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Analysing the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the integration of East African farmers in a value chain context

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  • Krone Madlen

    (Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Albertus Magnus Platz, 50923 Cologne, Germany)

  • Dannenberg Peter

    (Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Albertus Magnus Platz, 50923 Cologne, Germany)

Abstract

Insufficient access to markets, limited financial transactions, and a lack of information and knowledge often restrict opportunities for small-scale farmers to link up with commercial value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially mobile phones and the internet, have expanded the possibility to communicate across geographical distances and to integrate into commercial value chains. By using a novel combination of conceptual considerations on ICTs, value chains, and relational proximity, this paper assesses: 1. How the use of ICTs affects the integration of small-scale farmers into the value chains (by analysing the information and knowledge flow, the financial and market transactions) and 2. to what extent the use of ICTs is on the other side influenced by the value chain context (i.e. the structure and coordination of the chain and the relational proximity between farmer and buyer). Our findings showed that even simple ICTs (phones) can lead to improvements for farmers to integrate into the chain as they facilitate simple information and complex knowledge flow, financial transactions, and market access, even though a greater structural transformation was absent. However, our results showed that the extent of the effects depends on the context in the value chains, in particular their structure, coordination, and the relational proximity between the actors. In this way, this paper contributes to the conceptual discussions on information and communication for development (ICT4D) and the dynamics in value chains.

Suggested Citation

  • Krone Madlen & Dannenberg Peter, 2018. "Analysing the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the integration of East African farmers in a value chain context," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 62(1), pages 65-81, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:zfwige:v:62:y:2018:i:1:p:65-81:n:6
    DOI: 10.1515/zfw-2017-0029
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    Cited by:

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    2. de Vries, Jasper R. & Turner, James A. & Finlay-Smits, Susanna & Ryan, Alyssa & Klerkx, Laurens, 2022. "Trust in agri-food value chains: a systematic review," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 26(2), November.
    3. Thonipara, Anita & Sternberg, Rolf G. & Proeger, Till & Haefner, Lukas, 2020. "Assessing the Digital Divide and its Regional Determinants: Evidence from a Web-Scraping Analysis," ifh Working Papers 25/2020, Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen (ifh), revised 2020.
    4. Zhixin Wang & Zhenyu Qi, 2021. "Analysis of the influences of ICTs on enterprise innovation performance in China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 474-478, March.
    5. Fuchs Martina, 2020. "Does the Digitalization of Manufacturing Boost a ‘Smart’ Era of Capital Accumulation?," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 64(2), pages 47-57, June.
    6. Anita Thonipara & Rolf Sternberg & Till Proeger & Lukas Haefner, 2023. "Digital divide, craft firms’ websites and urban-rural disparities—empirical evidence from a web-scraping approach [Digital Divide, Websites von Handwerksunternehmen und städtisch-ländliche Disparit," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 43(1), pages 69-99, April.

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    Keywords

    Africa; ICT4D; mobile phones; relational proximity; value chains;
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