedded in an Indigenous research framework, was employed. This paper reports on the quantitative aspects of the study which addressed the following two research questions: (i) What are Msinga SHFs ICT literacy capability levels? and (ii) What is the relationship between SHFs ICT levels and their demographic data w.r.t. their adoption of ICT tools in their agricultural practices? Data were collected using a demographic details questionnaire (examining age, marriage, educational level, and years of farming experience) and an assessment of ICT literacy (assessing 5 ICT literacy skills which included mobile phone symbol identification to advanced ICT literacy). Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, specifically the use of Spearman rank-order correlation using IBM® Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS®), version 20. The results suggest that for the ICT literacy levels, SHFs were not able to display use of the various ICT related skills, with the exception of ICT levels 1 and 2 where satisfactory display of ICT literacy were displayed among most of the SHFs. When examining the associations between ICT literacy levels and the demographic variables, significant negative associations were found between the ICT literacy levels and age as well as years of experience, while significant positive associations were found between ICT literacy levels and educational level. The results, furthermore, suggest that marital status has no correlation with ICT literacy proficiency. The findings arising from this study highlight the "importance of context" in helping SHFs to mitigate the threats of climate change on f...

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Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of the relationship between smallholder farmers' ICT literacy levels and demographic data w.r.t. their use and adoption of ICT for weather forecasting

Alant

Bakare

2021

Heliyon

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“…Evidence points out that local radio stations that use regional dialects play a vital role in disseminating local-specific and up-to-date weather and climate information to farmers, helping them make timely adaptation decisions. Yohannis et al ( 2019 ) found that community radios help farmers access real-time and relevant local-specific climate information such as weather, seasonal forecasts, and agro advisories. However, Gumucio et al ( 2018 ) suggest that childcare and household responsibilities could hinder women’s attentiveness and ability to listen to radio programs, hence missing vital CIS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have examined the effects of access to CIS on farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change, but the findings are generally mixed. A survey by Yohannis et al ( 2019 ) found that using ICT tools like mobile phones and radio could enable communities, including women, to access localized agro-advisory and climate information that helps them improve their livelihood strategies. Similarly, Djido et al ( 2021 ) found that in Ghana, access to weather and climate information services (WCIS) through mobile-based technologies improved the adoption of CSA technologies such as multiple cropping practices, water management, and pest-resistant crops.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to climate information services and climate-smart agriculture in Kenya: a gender-based analysis

Ngigi

Muange

2022

Climatic Change

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Climate change is a significant threat to agriculture-related livelihoods, and its impacts amplify prevailing gender inequalities. Climate information services (CIS) are crucial enablers in adapting to climate change and managing climate-related risks by smallholder farmers. Even though various gender groups have distinct preferences, understandings, and uses of CIS, which affect adaptation decisions differently, there is little research on gender perspectives of CIS. This study employs a novel intra-household survey of 156 married couples to evaluate the gender-differentiated effects of CIS access on the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies in Kenya. The findings reveal gender differences in access to CIS, with husbands having significantly more access to early warning systems and advisory services on adaptation. In contrast, wives had better access to weather forecasts. About 38% of wives perceived that CIS meets their needs, compared to 30% of husbands. As for CIS dissemination pathways, husbands preferred extension officers, print media, television, and local leaders, whereas wives preferred radio and social groups. Recursive bivariate probit analysis shows that trust in CIS, a bundle of CIS dissemination pathways, access to credit, and membership in a mixed-gender social group, affected access to CIS for both genders. Access to early warning systems and advisory services positively affected decisions to adopt CSA by both genders. Still, access to seasonal forecasts influenced husbands’ decisions to adopt CSA but not wives. Besides, there were gender differences in how CIS affected each CSA technology based on gendered access to resources and roles and responsibilities in a household. It is necessary to disseminate CIS through gender-sensitive channels that can satisfy the needs and preferences of different gender groups to encourage the adoption of climate-smart technologies. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10584-022-03445-5.

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Climate information: Does dissemination channels matter? Analysis of the coffee agroforestry system in the Sidama Region of Ethiopia

Kaske,

Ganewo,

Alemu

et al. 2023

Cogent Food & Agriculture

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The Role of ICT Tools in the Access of Climate Information in Rural Communities

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

A case study of the relationship between smallholder farmers' ICT literacy levels and demographic data w.r.t. their use and adoption of ICT for weather forecasting

A case study of the relationship between smallholder farmers' ICT literacy levels and demographic data w.r.t. their use and adoption of ICT for weather forecasting

Access to climate information services and climate-smart agriculture in Kenya: a gender-based analysis

Climate information: Does dissemination channels matter? Analysis of the coffee agroforestry system in the Sidama Region of Ethiopia

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