THE IMPACT OF ICT USE ON MARKETS ACCESSIBILITY OF SMALL HOLDER VEGETABLES FARMERS – CASE OF ARUSHA AND MERU DISTRICTS

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of ICT use towards the markets accessibility of Smallholder vegetable farmers. The study aimed to accomplish three specific objectives which were to evaluate the contribution of e-market systems on small-holder vegetables farmers' access to markets, to examine the Impact of Cold chain Information system (CCIS) in reduction of post-harvest loss in vegetables crops, and to identify the impact of Social Media use to small-holder vegetables farmers’ access to markets. Primary data for the research was acquired through questionnaires, focus group discussion and interviews whereas secondary data was gathered from books, journals, research papers and past dissertations. 4C’s Theory, Cold chain distribution system model, and Transaction Cost Theory guided this study. The study included 117 respondents obtained by purposive sampling and the study was conducted in Arusha and Meru district. The study used quantitative and qualitative research approaches in data collection and they were analysed by the use of descriptive and content analysis methods respectively. The research findings indicated that the emarket system has a large impact on market access costs. With the assistance of a market information system, farmers can be mobilized in terms of collective market access. Farmers will not benefit from market access for vegetables that is not linked by a cold chain system. The farmer will continue to incur losses as a result of selling their products at low prices due to depreciated quality, i.e., postharvest losses. Farmers can access market information more quickly using social media than they could using traditional methods of accessing markets. The major recommendations of the study include, District Councils and other stakeholders should promote the use of ICTs in order to improve market information accessibility. The District Council should provide basic ICT educational training to farmers and other actors in the vegetable value chain. The cold chain system should be incorporated when building the e-market system, which will make it more efficient in farmers to access markets.