Technology, Sustainability, and Rural Development in Africa

Technology, Sustainability, and Rural Development in Africa

Blessing Maumbe, Julius J. Okello

Copyright: © 2013 |Pages: 366

ISBN13: 9781466636071|ISBN10: 1466636076|EISBN13: 9781466636088

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1

Cite Book Cite Book

MLA

Maumbe, Blessing, and Julius J. Okello, editors. Technology, Sustainability, and Rural Development in Africa. IGI Global, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1

APA

Maumbe, B. & Okello, J. J. (Eds.). (2013). Technology, Sustainability, and Rural Development in Africa. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1

Chicago

Maumbe, Blessing, and Julius J. Okello, eds. Technology, Sustainability, and Rural Development in Africa. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1

Export Reference

Favorite Full-Book Download

The emerging use of information and communication technologies has expanded the opportunities for rural development in Africa.

Technology, Sustainability, and Rural Development in Africa provides research, analytical methods, techniques, and development policies in ICT adoption and diffusion in Africa and around the globe. Highlighting the major trends in ICT applications and rural development, this book is useful for scholars, academics, researchers and government policy makers.

Table of Contents

Reset

Front Materials

Title Page

Copyright Page

Editorial Advisory Board

Preface

Chapters

Chapter 1

A Framework for Analyzing the Role of ICT on Agricultural Commercialization and Household Food Security (pages 1-14)

Julius Juma Okello, Ramatu Al-Hassan, Ruth M. Okello

Lack of agricultural information has been attributed to the inability of smallholder farmers to transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture. Recent efforts to improve smallholder access to agricultural information have seen...

Chapter 2

The Role of ICT-Based Market Information Services in Spatial Food Market Integration: The Case of Malawi Agricultural Commodity Exchange (pages 15-28)

Samson P. Katengeza, Barnabas Kiiza, Julius Juma Okello

The government of Malawi in 2004 initiated an ICT-based Malawi Agricultural Commodity Exchange (MACE), a market information service project, to improve access by farmers to market information. MACE was intended to improve the...

Chapter 3

The Growth of E-Commerce in Developing Countries: An Exploratory Study of Opportunities and Challenges for SMEs (pages 29-43)

Japhet E. Lawrence

The growth of the Internet has opened up a vast arena, providing more opportunities for businesses, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to sell their products and services to a global audience than they would have...

Chapter 4

Using ICT to Integrate Smallholder Farmers into Agricultural Value Chain: The Case of DrumNet Project in Kenya (pages 44-58)

Julius Juma Okello, Edith Ofwona-Adera, Oliver L.E. Mbatia, Ruth M. Okello

This article examines an ICT-based intervention (known as the DrumNet project) that has succeeded in integrating smallholder-resource and poor farmers into a higher value agricultural chain. The article assesses the design of the...

Chapter 5

The Effect of ICT-Based Market Information Services on the Performance of Agricultural Markets: Experiences from Ghana (pages 59-71)

Irene S. Egyir, Ramatu M. Al-Hassan, James K. Abakah

This study is concerned with how markets of agricultural commodities have responded to the improved ICT-based market information services in Ghana since 2005. The data employed are monthly prices wholesale from 2001-2010, covering...

Chapter 6

The Role of Market Information in Adoption of Agricultural Seed Technology in Rural Uganda (pages 72-88)

Barnabas Kiiza, Glenn Pederson, Stephen Lwasa

In this paper, the authors evaluate the impact of access to ICT-based market information on prices received by farmers and the intensity of adoption of improved hybrid and composite maize varieties. Propensity score matching is...

Chapter 7

Awareness of ICT-Based Projects and the Intensity of Use of Mobile Phones Among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda: The Case of Mayuge and Apac Districts (pages 89-101)

Stephen Lwasa, Narathius Asingwire, Julius Juma Okello, Joseph Kiwanuka

As the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is embraced in Uganda, determinants of awareness of ICT based projects remain unknown. The intensity of use of mobile phones among smallholder farmers in the areas where...

Chapter 8

Use of Mobile Phone Technology in Agricultural Marketing: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in Malawi (pages 102-112)

Samson P. Katengeza, Julius Juma Okello, Noel Jambo

The mobile phone technology is an important tool to enhance farmers’ access to better paying agricultural markets. The study reports the results of a household study in Mwanza, Dedza and Mzimba Districts of Malawi. The study assesses...

Chapter 9

Uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Agriculture and Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences from South Africa and Kenya (pages 113-134)

Blessing M. Maumbe, Julius Juma Okello

This paper presents a framework of the evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) applications in agriculture and rural development based on comparative experiences of South Africa and Kenya. The framework posits...

Chapter 10

Effect of Access to Formal Market Information on Prices Received by Smallholder Farmers in Uganda (pages 135-151)

Barnabas Kiiza, Johnny Mugisha, Stephen Lwasa

Much work has been done to improve smallholder farmers’ adoption of new agricultural technology packages in Uganda; however, little commensurate effort has been made to improve their access to formal market information channels like...

Chapter 11

Use of Information and Communication Tools and Services by Rural Grain Traders: The Case of Kenyan Maize Traders (pages 152-167)

Julius Juma Okello

Poor access to agricultural market information is a major factor constraining the performance of agricultural markets in developing countries. The search for new strategies for resolving this constraint has led to several ICT-based...

Chapter 12

The Adoption and Sustainability of Technology-Enhanced Education in Higher Institutions of Learning in Africa (pages 168-187)

Chijioke J. Evoh

This chapter explores factors that enhance and constrain the adoption and sustainability of Information and Communication Technologies in Universities and higher institutions of learning in South Africa. This study examines...

Chapter 13

An Overview of Internet Developments and their Impact on E-Government in South Africa (pages 188-202)

Goonasagree Naidoo, S. Singh, Niall Levine

The usage of the internet has grown over recent years in South Africa but at a very slow rate. This is the result of several challenges facing the growth of the Internet in South Africa. These challenges are mostly related to the...

Chapter 14

Convergence of Wireless Technologies in Consolidating E-Government Applications in Sub-Saharan Africa (pages 203-219)

Kelvin Joseph Bwalya, Rensleigh Chris, Ndlovu Mandla

The convergence of wireless applications presents a greater hope for consolidating e-Government (ICT-enabled or online government) applications even in resource-constrained countries such as those in Africa. This chapter presents an...

Chapter 15

International Collaboration in Distance Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends, Trials and Tomorrow’s Thrusts (pages 220-235)

Gbolagade Adekanmbi, Bopelo Boitshwarelo

This chapter examines international collaboration in distance education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), focusing on efforts aimed at utilizing technology. It identifies a number of significant collaborative endeavors. The collaborative...

Chapter 16

Emerging Information and Communication Technology Policy Framework for Africa (pages 236-256)

Saul F.C. Zulu

While emerging information and communications technologies (ICTs) offer possible solutions to some of the problems of applying ICTs in Africa, there are many challenges that have to be addressed in order to create an environment that...

Chapter 17

ICT Policy Development Process in Africa (pages 257-283)

Hopestone Kayiska Chavula, Abebe Chekol

This chapter reviews the information and communication technology (ICT) policy development process in Africa and assesses to what extent African countries have taken on board ICT issues in their overall national development policies...

Chapter 18

Gender and National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policies in Africa (pages 284-297)

Stella E. Igun

This chapter discusses the importance of incorporating gender aspects into the national ICT policies in Africa. The mention of gender issues in national ICT policies in Africa is still very scanty (where they exist). Many countries...

Chapter 19

Mobile Agriculture in South Africa: Implementation Framework, Value-Added Services and Policy Implications (pages 298-322)

Blessing Maumbe

The rapid diffusion of mobile and wireless technologies is transforming agricultural development globally. In South Africa, rural e-government service delivery has been hampered by low Internet penetration. Mobile government offers a...

Chapter 20

ICT Policy for Agriculture Based on a Transaction Cost Approach: Some Lessons from Sri Lanka (pages 323-337)

Harsha de Silva, Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara

In Sri Lanka, the majority of farmers are generally poor,and rely on subsistence agriculture. If these farmers can even partially be made responsive to market needs, as opposed to current household needs, they could cultivate at...

Back Materials

Compilation of References

About the Contributors

Index

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.

Username or email: *

Password: *

Forgot individual login password?

Create individual account