Adoption of ICT innovations in the agriculture sector in Africa: a review of the literature

Abstract

AbstractAccording to the latest World Economic Forum report, about 70% of the African population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. This makes agriculture a critical sector within the African continent. Nonetheless, agricultural productivity is low and food insecurity is still a challenge. This has in recent years led to several initiatives in using ICT to improve agriculture productivity. However, a systematic review of the evidence categorized by the various aspects of the topic is lacking. This study investigates the state of the art of ICT innovations within the agriculture sector in Africa. To achieve this, we reviewed the literature published from 2010 to 2019 in which ICT innovations were discussed. Our search in four major literature databases yielded 779 papers, of which we selected 23 primary studies for a detailed analysis. The analysis shows that the main ICT technologies adopted are text and voice-based services targeting mobile phones. The analysis also shows that radios are still widely used in disseminating agriculture information to rural farmers, while computers are mainly used by researchers. Though the mobile-based services were aimed at improving access to accurate and timely agriculture information, the literature review indicates that the adoption of the services is constrained by poor technological infrastructure, inappropriate ICT policies, and low level of user skills, especially of farmers, in using the technologies.