Determinants Of Farmers’ Use Of Mobile Phone To Access Agricultural Information In Agona – East District Of Central Region, Ghana

Abstract

The use of mobile phones has become important in the agricultural sector. However, little is known about its level of use and the factors that affect its use to access agricultural information in Agona – District, Ghana. The study employed a descriptive correlational survey design to determine factors that affect farmers’ use of mobile phone to access information. Multistage sampling technique and structured interview schedule were used to collect data from 182 farmers from 14 communities within the district. Frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and Independent Sample t- test and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. The study showed that males were dominant in the use of mobile phone to access agricultural information. Farmer’s knowledge and awareness of the use of mobile phone for agricultural information was relatively low. Majority of farmers agreed to benefiting from using mobile phone in receiving agriculture information. Financial services and reduced travel cost were the level of extent to which farmers use mobile phone. Again, high cost of call tariff and difficulty in texting message were the major challenges of using mobile phone. The five factors that best predict the extent of use of mobile phone by farmers were awareness of mobile phones, knowledge of mobile use, benefit of using mobile phones, farmers’ educational level and type of mobile used. The study recommends the need of telecommunication network companies and Ministry of Food and Agriculture to provide more training to farmers on the use of mobile phone for accessing agricultural information.