Mobile Technology and Performance of Agricultural Projects: a Case of Digifarm Sunflower Project in Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

Evaluating the level of influence of mobile technology on the performance of projects is critical to shedding new light and contributing knowledge to solve project performance glitches. This research aimed to probe the effect of mobile technology on agricultural projects’ performance in Kenya. The research aims were as follows; to establish the effect of mobile applications on the performance of agricultural projects; to deduce the effect of mobile money transfer on the performance of agricultural projects, to assess the effect of mobile loans on the performance of agricultural projects, and to examine the effect of the mobile information sharing platform on the performance of agricultural projects. This research adopted a mixed-methods approach to ensure a comprehensive assembly and triangulation of requisite data to respond to the survey objectives. The target population for this research was all sunflower farmers in Makueni County who subscribed to the DigiFarm platform. The sample size for this research was 208. Questionnaires and key informant interview guides were the main research instruments used in this research. A pilot test was administered using 21 instruments that were issued to farmers in Makueni County. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean, as well as standard deviation were utilized to evaluate quantitative data. Simple linear regression was used to evaluate the strength and the direction of the association linking the variables and to forecast the variance of the dependent variable centered on the independent variable. It was recognized that mobile applications, mobile money transfer, mobile loans, and the mobile information sharing platform had a positive remarkable effect on the performance of agricultural projects in Makueni County. The research resolved that mobile applications, mobile money transfer, mobile loans, and mobile information-sharing platforms influence the performance of agricultural projects in Makueni County. For further research, the research recommended the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning in enhancing the performance and sustainability of agricultural projects