| dc.description.abstract | This study sought to evaluate the role of mobile phone communication in accessing market
information by horticultural farmers in Mwea Sub County, Kirinyaga County. In this area,
horticultural farming is a major livelihood for the farmers. However, the farmers are faced by
challenges of accessibility of markets and market information hence end up fetching poor prices
for their produce resulting in low income. The objectives of the study were to establish the extent
to which mobile phone communication is used in accessing market information; to analyze the
factors that influence adoption of mobile phone communication in accessing market information
and to establish various challenges that horticultural farmers in the area face in accessing market
information. Purposive sampling was used to select the population of the study which consisted
of 500 farmers from Kangai horticultural farmers group in Mwea Sub County. A sample size of
97 respondents was obtained using Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) approach. Systematic random
sampling was used to select the households. Data was collected using a semi-structured
questionnaire and an interview guide. The response rate was 84 respondents. Descriptive
statistics were used to analyze the extent to which mobile phones were used by the farmers in
accessing market information; the factors that influenced adoption of mobile phone
communication in accessing market information as well as the challenges that farmers faced in
accessing market information. The results showed that only 20.2% of the farmers used mobile
phones to access market information. Most farmers used mobile phones mostly to communicate
with friends and relatives. Among other communication channels used, middlemen were used to
a very great extent (median=5), followed by fellow farmers to a moderate extent (median= 3).
Extension officers were rare channels used to access market information because they were
mostly contacted to access information on farm inputs and disease control. The radio and
television were also used to a very low extent. The two were mostly for entertainment but not to
access market information. Computer internet and newspapers were also used to a very low
extent mostly due to low literacy level and high cost. Lack of training on technology use,
technology cost, difficulty in usage and lack of awareness of the technology were the major
factors that influenced adoption of mobile phone communication in market information access as
reported by 84.5%, 82.1%, 67.9% and 65.5% respectively. The least considered factor was
distrust (7.1%). Based on the above findings, the study recommends that to improve markets and
market information access, there is need for awareness and training programmes on use of
mobile phone communication to access market information. This can be done by the government
of Kenya through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the Ministry of
Information Communications and Technology as well as the private sector agricultural
information providers. With time, as farmers accumulate more knowledge, they will fetch better
prices for their produce, increase their income hence improve their livelihoods. | en_US |
