Evaluation of Small-scale Farmers' use of Information Communication Technology for Farm Management in Mahikeng Local Municipality

Abstract

The effectiveness and efficiency of small-scale farmers' agricultural production as a means of improving rural livelihood hinges on their access to timely and adequate agricultural information. The study focused on the evaluation of small-scale farmers' use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for farm management in Mahikeng Local Municipality. Simple random sampling technique was adopted for the study and 320 respondents were randomly selected out of the selected respondents, 121 respondents volunteered to participate and data were collected with a structured questionnaire. The result revealed that farming was male dominated in the study area 63% and the educational level of most respondents were primary education 33%, the majority of respondents were married 51% and their age distribution was mostly 50 years and above 49% and 41 to 50 years 40%. House hold size was mostly 4 to 6 members 59.5%. The farming experience was found to be majorly 11 to 20 years 39.67% and 2-10 years 33.06%. Their farm sizes were mostly 0-2 hectares 47% and 3-6 hectares 39%. In the study, the annual income of respondents was mostly 10,000 to 30,000 Rands 46.3% and 31,000 to 50,000 Rands 32.2%. The majority of respondents were into both crop and animal production 72%, and their major information sources were fellow farmers 35% and extension agents 36%.The majority of respondents 92% in the study were aware of the use of ICT for extension service delivery and 86% of the respondents used ICT in accessing extension services, however, the most available and accessible ICT tools used by respondents were majorly conventional ICT tools such as television 30.87%, radio 27.7% and mobile phone 27.18% Most respondents in the study had a high perception of the use of ICT for farm management this is because none of the mean value was less than 3. Majority of respondents were knowledgeable about the conventional ICT tools such as television 97%, radio 98% and mobile phone 87% but were not knowledgeable on contemporary ICT tools such as the internet 64.5% and video conferencing 90%. Major constraints identified by respondents were poor infrastructures in rural areas 85%, lack of ICT related facilities 79%, data bundles are expensive to purchase 73%, lack of internet connectivity 71%, ICT tools are expensive to purchase 71.1%, The result further showed that educational level was positively significant at P≤0.01, awareness on the use of ICT for extension and ease of use were both positively significant at P≤0.10. Gender had a negative significance at P≤0.10 this implies that the more increase of female farmers in the study area the lesser the use of ICT as most women have little access to ICT devices as compared to men. Information sources also had a negative significance of P≤0.05. Furthermore, farm size had positive significance P≤0.10 which implies that an increase in farm sizes results in an increase in annual income which makes ICT devices purchasable for respondents with large farm sizes. ICT tools were expensive and had a negative effect at P≤0.10 on respondents' use of ICT. This implies that an increase in the cost of ICT tools will result in small-scale farmers' inability to purchase or use ICT. Lack of internet connectivity had a negative significance at P≤0.10, data bundles are expenses to purchase and lack of ICT related facilities both had a positive significance at P≤0.05. Based on findings it is apparent that small-scale farmers have a high perception on the use of ICT for farm management as it is perceived to enhance their agricultural productivity as well as creating a broader network that helps them make good decisions during transactions. Therefore, it is important for the government and other voluntary organisation to assist small-scale farmers to build ICT infrastructure in the study area.