[kictanet] New Research Paper - What really impedes the scaling out of digital services for agriculture?

Fri Jan 21 09:51:08 EAT 2022

Dear Benson,

Thanks for your very thoughtful comments (as usual).

A similar study in other regions with developing countries would definitely
be useful. This is only the first study so even similar studies in Western
Africa and Southern Africa might unearth new angles. I'd expect the
underlying structure to be maintained or confirmed but the observable
variables may vary by region and domain context. The issue of trust is
worth highlighting as you have done. It came up qualitatively in our study,
as a manifestation of the "*service value proposition*" dimension with
sentiments about credibility of the value offerings. It was also aligned to
the measured item of "*the value they offer is not convincing to their
customers*".

Thanks for the note on the study respondents. Our definition of "likely
users" meant respondents already using some form of digital service for
agriculture. It was quite natural to exploit the growth in numbers and
activity-intensity among agriculture themed social media groups in Kenya.
Interestingly, this phenomenon was far more developed in Kenya than in
Ghana and Nigeria - the next most advanced digital agriculture ecosystems.
For sure it would be interesting to compare the findings of a similar study
that differs by targeting respondents who are not already using digital
agriculture services.

Potentially unfair dominance by Safaricom is indeed a concern and a
regulatory issue. Other studies eg. Birner et al. (2021)
<https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aepp.13145>raise a flag on
potentially unfair dominance of digital agriculture by agricultural inputs
manufacturers - as was expected with Bayer's acquisition of Climate
FieldView. Existing Tech giants are also coming in strong as with Microsoft's
work
<https://www.cioafrica.co/ministry-of-agriculture-together-with-microsoft-demonstrate-enhance-digitises-agriculture/>
with our Ministry of Agriculture. I'd be concerned mostly if it is a trend
of undermining the prospects of growth for innovative local startups.

Thanks again Benson for weighing in.

Kind regards

On Thu, 20 Jan 2022 at 13:51, Benson Muite via KICTANet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Bw. Kieti,
>
> Asante. A comparison with Asia and South America would be quite
> interesting. Live streaming seems to be quite popular in China [0][1] -
> where it seems that "naomba serikali isadie"[2] is not the way to do
> things. The cost of communication relative to typical annual incomes is
> also lower.
>
> The issue of raising trust levels is also important to enable digital
> transactions.  A traditional solution, hawalas existed before the
> internet enabling commerce over very large distances, so technical
> issues are not the only problem.
>
> The response rate is relatively low, 887 responses from 300,000 likely
> users, though the group sizes have changed since 2019[3][4]. SMS seems
> to be useful for conducting surveys and engaging farmers[5][6].
>
> For online surveys, might it be possible to engage directly with farmers
> groups that do not just exist online if online groups with a high level
> of engagement do not exist? One could consider medium size farmers in
> the grain sector, for example through the East African Grain Council[7],
> or dairy farmers through the Kenya Dairy Farmers Federation[8]. These
> might get higher relative response rates, though would still not reach
> many of the smaller farmers for which SMS and radio would be more
> effective, as an example in Ethiopia, many chicken farmers have a mobile
> phone and a radio[9].
>
> Finally, efforts such as DigiFarm are nice. If DigiFarm succeeds at the
> same level as MPESA, there is the worry that the same entity controls
> both the network infrastructure for communication as well as the digital
> service, squeezing out other possible innovators such as Twiga Foods. .
>
> [0]
>
> https://www.alizila.com/taobao-helping-farmers-reap-gains-in-livestream-boom/
> [1]
>
> https://www.alizila.com/alibaba-agriculture-festival-ushers-in-harvest-season/
> [2]
>
> https://janelubale.blogspot.com/2014/01/naomba-serikali-asaidie-i-am-pleading.html
> [3] https://www.facebook.com/groups/254019644745036/
> [4] https://www.facebook.com/groups/291955461617527
> [5]
>
> https://www.iica.int/en/press/news/brazil-first-latin-american-country-slated-benefit-agricultural-digital-solutions
> [6] https://precisiondev.org/where-we-work/kenya/pad-lab/
> [7] http://eagc.org
> [8] https://www.kdff.co.ke
> [9] https://data.ilri.org/portal/dataset/acggethbaselinepublic
>
> On 1/18/22 9:21 AM, Ali Hussein via KICTANet wrote:
> > Hi John
> >
> > Thanks for sharing. Looks like an interesting read.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > *Ali Hussein*
> >
> > Fintech | Digital Transformation
> >
> >
> > Tel: +254 713 601113
> >
> > Twitter: @AliHKassim
> >
> > Skype: abu-jomo
> >
> > LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
> > <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim><
> http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
> > mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
> > organizations that I work with.
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 10:10 AM John Kieti via KICTANet
> > <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>>
> > wrote:
> >
> >     Hello Listers,
> >
> >     Allow me to bring to your attention our new research paper, peer
> >     reviewed and published in the  new Smart Agricultural Technologies
> >     journal. The title is: *What really impedes the scaling out of
> >     digital services for agriculture? A Kenyan users’ perspective
> >     <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375522000016
> >.
> >     *The paper, attached, can be shared freely on CC BY basis.
> >
> >     In summary, the study sought conceptual clarity on barriers to the
> >     success of digital services for agriculture as deployed by Startups,
> >     NGOs, Government etc. We examined the latent structure and patterns
> >     of association among such impediments as mentioned in the literature
> >     and perceived by end users. Quantitatively and qualitatively, we
> >     ascertained a three-factor structure comprising */(1) Technology
> >     Accessibility/* /- digital skills, internet, devices, electricity
> >     .../ /*(2) Service Discoverability - *awareness, collaboration,
> >     one-stop-shop ..., / and*(3) Service Value Proposition */*-
> >     *usability, relevance, service affordability... /According to the
> >     study, the success of digital services for agriculture in Kenya (and
> >     similar services or similar settings) boils down to how
> >     practitioners and policy makers optimize interventions around these
> >     three dimensions. Discoverability and Value proposition co-varied
> >     more than with technology accessibility as they are more in the
> >     purview of the digital service provider (than technology
> >     accessibility). We also proposed a scale for measuring the
> impediments.
> >
> >     We argued that public policy, one of our qualitatively generated
> >     themes, was indirectly covered in the three dimensions of the
> >     structure (that it is not necessarily a fourth dimension).
> >     Confirming or disconfirming this bit about public policy may be a
> >     topic for further research. Curious to know what KICTANET listers
> >     think of this ...
> >
> >     My co-authors were Prof. Waema, Dr. Baumüller, Prof. Ndemo, & Dr.
> >     Omwansa
> >
> >     Kind regards
> >     --
> >
> >     John Kieti
> >     Whatsapp: +254-735-764242
> >     Twitter: @johnKieti <https://twitter.com/johnkieti> // LinkedIn:
> >     https://ke.linkedin.com/in/*kieti* <https://ke.linkedin.com/in/kieti
> >*
> >     *Blog: https://kieti.org <https://kieti.org>
> >
> >     The ordinary just won't do
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> KICTANet is a multi-stakeholder Think Tank for people and institutions
> interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. KICTANet is a
> catalyst for reform in the Information and Communication Technology sector.
> Its work is guided by four pillars of Policy Advocacy, Capacity Building,
> Research, and Stakeholder Engagement.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
> KICTANet - The Power of Communities, is Kenya's premier ICT policy
> engagement platform.
>

-- 

John Kieti
Whatsapp: +254-735-764242
Twitter: @johnKieti <https://twitter.com/johnkieti> // LinkedIn:
https://ke.linkedin.com/in/*kieti* <https://ke.linkedin.com/in/kieti>
Blog: https://kieti.org

The ordinary just won't do
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