The Revolution of Mobile Phone-Enabled Services for Agricultural Development (m-Agri Services) in Africa: The Challenges for Sustainability



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https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/485
DOI: 
10.3390/su12020485
Provider: 
Licensing of resource: 
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO)
Type: 
journal article
Journal: 
Sustainability
Number: 
12
Volume: 
2
Author(s): 
Emeana E.M.
Trenchard L.
Dehnen-Schmutz K.
Publisher(s): 
Description: 

There are very few published literature sources that focus on the potential benefits of m-Agri services in Africa and none of which explore their sustainability. This study, therefore, explores the evolution, provision, and sustainability of these m-Agri services in Africa. An overview of the current landscape of m-Agri services in Africa is provided and this illustrates how varied these services are in design, content, and quality. Key findings from the exploratory literature review reveal that services are highly likely to fail to achieve their intended purpose or be abandoned when implementers ignore the literacy, skills, culture, and demands of the target users. This study recommends that, to enhance the sustainability of m-Agri services, the implementers need to design the services with the users involved, carefully analyse, and understand the target environment, and design for scale and a long-term purpose. While privacy and security of users need to be ensured, the reuse or improvement of existing initiatives should be explored, and projects need to be data-driven and maintained as open source. Thus, the study concludes that policymakers can support the long-term benefit of m-Agri services by ensuring favourable policies for both users and implementers

Publication year: 
2020
Keywords: 
m-Agri services
cell phones
smallholder farmers’ livelihood
sustainability challenges
strategies for improvement
policy implications
Africa