Browsing by Author "Chikuni, T."

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Mobile phone based market information services and smallholder farmers' market participation in Lilongwe, Malawi
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2018) Chikuni, T.
This study analyses the effect of mobile phone based market information services (MIS) on smallholder farmers’ maize market participation in Lilongwe rural, Malawi using survey data sourced directly from 196 smallholder farmers. The study reveals insufficient evidence to suggest that existing mobile phone-based MIS in Malawi which entails users subscribing to short (text) message service (SMS) price alerts, influence smallholder farmers’ market participation decisions. Knowledge of prevailing prices is different from having the ability to take advantage of this information, and the average Malawian smallholder farmer often has no say in the prices they receive from vendors and lacks transportation to distant markets where prices may be better. Consequently, farmers with no access to alternative markets fail to improve their marketing outcomes. The findings of this study suggest that channelling government’s resources towards improving extension services and increasing farmers’ productivity are ideal ways to promote smallholder farmer market participation. The findings further suggest the need to integrate radio and mobile in agricultural market information services, and to provide farmers with information related to agricultural production in addition to market prices. A pertinent area for further research is to assess how to adapt the existing mobile phone-based MIS initiatives to the context of Malawi so as to bring about significant effect.