Mobile Phones Usage in Improving Access to Cotton Seeds: A Case of Sengerema District, Mwanza Region

Abstract

Technological change and adoptability is a fundamental phenomenon from one stage to another. Usually the change to be a change should be demarcated and differentiated from the previous situation as compared to the present situation. The study has identified the value of prompt dissemination of cotton farming practices information in recent years with the aid of mobile phones as a tool for sophisticating farming processes. The major focus was on the application of mobile phones in communication and payment modalities of information between cotton farming stakeholders to speed up the process. The conclusion of the study was based on the data gathered through questionnaires from four hundred (400) cotton farmers in Sengerema District. It was observed that, despite of many people having mobile phones of different nature, they mostly use them to share common information and contributes very minimal on farming practices. Therefore, this study has identified such weaknesses and suggested best practices of using mobile phones among cotton stakeholders in both information dissemination and payment systems. In short, the use of mobile phones in cotton farming practices helped vigorously in spreading information and payments related to agriculture, eventually resulted into good quality and quantity of cotton output. Key Words: Mobile phones, Technology, Cotton farming, Information