Addison Monica, Bonuedi Isaac, Arhin Albert Abraham, Wadei Bernice, Owusu-Addo Ebenezer, Fredua Antoh Ernestina, Mensah-Odum Nathaniel
Bureau of Integrated Rural Development (BIRD), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2024 Mar 12;10(6):e27541. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27541. eCollection 2024 Mar 30.
With the government's pursuit of a digitalization agenda, Ghana is at the forefront of championing digital transformation in Africa. However, people in rural areas are being left behind in harnessing the immense benefits of digitalization for their livelihoods. This study contributes to policy efforts aimed at bridging that gap by investigating the drivers of agricultural digitalization (AD) as well as its effects on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 525 rural farmers across northern, middle and southern Ghana was employed. The study used the probit and tobit estimators to analyze the drivers and intensity of adoption of digital technologies in agriculture and the inverse probability weighting and regression adjustment estimator to mitigate endogeneity concerns. The results show that while female farmers trail male farmers in the intensity of applying digital technologies, higher educational attainment, better perception of digitalization, group/cooperative membership, number of economically active household members, and access to reliable electricity, internet and mobile money services significantly promote the use of digital technologies in agricultural activities. The results further show that AD is significantly associated with perceived improvements in livelihood assets, and ultimately livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. These findings highlight the importance of investing in rural digital infrastructure by policymakers, the private sector and other stakeholders, so as to expand access to and the uptake of digital technologies in agriculture to bolster rural development in Ghana.
随着政府推行数字化议程，加纳处于非洲倡导数字转型的前沿。然而，农村地区的人们在利用数字化为其生计带来的巨大好处方面却落在了后面。本研究通过调查农业数字化（AD）的驱动因素及其对加纳农村小农户生计的影响，为旨在弥合这一差距的政策努力做出了贡献。采用了对加纳北部、中部和南部525名农村农民进行的横断面调查数据。该研究使用概率单位和托比特估计量来分析农业中数字技术采用的驱动因素和强度，并使用逆概率加权和回归调整估计量来缓解内生性问题。结果表明，虽然女性农民在应用数字技术的强度上落后于男性农民，但更高的教育程度、对数字化的更好认知、团体/合作社成员身份、经济活跃家庭成员数量以及获得可靠的电力、互联网和移动货币服务，显著促进了数字技术在农业活动中的使用。结果还表明，农业数字化与加纳农村小农户生计资产的感知改善以及最终的生计成果显著相关。这些发现凸显了政策制定者、私营部门和其他利益相关者投资农村数字基础设施的重要性，以便扩大农业数字技术的获取和采用，促进加纳农村发展。
