Developing of a Framework for Mobile Phone Applications Adoption to Improve Small-scale Commercial Agriculture in Makonde District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study developed a framework on the adoption of mobile phone applications (MPAs) for improved small-scale commercial agriculture in Chitomborwizi, Makonde District, Zimbabwe. The research sought to characterise the current adoption of MPAs, establish factors that influence farmers’ perception and decisions regarding the adoption of MPAs, examine the challenges encountered by farmers in the adoption of MPAs, and explore opportunities that could facilitate the adoption of MPAs to enhance small-scale commercial agriculture. Informed by the Diffusion of Innovation theory, this study adopted pragmatism and exploratory mixed methods research design. The study embraced multi-stage sampling stratified sampling techniques, as well as purposive and snowball sampling methods. Quantitative data were collected from 213 farmers using structured household questionnaires and interview guides. Qualitative data were collected from 60 farmers using face-to-face in-depth key informant interviews, PRA, FGDs, document analysis and in-depth case analysis. Descriptive statistics, discourse and thematic analysis were utilised to analyse data. The study revealed that farmers who are young, educated, digitally literate, technically proficient, have high social status, financially lucid, familiar with MPAs, and who had access to internet and electricity supply were the most adopters. The results revealed that farmers were more likely to adopt MPAs with high relative advantage, low complexity, and high compatibility, highly trialable and visible results. The study identified obstacles to the adoption of MPAs in agriculture. The study identified opportunities that could facilitate the adoption of MPAs in agriculture. The study revealed that socio-demographic factors play a significant role in the adoption of MPAs. The study recommends the government to employ segmentation analysis to explore how different adopter groups respond to specific mobile agricultural innovations, investigate how perceived attributes interact with cultural and environmental contexts in influencing adoption, evaluate interventions aimed at mitigating challenges to adoption, investigate the scaling potential of successful mobile applications and what ecosystem factors enable broader uptake. Further, the study recommends policy makers. The study recommends employing intersectional analysis to assess how combinations of sociodemographic traits influence adoption differently.