Smallholder farmers’ knowledge of mobile telephone use: Gender perspectives and implications for agricultural market development

Alex Barimah Owusu, Paul W.K. Yankson, Stephen Frimpong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recent growth in mobile telephone and mobile-based information services in many developing countries provides opportunities to reduce costly and incomplete information dissemination in the agricultural sector and ensure efficient functioning of markets. But in order to successfully use mobile phones for the optimal development of agricultural markets, understanding the impact of social structure on mobile phone adoption, its uses and perceived impacts are invaluable. Although global assessments of capacity in the use of information communication technology (ICT) devices have been considered, such assessments mask significant geo-spatial variations among local farmers—male and female—with respect to their capacity to effectively use basic mobile phone functions. Documenting and recognizing this is important for the development of national agricultural ICT policies, as well as programmes aimed at increasing farmers’ knowledge and use of ICT for agricultural marketing. This article’s contribution to agricultural marketing and the use of ICT in developing countries (such as Ghana) is anchored in the assessment of the technical capacity and mobile telephone-based market information access to farmers in selected rural districts of Ghana. The selected districts are where most households are poor and heavily dependent on farming as their mainstay, and furthermore, where market information which mobile phones facilitate is crucial to maximizing their incomes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)36-51
Number of pages16
JournalProgress in Development Studies
Volume18
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2018

Keywords

  • gender
  • market access
  • mobile phone
  • smallholder
  • technical capacity

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