Assessment of the Used Mobile Applications by Small-Scale Farmers at Miono and User Requirements in the Present and Future Mobile Apps

Abstract

The revolution of smartphone usage in agriculture by small-scale farmers has improved productivity by establishing a reliable agricultural knowledge information system. Despite the development achieved by the smartphone in agriculture, information on how the applications improve the farming value chain is still very scanty. Consequently, this study set out to assess the currently used application technologies by small-scale farmers at Miono to upgrade the user requirements for present and future applications. The study applied qualitative interview and observation approach in collecting data and thematic analysis to analyze the data. Results show that farmers at Miono used messaging applications, call applications, calculator apps and clock applications the most. On the other hand, the farmers rarely used WhatsApp, Facebook, email applications, and photo apps. Thus, for real present and future development, farmers need upgraded apps that disseminate information on local pests, pesticides, weather forecasts, and market information.