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East African Scholars Journal of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Abbreviated Key Title: East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci
ISSN 2617-4472 (Print) | ISSN 2617-7277 (Online)
Published By East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya
Volume-3 | Issue-6 | June-2020 | DOI:10.36349/EASJALS.2020.v03i06.020
*Corresponding Author: Md. Sadekur Rahman 154
Research Article
Utility of Mobile Phone Usage in Agricultural Information
Dissemination in Bangladesh
Md. Sadekur Rahman1, Md. Enamul Haque2, Md. Safiul Islam Afrad3
1PhD Fellow, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur-1706 and Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension,
Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur, Bangladesh
2&3Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur-1706, Bangladesh
Article History
Received: 14.05.2020
Accepted: 05.06.2020
Published: 08.06.2020
Journal homepage:
http://www.easpublisher.com/easjals/
Quick Response Code
Abstract: The mobile phone as an enabling tool for communication and
accessing information is gaining popularity in many developing countries. The
different uses of mobile phones have brought revolutionary changes in
agricultural communication. The present review paper mainly focuses on the
status of mobile phone scenario in Bangladesh and the different usages and
constraints in disseminating agricultural information to farmers. Having
observed the positive trend of mobile phone usage, little rural-urban gap and
appreciable gender gap found in Bangladesh compared to some other
developing countries. Main usages that influence the use of the mobile phone as
to weather forecast, access to market information, pest and disease information,
consulting with extension workers and financial transactions in many
developing countries. The review also points out some challenges such as
unavailability of electricity, lack of knowledge and skill, high cost of mobile
phones and network problems concerning the usage of mobile phones. These
issues need urgent attention to policymakers so that people can fully exploit the
use of the mobile phone for better access to agricultural information.
Keywords: Mobile phone, agriculture, information, usages, constraints.
Copyright @ 2020: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-NC) provided the original author and source
are credited.
INTRODUCTION
Information and communication technologies
(ICT) especially the mobile phone has enormously
entered every arena of our life such as education,
health, business, commerce, and agriculture. A mobile
phone is a portable communication device connected to
a wireless network that allows the user to make voice
calls, send a text message and run applications (Sharon,
2008). It is one of the most widespread information
technology across the world, including in developing
countries (Furuholt & Matotay, 2011). The majority of
people of these countries have access to mobile phones
than to older technologies like telephone landlines,
newspapers, and radio (Zewge et al., 2015). Recently,
mobile phone-based communication has become the
most used communication media among all ICTs. A
recent statistics revealed that an estimated 4.68 billion
population worldwide already owns a mobile phone
(Statista, 2019).
In Bangladesh, according to BTRC
(Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission.), the total number of mobile phone
subscribers has reached 164 million at the end of
October 2019. This rapid growth of mobile phones has
emerged as a successful communication tool that has
transformed the working style of many sectors and also
created new professional dimensions in various
businesses including agriculture (Sullivan & Omwansa,
2013; Asongu & Asongu, 2018).
Nowadays, agriculture itself is changing and
changing the quantity and nature of farmers'
information needs. In this changing context, agricultural
production can only be increased if appropriate
technologies are used by the farmers. An increased
agricultural production act as a development engine for
rural people might have also contributed to the
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 155
economic development of the country. In connection to
this, the adoption of modern technologies by the
farmers is essential (Asif et al. 2017). To bring
substantial development in the agricultural sector,
access to timely, reliable, and relevant agricultural
information is critical (Kaske et al., 2018). Information
is also regarded as a factor of production such as land,
labor, and capital (Rao, 2007). However, the farmer
uses a variety of information sources in getting
agricultural information whose majority are outmoded,
less accurate or from unreliable sources. Due to a lack
of access to correct and timely market price
information, they are often unable to transport and sell
their products at higher prices. In the agricultural
context, the mobile phone can help to overcome these
information gaps which even available in the remotest
locations (Miller et al., 2013).
Additionally, the mobile phone has also
empowered the farmers to communicate from local to
administrative levels regarding the agricultural trade,
information exchange, and marketing of their farm
commodities (Ogutu et al., 2014). It also reduces the
traveling cost, as well as the production efficiency of
the farming communities, living in the remote area.
Flexibility, affordability and user-friendly nature as
compared to other ICT tools are the main reason for its
diffused into underdeveloped farming communities
(Osabutey & Jin, 2016). Farm people need to be
connected with the greater communication network for
increasing their access to “just” and “timely”
information for bringing desired socio-economic
development.
Usually, farm advisory services through
conventional extension methods require a large number
of extension agents (Faostat & Production, 2016).
However, the current ratio of extension agents cannot
satisfy the information needs of the farming
communities (Baloch & Thapa, 2014; Aker, 2011). The
proportion of extension workers and farmers' families is
1: 2500 in Bangladesh (DAE Manual, 2018). Moreover,
the lack of resources and poor infrastructure also creates
a huge asymmetry communication between modern
agricultural knowledge and farmers (Baloch & Thapa,
2014). The argument that “communication technologies
are the future of agricultural extension and countries
cannot afford the cost of face to face extension
anymore” because the cellular phone has the potential
to replace the face to face extension system (Aldosari et
al., 2017). Therefore, mobile phones can meet most of
the basic needs of farming communities by allowing
two-way communication between farmers and service
providers (Aker, 2011).
By and large, the widespread expansion of
mobile phones into rural areas has created an
opportunity for receiving agricultural information by
the farmers while they are confronted with many
challenges about usage. It is important to note that
there are several studies have been conducted on the use
of the mobile phone for accessing agricultural
information over the world while only a few review
work has been done related to this. Therefore, it can be
an opportunity for other researchers who will study
related to this title as a reference and the university
organize document that can serve as a guideline in the
future. Also, it can indicate directions and supply
information for further research, extension and
development efforts for different organizations whose
main concern with agricultural information by mobile
phone in general. Therefore, given the observed state of
affairs in the utility of mobile phone usages in the
present paper aims to address the following objectives:
• Overview of the status of mobile phone penetration in
Bangladesh
• Explore the usages of mobile phone in accessing
agricultural information
• Assess the challenges and constraints faced in mobile
phone usage in accessing agricultural information
METHODOLOGY
The scientific approach requires a close
understanding of the subject matter. This paper mainly
depends on secondary information. Different published
reports mainly provided input used for this paper. Thus,
this paper is completely a review paper. Therefore no
specific method has been followed in preparing this
paper. It has been prepared by internet search,
comprehensive studies of various articles published in
the different thesis, journals, books and proceedings
available in the libraries of BSMRAU, HSTU in
Bangladesh. Several relevant books and articles have
been sourced through extensive searches in for example
the Google Scholar and advice from my academic
supervisor at BSMRAU, Professor Dr. Md. Enamul
Haque. Valuable information has also been collected
through personal contact with respective resource
personnel to enrich the paper. After the collection of all
the related information, it was compiled and logically
presented in the present form.
REVIEW OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Status of Mobile phone penetration scenario in Bangladesh
Mobile devices are now a fixture of modern
life. People without access to mobile devices are
severely limited in their ability to participate in the full
spectrum of today’s economic and societal activities. In
this context, the following figure 1 showed the global
unique mobile subscribers and mobile internet users all
over the world according to GSMA (Global System for
mobile communication Association) intelligence survey
2019. This figure showed that by the end of 2018, 5.1
billion people around the world subscribe to mobile
services, accounting the 67% of the global population.
But the speed of growth is slowing assuming that an
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 156
average annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.9% between
2018 and 2025 will bring the total number of mobile
subscribers to 5.8 billion (71% of the population). On
the other hand, the connectivity to mobile internet users
by the end of 2018, 3.6 billion which will be 5.0 billion
in 2025 and the average annual growth rate 4.8% (67%
of the population). Findings revealed that the mobile
subscriber increasing day by day and mobile internet
users’ trends shows the stimulating adoption of mobile-
based services and solution (for example agriculture,
healthcare, education) that aim to improve the
livelihood in lower-middle-income countries for
sustainable livelihood improvement.
Adapted from: GSMA Intelligence, 2019
Figure 1. Global mobile subscribers and mobile internet users snapshot
Furthermore, a snapshot of the status of the mobile
market in Bangladesh is shown in Figure 2. The
research conducted by Mike Rogers 2018 on Country
overview: Bangladesh Mobile Industry driving growth
and digital inclusion published by GSMA intelligence.
Findings reveled that, by the end of 2017, 85 million
around the country subscribe to mobile services,
accounting the half of the total population. The
cumulative annual growth rate of 3% in between 2017
and 2025 will bring the total number of mobile
subscriber to 107 million (60% of the population). In
addition, the connectivity of mobile internet services by
2017 was 35 million i.e. 21% of the total population.
The CAGR of 10% between 2017 and 2025 will bring
the total mobile internet subscriber 73 million (41% of
the total population). From the finding it is revealed that
the increasing rate of adoption is a positive sign of
accessing information through mobile phone over the
country.
Adapted from: Rogers, M, 2018
Figure 2. Bangladesh: Mobile market snapshot
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© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 157
However, the mobile subscriber dynamics are
interesting phenomena in Bangladesh which are
presenting in Figure 3. The research conducted by
Rogers, M (2018) on Country overview: Bangladesh
Mobile Industry driving growth and digital inclusion
published by GSMA Association. Findings demonstrate
in figure 2 shows that the unique subscriber penetration
level rising just over 1% in 2003 to more than half of
the population at the end of 2018 which is the evidence
of the rapid adoption of mobile services in Bangladesh.
In 2025, the mobile subscriber will bring the total
number of 107 million (60% of the population). In
addition, the connectivity of mobile internet services by
2017 was 35 million i.e. 21% of the total population. In
2025 the mobile internet subscriber will bring a total 73
million (41% of the total population). From the finding,
it is revealed that mobile phone users increasing
dramatically over the country. The positive perception
shows that it is a unique communication tool of today’s
life
2 Adapted from: Rogers, M, 2018
Figure 3. Mobile subscriber dynamics in Bangladesh
The increasing rate of subscribers shows that people are
using a mobile phone for accessing various information
in the rural and urban areas for getting useful services
provided by different organizations. The subscriber
dynamic pattern represent the information accessing
through mobile is crucial for future development of
Bangladesh. The increasing rate of subscriber shows the
people are using mobile phone for accessing various
information in rural and urban area for getting useful
services provided by different organization. The mobile
subscriber increasing rate shows the improvement of
different sector like agriculture, industry and services
which contribute in national economy of Bangladesh.
Source: BTRC, 2019
Figure 4. Mobile phone operator and subscriber in Bangladesh (Up to October 2019)
Grameen Phone
Ltd. (GP), 76.067
Robi Axiata
Limited (Robi),
48.349
Banglalink Digital
Communications
Limited, 35.049
Teletalk
Bangladesh Ltd.
(Teletalk), 4.706
MOBILE SUBSCRIBER (IN MILLIONS)
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 158
According to BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission.) 2019, the total number of
mobile phone subscribers has reached 164.170 Million
at the end of October, 2019. Figure 4 indicates that, the
mobile operator Grameen Phone has highest subscriber
approximately 76% of the total subscriber followed by
Robi (48%), Banglalink (35%) and Teletalk (4%). In
this finding subscriber means the biometric verified
subscribers/subscriptions who have any activity (voice,
data, sms etc.) at least once in the preceding 90 days
(BTRC, 2019). Though the subscriber is 164.170
million at present here but the one single individual
may use three to four SIM card for easy connectivity
and to make the call rate cost effective. In this reason
the whatever the number of subscriber vary but the
increasing rate of subscriber shows the people are using
mobile phone for accessing various information in rural
and urban area for getting useful services provided by
different organization. The mobile subscriber increasing
rate shows the improvement of different sector like
agriculture, industry and services which contribute in
national economy of Bangladesh.
Adapted from: Rogers, M, 2018
Figure 5. Sector wise contribution of GDP (percentage) in Bangladesh
In fact, from the same study of GSMA conducted by
Rogers, M (2018), it is also revealed that the economy
of Bangladesh shifting from agriculture to
manufacturing and services. Figure 5 shows the sector
wise contribution of GDP (Gross domestic product)
revealed that the 15% GDP down from 18% in 2010
while in industry sector, 29% of GDP up from 26% in
2010. The services sector contribute 56% of GDP in
2016. Although, the contribution of GDP in agriculture
sector decreasing day by day but the country has made
good progress in ensuring self-sufficiency in cereal,
fish and livestock production which meet the demand of
the people. The country has gained significant success
in agriculture, achieving third fastest growth in
vegetable production, fourth position in rice production,
third in fish production from inland water bodies, fifth
in aquaculture production and seventh position in
mango production in the world. The country is now
self-sufficient in rice and fish production. This
improvement might be due to the adoption of modern
technologies through access of up to date agricultural
information from credible sources.
Comparison of mobile phone use status of
Bangladesh with some developing countries
A survey conducted by LIRNEasia (Learning Initiatives
on Reforms for Network Economies Asia) 2018 and
published a report title After Access: ICT access and
use in Asia and the Global South. In this series of
surveys, they examine how individuals in 18+ countries
of the Global South access and use ICTs. Adapted from
that report the author himself purposively prepares
figure 6 from the reported figure highlighting the status
of his country (Bangladesh) comparing with four Asian
and six African countries exception Myanmar. Figure 6
shows that mobile phone ownership ranged from the
lowest of 57% (Pakistan) to the highest 74%
(Bangladesh) among the four Asian countries. At the
same time, among the eight African countries the
lowest mobile phone ownership in Rwanda (50%), the
smallest African countries and highest in Kenya (87%)
which is very close to South Africa. In all countries,
desktop and laptop computer ownership lagged far
behind mobile phone ownership. From the finding, it
revealed that presently Bangladesh makes good
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 159
progress in using mobile phones amongst the other
countries. This may be due to the political mandate of
the government like digital Bangladesh and Vision
2021 of the country. The other reason perhaps the target
of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for
which the government takes several initiatives to
achieve those goals through digitalization policies.
Adapted from: LIRNEasia, 2018
Figure 6. Status of mobile phone, Desktop/laptop ownership
From the same study the author make the graph
choosing the Asian and African countries on handset
type ownership to purposively highlight his country.
From the figure 7 shows that there are three types of
handset use over the world i.e basic phone, feature
phone and smart phone. Among the Asian countries the
smart phone user below 30% except Nepal (52%)
contrarily the highest smart phone user in South Africa
and lowest in Rwanda among the African countries.
Figure 7 revealed that the smart phone user is not upto
the mark in Bangladesh most probably due the
affordability and lack of operating skill and knowledge
towards smart phone. Though the mobile based services
is still not popular in this country so people are not well
acquainted about the efficacy of the smart phone but
the 77% people use the feature and basic phone for
accessing information.
Adapted from: LIRNEasia, 2018
Figure 7. Status of handset type owned in different countries
Moreover, the status of urban and rural mobile
ownership and their gap demonstrate in Figure 8 based
on the findings of LIRNEasia 2018. The figure
indicates that the majority of countries had an urban-
rural gap with rural areas of the country lagging behind
in mobile penetration (Figure 8). However, Pakistan
and Bangladesh had very small gaps, indicating that
rural dwellers are almost as likely to own a mobile
61% 57%
74% 72%
61%
87%
61% 65%
50%
75%
85%
6% 2% 4% 5% 2% 6% 4% 8% 2% 2%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Nepal
Myanmar
Kenya
Tanzania
Nigeria
Rwanda
Ghana
South Africa
Mobile phone Desktop/ laptop
55% 53% 40% 40% 42% 58% 66%
31%
66% 52% 34%
16% 25% 37%
8% 10%
14% 11%
46%
25%
14%
8%
29% 22% 23%
52% 48% 28% 23% 23% 9%
34%
58%
Basic phone Feature phone Smartphone
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 160
phone as urban dwellers. The other Asian countries had
considerable gaps of 15-22%, meaning that, in these
countries, rural dwellers were between 15 and 22
percent less likely to own a mobile phone than urban
dwellers. From this figure, it is found that there was a
little gap between the mobile phone user in rural and
urban areas lives in Bangladesh. The rural people are
also using mobile as the urban people for receiving
useful information from the agricultural source and
other purposes for their better livelihood.
Adapted from: LIRNEasia, 2018
Figure 8. Status of urban and rural mobile ownership
Although gender issues are one of the vital parts of
development and technology utilization. In the case of
mobile phone ownership according to gender, finding
revealed that the gender gap was highest in India (46%)
among the countries demonstrate. This indicates that
women are less likely to own a mobile phone than men
(Figure 9). Among the other Asian countries survey
reported that the gender gap found in Pakistan (37%),
Bangladesh (34%) and Nepal (19%) were followed by
Myanmar (28%), Cambodia (20%) and. Gender
inequality in mobile phone ownership remained a
problem in much of Asia and Africa. Figure 9 exposed
that there is ample scope of working with women for
using mobile phones for accessing information in
Bangladesh.
Adapted from: LIRNEasia, 2018
Figure 9. Mobile phone ownership according to gender
Mobile phone usage in accessing agricultural
information
Nowadays, mobile phones are an important and popular
means of communication for accessing agricultural
information. Looking at the use of mobile phones in
agriculture more specifically, Furuholt and Matotay
(2011) assessed how farmers took advantage of mobiles
throughout the farming cycle. Based on semi-structured
interviews with farmers and other informants in
Tanzania, they found that mobile phones affected all
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 161
stages of the cycle, including preparations, farming,
harvesting and post-harvesting (Table 1). The use of
mobile phone in accessing agricultural information
throughout the farming is very essential for farmers or
enterprise owner.
Table 1. Farmers’ response towards the farming activities and use of mobile phones
Period
Activity
Preparations
for farming
Coordinating labor pool (voluntary-based, family members and neighbours)
Collecting weather information
Investigating seeds prices
Preparation kraal manure for planting ( mainly used by the farmers in the area during planting)
Farming
period
Pooling of labor for cultivation and weeding
Organizing manure for use during planting
Collecting and exchanging rain information
Hiring/borrowing farming implements (e.g. hand hoes, ox plough, harrows etc.)
Investigating prices of tractors for cultivation
Ordering and hiring of oxen for cultivation
Collecting information about new types of seeds
Ordering seeds
Investigating per labor cost for cultivation and weeding in the neighboring villages
Organizing fertilizer
Collecting information about availability of extension officers and subsidized farm implements
from the local authorities
Coordinating information and deliveries of pesticides
Harvesting
period
Organizing and pooling of labour for harvesting
Arranging for storage equipment and warehouses/stores
Arranging for and ordering of preservative chemicals against mice and “scania”
Post-
harvesting
Organizing transport from the farms to warehouses (tractors or ox trailers)
(Marketing
and transport)
Calling market centers, traders, dealers and check prices and stocks of crops before settings deals
with middlemen/agents or deciding to travel to obtain better opportunities.
Calling for and ordering transportation to markets
Selling crops via mobile phone
Contacting distant families/relatives (for decisions and money transfers)
Adapted from: Furuholt and Matotay (2011)
Information is very crucial for farming. Mobile phone
facilitates the dissemination of information from
research and extension agencies to farmers. According
to Brugger, 20111. Looking at the use of mobile phones
in agriculture more specifically demonstrate in figure
10.
Adapted from: Brugger, 2011
Figure 10. Farmers’ information requirement offering opportunities for mobile phones
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© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 162
Finding in figure 10 revealed that from crop planting to
transportation there are a lot of activities mobile phones
had helped farmers to make a decision and raise
incomes by improving their ability to deal with risks
and take advantage of income opportunities. However,
several assessments concluded that mobile phones had
reduced search times and costs (Bayes et al. 1999;
Jagun et al. 2007; Overå 2006). However, Baumüller,
H. (2016) conducted a study on Agricultural service
delivery through mobile phones: local innovation and
technological opportunities in Kenya. It was observed
in the study that the author compiled several studies
summarized in Table 2 on the utility of mobile phones
in agriculture which is self-explanatory. The studies
have sought to outline the utility of mobile phones and
m-services to support agricultural production and
promote rural development (Aker, 2011; Donner, 2009;
Qiang et al., 2011; Vodafone Group and Accenture,
2011; World Bank, 2011) (summarized in Table 3).
Findings revealed that Better access to information,
markets and financial services are among the most
commonly cited uses of mobile phones in this sector.
Table 2. Studies on the utility of mobile phones in agriculture
Study
Mobile phones in agriculture
Qiang et al. (2011)
Accessing markets, disease and climate information
Accessing to extension services
Improving market links and distribution networks
Accessing finance, including credit, insurance and payment methods
Aker (2011)
Accessing information from private sources or through agricultural extension services
Better management of input and output supply chains
Facilitating the delivery of other services
Increasing the accountability of extension services
Increasing linkages with research systems
Vodafone Group &
Accenture (2011)
Accessing financial services
Obtaining agricultural information
Improving data visibility for supply chain efficiency
Enhancing access to markets
World Bank (2011)
Enhancing farm-level productivity
Accessing markets and value chains
Improving public services delivery
Donner (2009)
Mediated agricultural extension
Market information systems
Virtual markets
Financial services
Direct livelihood support
Source: Baumüller, H. (2016)
More specifically, Das et al., 2016 reported that in West
Bengal the farmers needed a wide range of information
through mobile phones. Table 3 reveals that the farmers
mostly needed information on weather forecasts and
market price and these were ranked as first opined by
the farmers. Further reported that the respondents also
needed information on ‘Use of inputs’, ‘Govt. Schemes’
and ‘Employment opportunities’ and they ranked it as
2nd and 3rd respectively. Weather information was
found to be crucial for most of the small farmers in her
investigation.
Table 3. Kind of information the farmers valued most through mobile phone in West Bengal
Type of Information
Importance of information
Excellent
Very good
Good
Average
Poor
Score
Rank
Weather forecasts
60
0
0
0
0
5
I
Labour
58
0
2
0
0
4.93
IV
Use of inputs
58
2
0
0
0
4.97
II
Harvesting & Storage
55
5
0
0
0
4.92
V
Market Price
60
0
0
0
0
5
I
Animal Husbandary
28
13
10
7
2
3.97
VI
Govt. Schemes
57
3
0
0
0
4.95
III
Cattle health
11
44
4
8
15
3.1
VIII
Vegetable, flower & fruit cultivation
35
4
5
9
7
3.85
VII
Excellent-5; Very good-4; Good-3; Average-2; Poor-1
Adapted From: Das et al., 2016
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© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 163
In another study in India, Mehta, B. S. (2016)
conducted a study on the impact of mobile phones on
the livelihood of rural People of Bihar (Figure 11).
Findings revealed that among the respondents, who
were involved in farming activities used their mobile
phones for agricultural purposes, mainly for crop
planting & other inputs, planting and growing stage of
crop, harvesting and trading at later stages. The finding
showed that the use of the mobile phone in agriculture
purposes for accessing this kind of information is highly
appreciable. The mobile phone helps the farmers for
collecting useful information regarding agricultural
activities and improve their socio-economic conditions.
Source: Mehta, 2016
Figure 11. Usage of Mobile Phones in Agriculture Production in Bihar India
Although, in Selangor, Malaysia, Ramli, et al., 2019
conducted a study on seeking agriculture information
through mobile phones among paddy farmers. The
findings (Table 4) revealed that among the information
items seeking through mobile phone nine items found
important. The paddy farmers give equal importance
based on the mean value for rice farming except for
marketing information. Obviously, pest control
information is very crucial for the paddy farmers but in
case of marketing information, the finding reported that
government organization facilitates farmers in
marketing their yields and thus farmers need not worry
about marketing information.
Table 4. Important agriculture Information seeking by the paddy farmers of Malaysia
Source: Ramli, et al., 2019
However, a number of studies have been conducted in
line with this. For instance, Alibu et al. (2016) found
where required information on pest control is ranked
first due to production constraint, information about
diseases ranked second, and information about weeds
ranked third. Furthermore, Babu et al., (2012) found
that the important information needs for rice farmers
were pest and disease management, pesticide, and
fertilizer application. In contrast, in Sub-Sahara Africa,
attention is given to mobile phone ownership and usage
for social and agricultural purposes. It provides
different avenues for the transfer of knowledge and
information among stakeholders of Agribusiness.
Ogbeide & Ele (2015) conducted a study on
Smallholder farmers and mobile phone technology in
Sub-Sahara Agriculture and investigates how much
farmers have applied this technology and the benefits
derived from it. From the study, the author determines
the uses of mobile phones for receiving agricultural
information in Nigeria presented in table 5. From table
5 the smallholders’ tested result on farmers’ use of a
mobile phone for agricultural purposes indicated that
the use of the mobile phone to access market
information and use a mobile phone for financial
transactions had found significant while the other three
uses had found non-significant. This is because the use
of a mobile phone to access market information and
financial transactions positively increases productivity
and facilitates better negotiation among smallholder
farmers, input suppliers, consumers and other
stakeholders.
64%
15%
13%
8% Crop planting & other inputs
Trading
Planting & growing
Harvesting, Packaing & Storage
Sl#
Items
Mean
S.D
1
Information on pest control
4.53
0.529
2
Farm safety information
4.52
0.515
3
Information on pesticide / weed
4.5
0.53
4
Information of paddy varieties
4.46
0.533
5
Information on agricultural practices
4.45
0.555
6
Crop production information
4.39
0.659
7
Information on loan / subsidy
4.39
0.565
8
Weather information
4.02
0.873
9
Marketing Information
3.71
1.222
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 164
Table 5. Uses of mobile phone for receiving agricultural information in Nigeria
Uses of Mobile Phone
Mean
Sd.
t - statistics
P-Value
Use a mobile phone to coordinate access to agricultural inputs
17.384
8.783
16.43
0.594
Use mobile phone to access market information
30.036
5.063
29.485
0.001
Use mobile phone for financial transactions
22.292
7.375
21.487
0.001
Use a mobile phone to seek agriculture emergency assistance
14.573
6.538
13.863
1
Use a mobile phone to obtain expert advice
17.486
8.119
16.602
0.512
Source: Ogbeide & Ele (2015)
These findings are in line with another similar study
which stated that farmers mostly rely on mobile-based
communications for their farm-related marketing and
financial matters (Masuka et al., 2016). In addition,
Kaske et al., (2018) conducted a study on mobile phone
usage for accessing agricultural information in Southern
Ethiopia.
Source: Kaske et al., 2018
Figure 12. Respondent reason for mobile calling in Ethiopia
The findings (Figure 12) showed that the majority (81.3
percent) of rural household heads made phone calls for
consulting with extension workers, followed by 78.4
percent for accessing the information on agricultural
inputs, 68.4 percent for seeking market information,
58.8 percent for getting agricultural emergency security
information and 32.8 percent for getting information on
financial transactions. The overall findings revealed that
respondents frequently communicated through mobile
phones for getting agriculture-related information. Khan
et al. (2019) carried out a study in Punjab, Pakistan
where they observed farmers’ mobile phone use
patterns. The result concluded that a majority of farmers
(73.3 percent) uses a mobile phone to contact family
relatives and friends rather than the least trend (26.7
percent) towards formal agriculture-related use (Figure
13).
Source: Khan et al., 2019
Figure 13. Farmers’ Mobile phone use pattern in Punjab, Pakistan
The higher trend of personal contact usage also
indicates that farmers share farm knowledge and
experience among their family, fellow farmers and
friend’s circles. This strong communication within the
close circle gives them a sense of security in terms of
farm knowledge exchange and access to required
information. Use of mobile phones for farm-related
purposes in which market information, weather
81.30% 78.40%
68.40%
58.80%
32.80%
Consulting extension
worker to get advice Accessing
information on
agricultural inputs
Attaining market
information Getting agricultural
emergency security
information
Getting information
on financial
transactions
12.60%
4.10%
1.90%
8.10%
73.30%
Market information (Input, sale etc.)
Expert opinion (public & pvt. Department/agency)
Accessing weather forecast
Farm related financial matters & transactions
Family relatives & friends
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 165
forecast, expert opinion and market information are
exchanged through these mobile phones. From the same
study according to Khan et al. (2019), it was also
observed that among the agricultural-related
information farmers’ accessed private agricultural
companies and their advisory staff more frequently as
compared to public sector advisory services (Figure 14).
It was also observed that the government sector’s SMS
and call helplines and advisory services through
extension agents are least accesses by the farmers. This
might be due to the lack of interest from the public
sector institutions and organizations in the use of ICT in
agriculture.
Source: Khan et al., 2019
Figure 14. Agricultural Information sources accessed by farmers using a mobile phone
There are a few numbers of research works conducted
on farmer's use of the mobile phone for accessing
agricultural information through mobile phones in
Bangladesh. Though, some selected works have been
presented below: Asif, et al. (2017) conducted a study
factor affecting mobile phone usage by the farmers in
receiving information on vegetable cultivation in
Bangladesh (Table 6). The results indicate that the
majority of the respondents (70 percent) belonged low
use of mobile phone category followed by the rest 30
percent belonged to the moderate use category while
none of the farmers are found under the high use of
mobile phone category. The study further reported that
though the use of the mobile phone is increasing with
each passing day, farmers in the study area have not
properly utilized mobile phones for getting information
on vegetable cultivation purposes.
Table 6. Overall mobile phone use categories of farmers in Mymensingh district
Characteristics
Farmer’s Categories (Scores)
No.
Percent
Mean
Sd.
Use of mobile phone
Low usage (up to 22)
49
70
21.19
2.683
Moderate usage (23-33)
21
30
High usage (above 33)
0
0
Total
70
100
Source: Asif, et al., 2017
Another study by Meem (2018) on the role of mobile
phone apps in agricultural activities in Nilphamari
districts of Bangladesh observed that women farmers
use mobile phones in getting various agricultural
information (Table 7). From her findings, it has been
observed that majority of the women farmers uses the
mobile phone to contact with extension worker and a
specialist to take advice about climate, disease and
insect control measures related suggestion. This might
be due to women farmers face problems mostly
regarding the disease of crops, livestock and fish
culture.
Table 7. Use of mobile phone by the women in agricultural activities in Nilphamari district
Sl. No.
Agricultural activities
RPS
Rank Order
1.
Identification of quality seed
189
4th
2.
Selection of crops
184
6th
3.
Land preparation and management
170
9th
4.
Determination of seed sowing time
191
3rd
5.
Determination of transplanting time
181
7th
6.
Intercultural operation
188
5th
7.
Climate and disease control measures
222
1st
8.
Harmful insect control measures
215
2nd
9.
Rearing of goat
160
10th
10.
Rearing of Cow
171
8th
Source: Meem, 2018 RPS= Role playing score
5.50%
6.70%
9.80%
1.80%
87.20%
33.50%
Livestock department helpline
Punjab Agri.SMS helpline
Govt. Agriculture Department helplines
Pvt. Helplines for farming solutions
Pvt.Agri. Companies/Pesticides dealers/staff
Govt. Agriculture officers/extension Agents
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 166
From the same study, she also observed the various
mobile phone apps which are most frequently used by
the women farmers. From her study, it also observed
that though the women farmers using different apps in
their mobile phone means in the study area women
farmers using the smartphone for receiving agricultural
information
Table 8. Rank order of mobile phone apps frequently used by the women farmers
Frequently used apps
No. of citation
Percent
Rank Order
Vutta (Maize) app
85
100.0
1
Krishoker janala
71
83.5
2
Krishi sheba app
65
76.5
3
Messenger
63
74.1
4
Play store
60
70.6
5
IMO
55
64.7
6
YouTube
48
56.5
7
Facebook
46
54.1
8
E-mail
42
49.4
9
Calculator
38
44.7
10
Source: Meem, 2018
From her findings (Table 8) it is seen that the ‘Vutta
(Maize) app’ (100.0 percent) was found as the most
used app and ranked 1st because the respondents are the
actual beneficiaries of the project. The Krishoker janala
app ranked 2 nd followed by the Krishi sheba app 3 rd
and lowest numbers of women farmers opined that they
did not use ‘Calculator’ (44.7 percent) app for
calculation they may use another means.
Challenges and constraints faced by the farmers for
accessing agricultural information through mobile
phone
Mobile phones have emerged as a truly pervasive and
affordable Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) platform in the last decade all over the world.
Though it is an emerging research area that faces a
variety of challenges and constraints due to the unique
features of the mobile phone as well as the changing
context (environmental issues).
Ogunniyi & Ojebuyi (2016) conducted a study on
mobile phone use for agribusiness by farmers in
Southwest Nigeria (Figure 15).
Source: Ogunniyi & Ojebuyi (2016)
Figure 15. Challenges face while using mobile phones for agribusiness in Nigeria
It was observed from the study that among the
challenges farmers faced using mobile phones for
agribusiness, epileptic power supply (29%) ranked
highest followed by poor network signal (23%) and
unfamiliarity with the phones’ features (16%). Other
challenges were poor internet connectivity (13%);
unavailability of phones’ accessories (11%) and
inaccessibility to recharge vouchers (8%) (Figure 15).
29%
23%
16%
13%
11%
8%
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 167
Similar findings also observed from Burrell (2010) on
the effective use of mobile phones depends largely on
the availability of electricity. In addition, Abebe &
Mammo (2019) carried out a study on factors affecting
the use of information and communication technologies
for cereal marketing in Ethiopia. Findings (Table 9)
revealed that the highest number of farmers face
difficulty in charging and repairing mobile phones due
to the unavailability of electric power. The secondary
challenge was the cost of a mobile phone (cards,
charging and repairing). Other challenges included a
lack of knowledge and skills for operating mobile
phone applications also faced by the farmers for
retrieving information.
Table 9. Challenges in using mobile phone for cereal marketing in Ethiopia
Challenges in using mobile phone
Number
Percent
Mobile network problems
52
34.7
Lack of knowledge and skill for operating mobile phone applications
71
47.3
Language barriers
33
22
Poor quality battery
14
9.3
Lack of availability of electrical power
82
54.7
Cost of mobile phone(cards, charging)
79
52.6
Economically unable to buy a mobile phone
18
12
Source: Abebe & Mammo (2019)
However, it was revealed in the study (Table 10) carried
out by Nyamba (2017) that poor connections between
stakeholders limiting the use of mobile phones to
communicate agricultural information in Tanzania
which is some extent different from the previous
findings. The findings are in line with reported by
Shaffril et al. (2010) and Samah et al. (2011) that lack
of linkage among stakeholders has made farmers
reluctant to use advanced technology in accessing
agricultural information.
Table 10. Constraints of using mobile phones to communicate agricultural information
Response
Frequency
Percent
Poor linkages among knowledge intermediaries
230
95.8
High mobile phone purchase and running cost
195
81.5
Lack of awareness
80
33.5
Inappropriate subject content
45
18.8
lack of access to information sources
44
18.3
Low digital literacy among mobile phone users
43
17.9
Lack of trust in SMSs
35
14.6
Poor network signals
26
10.8
Poor rural electrification
13
5.4
Source: Nyamba, (2017)
Further, findings of the research conducted by Khan et
al., 2019 also reported certain interesting limitations in
the use of mobile phones among the farmers in Punjab
(Table 11). It was shown that two major constraints
“problems in understanding the information through
robocalls” and “limited aptitude of cell phone use (calls
only) which contain the highest mean value of 4.02 &
4.12. These findings are in line with the other studies
which have also indicated digital illiteracy among the
major constraints of mobile use among the farmers
(Osabutey & Jin, 2016; Surabhi & Mamta, 2016; Saroj
et al., 2017). The other constraints in using cell phones
found similar to the previous study.
Table 11. Constraints in the use of cell phone among the farmers in Punjab
Constraints
Mean
SD
Problems in understanding information through robocalls (no clarification if any doubt arises)
4.02
2.23
Limited aptitude of cell phone use (calls only)
4.12
1.93
lack of electricity supply for charging mobile
3.27
2.14
Non-availability of area-specific information from private/public (helplines, call centers, etc.)
3.04
2.01
Lack of financial resources to spend money on phone calls
2.21
1.87
High charges on internet services
1.73
1.63
Poor network access
1.3
1.03
Source: Khan et al., 2019
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 168
In the case of Bangladesh, Huda et al. (2017) conducted a study on the effect of mobile phone technology in small farm
productivity in Nilphamari districts (Table 12). He observed the different problems faced by the women farmers in using
mobile phones.
Table 12. Problems faced by the farmers in using mobile phone in Nilphamari District
Problems in using mobile phone
Respondents
number
percent
Lack of adequate training about internet browsing
26
52
Lack of proper knowledge regarding mobile operation
20
40
Less availability of electricity facilities
15
30
Call rate is higher
12
24
Adapted from: Huda, et al. 2017
The study revealed that a majority of the women (52
percent) found lack of adequate training about internet
browsing followed by (40 percent) women faced lack of
proper knowledge regarding mobile operation and (30
percent) women had less availability to electricity
facilities and (24 percent) women opined that the call
rate was higher. However, Asif, et al. (2017) also
conducted a study on factors affecting mobile usages by
the farmers in receiving information on vegetable
cultivation in Bangladesh (Table 13). From the
findings, it is seen that a lack of servicing center is a
severe problem and ranked first because it makes
difficult for the user to repair or if they face any
problem using a mobile phone. They further reported
that most of the servicing centers are located in the city
and far from the rural area. Expensive mobile set and
electricity problems are also found 2nd and 3rd ranking
problems opined by the farmers in that area. Network
problem. The technical problems of the phone and
unexpected calls are seen as less problematic to
farmers.
Table 13. Constraints of using mobile phone by the vegetable farmers in Bangladesh
Source: Asif, et al., 2017 PCS= Problem confrontation score
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the findings and their logical
harmonization the present paper makes the following
conclusions:
1. The mobile phone has become a widely accepted
means of delivering information in developing
countries. In Bangladesh, mobile phone ownership
is in a positive trend, the rural and urban usage is
appreciable while the gender gap is quite
satisfactory compared to some other Asian and
African countries. With the increasing trends of
mobile phone users globally, the lower number of
mobile internet users is lagging far behind from the
advantages of mobile-based services and solutions.
2. Farmers use mobile phones for many reasons in
accessing agricultural information. The common
usages of mobile phones for the weather forecast,
access to agricultural inputs, pest and disease
control, access to market information, consulting
with extension workers and financial transactions
have been highly welcomed by the farming
populace in many developing countries.
3. There are some constraints and challenges that
farmers confronted in using mobile phones. These
are commonly ranged from the unavailability of
electricity, lack of operational knowledge and skill,
high cost of mobile phone and network coverage
problem in most of the developing countries. In
Bangladesh, particularly the rural people have been
mostly reported to encounter difficulties in internet
browsing, higher call rate and electricity facilities.
Constraints
Number of respondents indicating
constraints
PCS
Rank order
High
Moderate
Low
Not at all
Lack of servicing center
38
32
0
0
178
1
Expensive mobile set
15
47
8
0
147
2
Electricity problem
19
30
21
0
138
3
High cost of repairing
8
48
14
0
134
4
Mobile phone operating problem
9
31
27
3
116
5
Short length of battery charge
7
28
35
0
112
6
Network problem
0
33
35
2
101
7
Technical problem of phone
0
31
36
3
98
8
Unexpected calls
0
5
30
35
40
9
Rahman et al., East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; Vol-3, Iss- 6 (June, 2020): 154-170
© East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya 169
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