Access and use of agricultural market information by smallholder farmers: measuring informational capabilities
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
While farmers sell their crops, middlemen provide a linkage between them, markets and buyers. Middlemen have good knowledge of working conditions of markets and
have access to agricultural market information. Due to poor access to markets and
agricultural market information by smallholders, there is a feeling that middlemen
benefit more while farmers sell their crops. Good access to markets and market information may help farmers bypass middlemen while selling crops and thus benefit
more. Thus, it is best to improve the informational capabilities (ICs) of farmers in agricultural marketing. Thus, this research measured ICs of farmers accessing market
information, through a program NINAYO, while selling their crops. The research utilized the informational, psychological, social, and economic dimensions of the
empowerment framework in identifying capability indicators to formulate survey
questions. Data were collected from smallholders in six regions in Tanzania. The analysis utilized measures of life satisfaction and results showed that about half of the
variation in the dependent variable, satisfaction with capabilities, was explained by
the model. Backward elimination analysis confirmed that life satisfaction is multidimensional. Robustness test confirmed a positive relationship between satisfaction
and capabilities. Overall, results confirmed ICs are multidimensions, their improvement empowers farmers in agricultural marketing.
Description
Research article
Keywords
Agricultural market information, Capability approach, Information and communication technologies, Informational capabilities, Life satisfaction, Smallholder farmers
Citation
DOI: 10.1002/isd2.12134