Mobile Agriculture in South Africa: Implementation Framework, Value-Added Services and Policy Implications

Introduction

The rapid growth in the use of mobile and wireless technologies (MWT) is transforming rural and agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). With an Internet penetration of only 10.8% (or 4.6 million users), South Africa’s e-government program faces major limitations and remains fragmented across provinces (ITU, 2009). The Government of South Africa (GSA) has been using information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance governance, socio-development, and public service delivery. The GSA has made e-government the centre-pivot for its public service delivery yet it still faces numerous obstacles. South Africa’s e-government program suffers from fragmentation across national and provincial departments and low rural penetration. Mobile government (m-government) offers a promising alternative to deliver public information and services to rural areas (Rao, 2006; Ntaliani, Costopoulou, & Karetsos, 2008). Consequently, attention is shifting toward using m-government to modernize public service delivery. M-government in agriculture (i.e., mobile agriculture) is a relatively new strategy for public service delivery to rural communities. Globally, m-government is still unfolding as new applications and user preferences emerge (Kuscu, Kushchu, & Yu, 2007; Germanakos, Samaras, & Christodoulou, 2007; Casalo, Flavian, & Guinaliu, 2007).