Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Perceptions on Usefulness of Mobile-Phone Technology in Bahi District, Tanzania

Abstract

Mobile Phone Technology is increasingly becoming a powerful method of interpersonal communication. This paper documents smallholder rice farmers’ perception of the usefulness of this technology in communicating agricultural production and market information. Data were collected from 282 smallholder farmers selected randomly from rice farmers in Bahi District, Tanzania. The findings revealed that 97.2% of the sampled smallholder farmers owned the phone for more than three years. All phones were able to perform the basic function of sending and receiving short messages and making and receiving calls, with very few (18.8%) capable of accessing the internet. 48% and 78% of the respondents perceived the network coverage and costs of buying and running the technology respectively as moderate, whilst 54.3% perceived the technology as useful in communicating agricultural production and market information. However, only less than 36% of the respondents confirmed to have used the technology to communicate agricultural production and market information, with very few (3.2%) communicating with extension officers. It is recommended that intervention intended to improve farming through mobile phone technology should be configured around the basic functions of mobile phones. More so, extension officers should increase the use of mobile phone technology in advising farmers through automated short message services or a stationed officer on calls.