The role of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia

Information and communication issues have been key topics for agricultural education and extension for decades. Farmers need information on weather forecasts, inputs, improved cultivation practices, pest and disease management and market prices. Old information and communications technologies such as radio and television have been and continue to be important tools in the attempt to link farmers more closely with market demands, yet access to agricultural information continues to be challenging to smallholder farmers. The rapid growth of mobile phone use in developing countries has introduced a technology that offers several advantages over other alternatives in terms of costs, geographic coverage and ease of use. Although a ‘new’ information technologies have created additional media for overcoming the information gap, a number of factors pose limitation to the accessibility of information for rural communities. In line with this, a study was conducted in the Eastern Hararghe Zone of Oromia regional state of Ethiopia to assess the current status of mobile phone use and to determine the major factors affecting mobile phone use by smallholder farmers in the study area. Descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model were used for analyzing the data. Among the 120 sample respondents, majority (67.7%) were mobile phone users. The study indicated that education level, family size, off-farm income and perception of mobile phone use were significant determinants of mobile phone usage. Characteristics of farmers can be used to introduce and promote use of agricultural information through mobile phones to improve agricultural performance in Ethiopia.