Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya

This paper presents the findings of a Rapid Appraisal (RA) study that was undertaken with 28 farmer trainers (FTs) to assess the use of the Short Message Service (SMS) in accessing agricultural information. The study was conducted in Kaptumo and Olkalou in Kenya. The study used RA tools that include...

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Autores principales: Kirui, Josephine, Kiptot, Evelyne, Maritim, Wesley, Wafula, Sylvia, Ngaina, Joshua, Kugonza, Jane
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: World Agroforestry Centre 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171008
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author Kirui, Josephine
Kiptot, Evelyne
Maritim, Wesley
Wafula, Sylvia
Ngaina, Joshua
Kugonza, Jane
author_browse Kiptot, Evelyne
Kirui, Josephine
Kugonza, Jane
Maritim, Wesley
Ngaina, Joshua
Wafula, Sylvia
author_facet Kirui, Josephine
Kiptot, Evelyne
Maritim, Wesley
Wafula, Sylvia
Ngaina, Joshua
Kugonza, Jane
author_sort Kirui, Josephine
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper presents the findings of a Rapid Appraisal (RA) study that was undertaken with 28 farmer trainers (FTs) to assess the use of the Short Message Service (SMS) in accessing agricultural information. The study was conducted in Kaptumo and Olkalou in Kenya. The study used RA tools that included discussions with key informants and semi-structured interviews guided by a checklist. The data and subsequent analysis revealed that all FTs owned mobile phones and were able to read and write text messages. English was the popular language among FTs in SMS usage (90% preference over other languages). The results further showed that information contained in text messages could be made useful immediately as all FTs read SMS received before the day ended. Additionally, the study indicated that FTs received agricultural text messages from fellow FTs (100% in Olkalou and71.4% in Kaptumo), service providers (50% in Kaptumo), extension workers (71.4% in Kaptumo), and local administration (78.6% in Kaptumo). The study further revealed that FTs occasionally share the text message information that they receive with other farmers. These findings point to the fact that the use of mobile phone technology is widely used by farmers to access and share agricultural information. Policy makers and extension service providers need to embrace this service so that farmers can access agricultural information in a timely and cost-effective manner.
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spelling CGSpace1710082025-12-08T10:29:22Z Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya Kirui, Josephine Kiptot, Evelyne Maritim, Wesley Wafula, Sylvia Ngaina, Joshua Kugonza, Jane agricultural extension information and communication technologies mobile phones This paper presents the findings of a Rapid Appraisal (RA) study that was undertaken with 28 farmer trainers (FTs) to assess the use of the Short Message Service (SMS) in accessing agricultural information. The study was conducted in Kaptumo and Olkalou in Kenya. The study used RA tools that included discussions with key informants and semi-structured interviews guided by a checklist. The data and subsequent analysis revealed that all FTs owned mobile phones and were able to read and write text messages. English was the popular language among FTs in SMS usage (90% preference over other languages). The results further showed that information contained in text messages could be made useful immediately as all FTs read SMS received before the day ended. Additionally, the study indicated that FTs received agricultural text messages from fellow FTs (100% in Olkalou and71.4% in Kaptumo), service providers (50% in Kaptumo), extension workers (71.4% in Kaptumo), and local administration (78.6% in Kaptumo). The study further revealed that FTs occasionally share the text message information that they receive with other farmers. These findings point to the fact that the use of mobile phone technology is widely used by farmers to access and share agricultural information. Policy makers and extension service providers need to embrace this service so that farmers can access agricultural information in a timely and cost-effective manner. 2015 2025-01-29T12:57:35Z 2025-01-29T12:57:35Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171008 en Limited Access World Agroforestry Centre Kirui J, Maritim W, Kiptot E, Wafula S, Ngaina JN, Kugonza J. 2015. Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya. ICRAF Working Paper No. 206. Nairobi, World Agroforestry Centre. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5716/WP15691.PDF
spellingShingle agricultural extension
information and communication technologies
mobile phones
Kirui, Josephine
Kiptot, Evelyne
Maritim, Wesley
Wafula, Sylvia
Ngaina, Joshua
Kugonza, Jane
Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya
title Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya
title_full Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya
title_fullStr Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya
title_short Mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers: a case study of Olkalou and Kaptumo in Kenya
title_sort mobile phone ownership and use of short text message service by farmer trainers a case study of olkalou and kaptumo in kenya
topic agricultural extension
information and communication technologies
mobile phones
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171008
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