Exploring the impact of agricultural digitalization on smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in Ghana
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Heliyon
Abstract
pioning digital transformation in Africa. However, people in rural areas are being left behind in
harnessing the immense benefits of digitalization for their livelihoods. This study contributes to
policy efforts aimed at bridging that gap by investigating the drivers of agricultural digitalization
(AD) as well as its effects on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. Data from a
cross-sectional survey of 525 rural farmers across northern, middle and southern Ghana was
employed. The study used the probit and tobit estimators to analyze the drivers and intensity of
adoption of digital technologies in agriculture and the inverse probability weighting and
regression adjustment estimator to mitigate endogeneity concerns. The results show that while
female farmers trail male farmers in the intensity of applying digital technologies, higher
educational attainment, better perception of digitalization, group/cooperative membership,
number of economically active household members, and access to reliable electricity, internet and
mobile money services significantly promote the use of digital technologies in agricultural ac tivities. The results further show that AD is significantly associated with perceived improvements
in livelihood assets, and ultimately livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in rural Ghana.
These findings highlight the importance of investing in rural digital infrastructure by policy makers, the private sector and other stakeholders, so as to expand access to and the uptake of
digital technologies in agriculture to bolster rural development in Ghan
Description
This article is published by Heliyon, 2024 and is also available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27541
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Citation
Heliyon 10 (2024) e27541