A Framework for Analyzing the Role of ICT on Agricultural Commercialization and Household Food Security

Abstract

Lack of agricultural information has been attributed to the inability of smallholder farmers to transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture. Recent efforts to improve smallholder access to agricultural information have seen increased application of ICT technologies in developing agriculture. These efforts use ICT-based market information to reduce transaction costs of smallholder participation in markets, promote commercialization, and improve household food security. Emerging studies document the benefits of such ICT-based applications in agriculture, including increased incomes and improved performance of agricultural markets. Unfortunately these studies have been context specific and the link between provision of ICT-based market information, smallholder commercialization and household security remains unclear. This paper develops a framework that can be used to analyze the link between ICT application in smallholder agriculture, household commercialization, and food security. The paper generates testable hypotheses relating ICT application in agriculture and reduction in transactions costs, smallholder farmer commercialization, and household food security. It then provides illustrative cases where ICT application in agriculture has benefited smallholder production and improved market performance. However, more research must be done to test the generated hypotheses. The paper discusses the implications of the framework for practitioners.

Use of Information and Communication Tools and Services by Rural Grain Traders

“…Recent literature documents the increased penetration of mobile phones in Africa (Okello, Al Hassan, & Okello, 2010;Kiiza, Mugisha, & Lwasa, 2010). Others studies have also found the use of ICT tools by traders in many developing countries (Jensen, 2007;Aker, 2008;De Silva, 2010).…”

Adoption of ICT-Based Information Sources and Market Participation among Smallholder Livestock Farmers in South Africa

“…The use of ICT-enabled market information sources is associated with increased market transparency through the provision of current market information, while simultaneously improving incomes and leading to other welfare outcomes. However, the currently available studies have mostly examined how ICTs contribute to improving farmers' access to market information [3,4], their adoption of production technologies [5,6] or the associated livelihoods effects of its use [7]. Although some studies have explored the link between market information and commercialization, such as [8], the effect of adopting ICT-based information sources on market participation among smallholder livestock farmers in South Africa remains a grey area.…”

Adoption of Mobile Technology by Farmers in Southwest-Nigeria

“…It is gaining wide acceptance as the new service delivery platform especially in developing countries. Mobile technology has been applied in healthcare (Anhoj & Moldrup, 2004;Miskelly, 2005;Kim and Jeong, 2007;Blake, 2008;Iluyemi, 2008Iluyemi, , 2009Lester et al, 2009;Blake, 2009); tourism (Cheverst et al, 2000;Brown & Chalmers, 2003;Fesenmaier et al, 2003;Brown et al, 2003;Schwinger et al, 2005;Kim et al, 2008); agriculture (de Silva & Ratnadiwakara, 2010; Maumbe & Okello, 2010;Okello et al, 2010;Katengeza et al, 2011;Lawal-Adebowale & Omotayo, 2012) and education (Lee et al, 2004;Naismith et al, 2004;Mostakhdemin-Hosseini & Tuimala, 2005;Laouris et al, 2005;Najafabadi, 2008).…”