The Use Of A Mobile Phone As An Aid To The Growth Of Agriculture In Uganda A Case Study: Logoba Village In Moyo District

ABSTRACT

Mobile phone emerges as a great tool to enhance the system of transfer of infonnation in agriculture, so an effort in this study has been made to enumerate the uses of mobile phones in growth of agriculuture in Logoba village in Moyo district which is based on combination of ICTD and diffusion theories to understand mobile phone adoption in a holistic mam1er. In doing so, the presented findings provide insight into why individuals within resourceconstrained environments can adopt mobile phones, and what barriers and opportunities appear in the diffusion process. 50 respondents; 39 farmers, 9 local councilors, I agriculutural extension worker, and I local council chairman selected through simple random sampling technique and purposive sampling technique were contacted for interview, data collected were summarize, coded before being analyzed using a Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Primary data was also collected to know the opinion and preferences of fanners towards the use of mobile phones in agriculture. The study found that, mobile phone technology acceptance to rural Logoba village was high enough for one to accompany it with a predictable positive economic impact. In tenus of access to agricultural information through mobile phones, it was evident that, people in the study area capture the advantages of increased number of mobile phone to access infonnation related to their farming business. Data shows that farmers preferred infonnation on marketing most. According to fanners, Private agencies such as NGOs and fam1ers cooperatives are the most credible source of information while govennnental agencies are least. Majority of the fanners preferred SMS as the best way of providing infonnation as they can read and save it for its future use. Most of respondents valued mobile phones as easy, fast and convenient way of communicating agricultural information. Factors that influenced mobile phone use in communicating agricultural information included mobile phone ownership, type of agricultural infotmation to be communicated, farming system practiced, network coverage, and respondents' socio-economic characteristics. On the other hand, lack of electticity, poverty and lack of knowledge limited respondents' mobile phone ownership and use. Based on the conclusions, the researcher recommended that the govennnent, NGOs and other development agencies should introduce public phone booths especially in rural areas through which farmers could be capable to communicate agricultural infotmation, government should viii provide the subsidized phones to the farmers with necessary functions and also provide facility of fi·ee/subsidized agricultural messages should be provided to the fanners since from thee report, fanners rated SMS high as a way of delievering infonnation