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

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

Blessing Maumbe (Bindura University of Science Education, Zimbabwe)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-101-6.ch506

Abstract

The rapid diffusion of mobile and wireless technologies is transforming agricultural development globally. In South Africa, rural e-government service delivery has been hampered by low Internet penetration. Mobile government offers a promising alternative to deliver public services to remote rural communities. In this regard, the author examines the potential of mobile and wireless technologies to deliver value-added services to rural communities in South Africa. An implementation framework comprising a multi-functional agro-portal and mobile agriculture services is proposed. The benefits and barriers of using mobile and wireless technologies in rural areas are examined, while key considerations and policy implications for mobile agriculture are discussed. The author advocates the development of “value-based” and “demand-driven” mobile agriculture services for the future growth and survival of mobile agriculture, which requires greater competition among service providers, use of multi-lingual e-content, integration of indigenous knowledge, mobile agriculture curriculum, mobile cyber-security, and customized value-added services for rural communities.
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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).

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