Information Technology in Agriculture
Siwel Nyamba; Malongo Mlozi
Volume 10, Issue 2 , Spring 2020, , Pages 51-60
Abstract
The study investigated the roles of different stakeholders influencing the use of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information in Tanzania. While information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture, farmers in Tanzania suffer the problem of lacking access to agricultural information. ...
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The study investigated the roles of different stakeholders influencing the use of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information in Tanzania. While information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture, farmers in Tanzania suffer the problem of lacking access to agricultural information. Promisingly, mobile phone technology has become the most valued infrastructure which gives people access to information and services they need. Actually, the subscription of mobile phones in Tanzania is ubiquitous and is ever-growing. However, many farmers are not fully utilizing the potential that the technology prevails. There is an apparent disparity between mobile phone subscriptions which is increasingly being adopted on one hand and their uptake into farming practices. The question is, why farmers not fully utilizing the potential the technology prevails in agriculture and how could they be helped? The research adopted a multi-stage sampling technique whereby, initially two districts were purposively selected followed by a simple random sampling technique to obtain 240 respondents. Data collection methods used was: interviews, key informants interviews, and focus group discussions. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social (SPSS), whereby some descriptive statistics including frequencies, means, percentages and standard deviations were determined. Chi-square tests and regression analysis were also performed to test for the relationship between variables and rule out variables that are the best predictors, respectively.
Information Technology in Agriculture
S.Y Nyamba; V.J Kalungwizi; M.R.S Mlozi; I.M Busindeli; F.T.M Kilima; C.P Msuya-Bengesi; B.B Chija; Z.S.K Mvena; M Gabagambi; S.M Gjotterud; E Kiranga
Volume 10, Issue 1 , Winter 2020, , Pages 9-15
Abstract
The major challenge for the tomato farmers is getting a fair price at the market price given that there are many actors involved in the tomato value chain. Given this situation, this project's goal was to improve communication pathways in dissemination of agricultural market information in tomato value ...
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The major challenge for the tomato farmers is getting a fair price at the market price given that there are many actors involved in the tomato value chain. Given this situation, this project's goal was to improve communication pathways in dissemination of agricultural market information in tomato value chains in Iringa and Dodoma Regions in Tanzania. The specific objectives were to: identify and assess the status of tomato production and information sharing among the various actors in every node in the tomato value chain; identify the communication and knowledge dissemination pathways in tomato value chain; examine the efficacy of communication and knowledge dissemination pathways in tomato value chain; establish the innovative communication and knowledge dissemination pathways in tomato value chain, and enhance capacity and empower the various stakeholders involved in the tomato value chain. One way of achieving the goal of the study was to come up with an innovative communication pathway that would improve the marketing of tomatoes by directly linking farmers to markets. The study has developed a system called Tomato Value Chain Information System (ToVCIS). The system links famers to different markets in the Tanzania by sending text messages to a control centre which is fed with prices on a daily basis by government employed market monitors in the different towns listed above. Therefore, this paper details on how the system will help farmers through ToVCIS to mitigate vulnerability. Equally, it offers some recommendations for improving the efficiency as well as the sustainability of the system
