Digital Communication Tools Usage and Buyer-Seller Relationship: Cocoa Smallholder Farmers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Cocoa farming, production and exports in Nigeria remain a study focus because of the agricultural sector revenue in the pre-crude oil era of Nigerian history. Cocoa being one of the chief sources of revenue and exporting income for the country, exposes the subsector to contention and continuous review for analysts and policymakers to improve both the farming practices and commercial viability of the sphere. This study uses a smallholder population of 87 respondents in Ondo state to describe and analyze the buyer-seller relationship of cocoa farmers in the region. This article examined the level of usage of digital communication tools among cocoa farmers and evaluated the impact of digital communication tools used on the buyer-seller relationship in the study area. ANOVA, regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis were employed for empirical investigations. The study findings revealed that the propensity to the adoption of digital communication tools is low and widespread adoption can eliminate challenges of trust, satisfaction, and imperfect market with regards to the information in the relationship context as extended by previous studies. It is recommended that beyond Messengers and SMS, a further advancement to using other means of communication including social media and video-conferencing can aid in solving some of the issues meandering the buyer-seller relationship. Congruently, global market rivalry and international standards in cocoa farming and processing can be achieved if digital communication tools are widely adopted by farmers in the region.