Adoption of climate-smart horticulture practices and use of mobile phones in Taita-Taveta County, Kenya
Abstract
Mobile phones have become the most commonly used tools in communication across various sectors and farmers have not been left behind. Previous studies have shown that farmers with mobile phones record higher agricultural productivity. However, there has been little empirical evidence on the use of mobile phone on climate-smart horticulture (CSH) and differences in CSH adoption behaviour between mobile phone users and non-users. This study aimed to characterize the adoption of CSH practices and mobile phone use among farmers. The study used primary data drawn from a focus group discussion and random sample of 403 green gram and tomato farmers in Taita-Taveta County, Kenya. Results reveal that 71% of the farmers adopted crop rotation while only 2% adopted crop insurance practices. Also, 97% of
farmers own mobile phones and use them for social calls while 44% use them for CSH. The study showed that use of smartphone is positively related to the number of CSH practices adopted. More mobile phone users adopted CSH practices than non-users. Paired t-test results show that the adoption of CSH practices was significantly higher for mobile phone users than the non-users. There is need for the government to partner with software developers and telecommunication service providers to develop an integrated mobile phone-supported CSH software application to enhance farmer productivity.
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