An assessment of mobile phone-based dissemination of weather and market information in the Upper West Region of Ghana



View results in:
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-016-0088-y
DOI: 
10.1186/s40066-016-0088-y
Provider: 
Licensing of resource: 
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Type: 
journal article
Journal: 
Agriculture & Food Security
Number: 
8
Volume: 
6
Author(s): 
Etwire P.M.
Buah S.
Ouedrago M.
Zougmoré R.
Partey S.T.
Martey E.
Dayamba S.D.
Bayala J.
Publisher(s): 
Description: 

The rapid growth of mobile phones in Ghana has opened up the possibility of delivering timely and useful weather and market information to farmers at costs lower than traditional agricultural extension services. In this paper, we assess the usefulness, constraints, and factors likely to influence farmers’ decisions to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information. The study rely on primary data from 310 farmers in the Upper West Region, an understudied part of Ghana. First, it is modeled farmers’ decision to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information by estimating a binary logit model. Second, the study use descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing to analyse the level of usefulness of mobile phone-based weather and market information. The authors disaggregate the analysis by sex, income status, and age group. Finally, we use qualitative analysis to summarize the constraints associated with the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information

Publication year: 
2017
Keywords: 
agricultural extension
Binary logit
Esoko
Ghana
mobile phone
Weather and market information