Small-scale farmers inhabiting the highly dissected highlands in Kabale district, Uganda lack access to appropriate information necessary to apply methods and technologies for sustainable land management for increased agricultural productivity. The farmers’ information needs are characteristically changing over time while access to information is often poor due to limitations in communication services. To address this shortcoming, African highlands Initiative (AHI) implemented a project which integrated information and communication technologies that connected farmers to appropriate information using multiple information sources and media including telecentres and village information centres. The centres were equipped with portable phones, printed materials like leaflets, brochures, pamphlets, research reports and books. This paper discusses the dynamics of using integrated information and communication technologies among smallholder farmers isolating challenges and opportunities while analysing insights associated with results patterns. Research findings showed that rural communities appreciated the use of integrated information and communication technologies as convenient way to communicate and get desired information. Farmers were more excited about the use of phones than other information and communication technologies like radio and the print media. There was a dynamic use of mobile phones for accessing information at parish level. The radio messages also offered prices of selected commodities in different markets within the district and in other neighbouring towns in the region. The information enabled the farmers to bargain for higher produce prices. Print media were particularly useful for information on sustainable land management. Different print media in the form of leaflets, pamphlets, booklets and posters were developed both in English and local languages and disseminated to village information centres and telecentres
Tag: communication technology
Willingness to pay for market information received by mobile phone among smallholder pineapple farmers in Benin
Access to up-to-date information on market prices and quality requirements remains a key issue for smallholder farmers’ access to high income markets. The aim of this chapter is to explore the problem of information asymmetry between farmers and buyers in the pineapple supply chain in Benin, and to assess strategies using mobile phones to overcome this problem. Data was collected from an exploratory case study in Ghana and a survey with 285 farmers in Benin. Results show that farmers face market information asymmetry leading to lower prices and income. In Ghana, market price alerts through mobile phones messaging allowed decreasing transaction costs for farmers. In Benin, farmers expressed a willingness to pay a premium of up to US$ 2.5 per month to get market price and quality information. Econometric analysis showed that decisive factors for the size of the premium include farm location, market channel, profit margin, contact with agricultural extension services, and technical support from buyers.