Generational differences in determinants of awareness of information technology platform services among potato farmers in Nakuru County, Kenya

The depth of awareness stage of technology adoption significantly informs the likelihood of its uptake. More often, the service providers play a significant role in this stage. In Kenya, the government through information and communication technology (ICT) docket, formulated interventions to promote the use of ICT in various sectors as a way to achieve efficiency. Potato sector benefited from this initiative aimed at promoting adequate flow of information, which is often a major setback in many economic setups. This initiative led to development of information platforms through which farmers could access various agricultural information. Despite these efforts, potato production still lags behind, posing the question on the success of the awareness stage. Digital divide among user groups has often been associated with disparities in the use of ICT. While extant literature on ICT has indicated that youth are more receptive to the use ICT than the old, most of them have neglected the analysis on determinants of awareness between the two groups. The current study fills this gap by conducting an analysis on how determinants of awareness compare between the young and adult potato farmers from a 434-sample collected in Nakuru County. Results from a binary logit model showed a varying magnitude in the determinants; land size, membership to development groups and access to internet between the two groups of farmers. Public institutions and service providers of information platforms should understand and promote the dynamics of these factors in order to improve awareness of each group of potato farmers.