MOBILE PHONE-ASSISTED AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES:USER COMPETENCY AND USAGE FREQUENCY IN EASTERN GHANA

Adoption studies have mainly focused on econometric and quantitative modelling that usually assume smallholder farmers competently adopt agricultural technologies. Thisstudy provides novel insights on user competency and frequency of usage of mobiletelephony for agricultural extension services among smallholder farmers andagricultural extension agents (AEAs) and key factors that impede the adoption process.The study examined users’ competencies and mobile phone usage frequency for accessand delivery of agricultural extension services in Eastern Ghana. A multi-stagesampling procedure was used to select 95 AEAs and 330 smallholder farmers in fivedistricts of the Eastern region of Ghana and data were collected through semistructuredinterviews. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and regression analyseswere performed to analyse the data. Results showed substantial differences betweenAEAs and smallholder farmers’ competency in the use of mobile phones foragricultural extension services. Socio-demographic characteristics of smallholderfarmers and AEAs correlated with usage frequency of mobile phones for access toextension services and delivery. Educational level, amount of weekly expenditure ofmoney on mobile phone use, mobile phone network quality, income level, and age ofboth AEAs and smallholder farmers had positive and significant correlations withfrequency of usage of mobile phones. User competency differentially impacts thefrequency of mobile phone use in agricultural extension services between AEAs andsmallholders. High call tariffs and access to recharge cards are major challenges inusing mobile phones for agricultural extension in the study areas. The study showscomponents of the adoption theory of compatibility, and complexity where aninnovation fits within the socio-cultural framework and perceived difficulty of use.Thus, the frequent use of voice calls is indicative of early stages of the diffusionprocess and may diversify into other applications in the future. Farmer-basedorganisations should be resourced to support training of farmers to use mobile phonesto improve access to agricultural information dissemination. Integrating voice-basedagricultural information services (IVRs) into the current SMS-based agriculturalextension services in Ghana could potentially boost extension service delivery tosmallholder farmers in the Eastern region and across the country.