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State of Agricultural E-Government Services to Farmers in Tanzania: Toward the Participatory Design of a Farmers Digital Information System (FDIS)

Author

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  • Gilbert Exaud Mushi

    (Centre Universitaire D’Informatique (CUI), University of Geneva, 1227 Geneva, Switzerland
    Department of Informatics and Information Technology (DIIT), Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro 3038, Tanzania)

  • Pierre-Yves Burgi

    (Division Sytéme et Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo

    (Centre Universitaire D’Informatique (CUI), University of Geneva, 1227 Geneva, Switzerland)

Abstract

The projected population increase and drastic climate changes are a great setback to food security through sustainable agriculture. However, governments need to play key roles in supporting the agriculture sector, which creates considerable employment and contributions to most countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) outcomes. In many countries, the governments already support the agriculture sector with services based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to reach many stakeholders, including smallholder farmers. This paper investigated the status of e-Government services in the agriculture sector for farmers in order to understand the functions and scope of e-services, the challenges faced by farmers, both addressed and unaddressed, and the challenges of ICT-based services for farmers and other stakeholders in Tanzania. We used a qualitative research approach to interview the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers, extension workers, and agriculture processing industries. The main finding reveals that e-government services play a major role in the agriculture sector in Tanzania. Our results show that the pre-existing ICT services identified for farmers cannot meet the needs of farmers in a complete farming cycle. Moreover, lack of awareness, digital illiteracy, and poor infrastructure are the major challenges faced by farmers and other stakeholders when it comes to ICT-based services. These results justify the need for a comprehensive digital platform, particularly the proposed Farmers Digital Information System (FDIS) to enable farmers and other stakeholders to access essential services in a complete farming cycle for a more sustainable agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Exaud Mushi & Pierre-Yves Burgi & Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo, 2024. "State of Agricultural E-Government Services to Farmers in Tanzania: Toward the Participatory Design of a Farmers Digital Information System (FDIS)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:3:p:475-:d:1357843
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiaowen Dai & Yi Chen & Chunyan Zhang & Yanqiu He & Jiajia Li, 2023. "Technological Revolution in the Field: Green Development of Chinese Agriculture Driven by Digital Information Technology (DIT)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Johansen, Elias, 2023. "A Study of the Impacts of E-Governance on the Economy, Trends, and Perspective," MPRA Paper 116884, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Zou, Baoling & Mishra, Ashok K. & Luo, Biliang, 2018. "Aging population, farm succession, and farmland usage: Evidence from rural China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 437-445.
    4. Bethuel Kinyanjui Kinuthia, 2020. "Agricultural input subsidy and farmers outcomes in Tanzania," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-149, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Guancheng Guo & Qiyu Wen & Jingjuan Zhu, 2015. "The Impact of Aging Agricultural Labor Population on Farmland Output: From the Perspective of Farmer Preferences," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2015, pages 1-7, October.
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