Effectiveness of ICT tools in disseminating agricultural information to enhance smallholder farmers’ crop productivity in Mbombela.

Abstract

Sustainable improvement in the crop productivity of smallholder farmers is one of the most persistent challenges in agricultural development in South Africa. Despite being acknowledged as the major contributors to local food security and the economy, smallholder farmers’ productivity hinges largely on access to accurate and reliable information. Smallholder farmers are characterized as individuals who tend to make uninformed production decisions, resulting in poor yields due to agricultural information asymmetry within rural communities. The knowledge intensity of the agricultural sector requires an adequate flow and sharing of information among agricultural stakeholders. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage the use of information and communication technology tools, as they are a key source of agricultural information. This will help alleviate the shortage of agricultural information among smallholder farmers. The adoption and utilisation of ICT tools, such as radio, TV, mobile phones, and computers, is rapidly increasing among rural farming communities. However, it is yet unknown how well ICT tools are utilised to disseminate agricultural information to improve agricultural activities. Therefore, this study contributes to the existing literature on the use of ICT among smallholder farmers by investigating the effectiveness of ICT tools in disseminating agricultural information to enhance smallholder farmers crop productivity in Mbombela Local Municipality of South Africa. The study was conducted under the framework of the Uses and Gratification theory to investigate the effectiveness of ICT tools and its impact on crop productivity. The quantitative research used cross-sectional survey and structured questionnaire to collect data from 308 respondents. Respondents were selected using systematic sampling. The survey results indicated that female smallholder farmers (195) outnumbered their male counterparts. Most respondents were elderly, aged 55 and above (132), and a significant portion (71.8%) had some formal education. The majority of respondents were married (40.6%) and lived in households with 6-10 members. Most owned agricultural land, with farm sizes of less than 5 hectares, and had 6-10 years of farming experience. Additionally, many respondents were members of farmers’ organizations. The findings showed that 78.2% produced crops primarily for household consumption and sold surplus for income, with vegetables being the most common crops grown. Regarding ICT use, 62% accessed agricultural information through technologies like radio, TV, and mobile phones, while others relied on fellow farmers and public extension services. Respondents were familiar with ICT farming programs, including Niche Farmers on TV, Ezokulima on radio, Facebook on smartphones, and phone calls on basic cell phones. Propensity Score Matching findings indicated that the use of ICT tools to access agricultural information resulted in an improvement in agricultural production. This was demonstrated by the higher number of improved crop varieties used, the application of fertiliser and pesticides, achieved yield and generated income in comparison to non ICT users. Descriptive findings indicated mobile phone was perceived effective on ease of use, accessibility, efficient delivery of timely information and feedback with a mean value of over 3.0. In addition, radio was perceived effective in delivering relevant information and easily accessible with a mean value of over 3.0. Empirical results revealed that variables such as language use, ICT literacy and ICT awareness were statistically significant at a p-value of < 0.01 and positively influencing the use of ICT tools by smallholder farmers for accessing agricultural information. Age, educational level and power outages were found statistically significant at a p-value of < 0.01 while cooperative membership was significant at p-value of < 0.05 respectively and inversely influencing the use of ICT tools by smallholder farmers for accessing agricultural information. Based on the results, the study concludes that smallholder farmers use ICT tools to access agricultural information, with these tools proving to be effective communication channels between farmers and information sources. This is evident from the positive attitudes toward both traditional and modern ICT tools, as well as their beneficial impact on crop productivity and livelihood outcomes. These benefits include improved access to information, increased yields and income, and better input usage. However, socio-economic variables seem to be inversely militate efficient utilisation of ICT tools by smallholder farmers. In order to maximise the advantages of ICT tools in agricultural production and enhance usability, the study suggests that agricultural personnel should initiate agricultural participation campaigns aimed at increasing youth involvement, emphasising their better utilisation of ICT tools and the resultant contributions to the local economy. The study also suggests that agricultural personnel should conduct ICT awareness programs to educate smallholder farmers on the use of accessible and user-friendly ICT tools that can enhance their farming practices.