Determinants of ICT Adoption Among Small Scale Agribusiness Enterprises In Somalia

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can advance the Agricultural Business sector, particularly in a country seeking opportunities to explore the sector. There is evidence that ICT has made significant contributions to agribusiness because it allows enterprises to manage their operations, and it has major impacts on the business. However, the critical factors that motivate the adoption of new innovative technology by agribusiness enterprises are underexplored. The literature has indicated ICT adoption among small-scale agribusiness enterprises in Somalia is not fully understood. Nevertheless, this study addresses this gap by investigating the adoption of ICT among small-scale agribusiness enterprises in Somalia. The paper reports the use of the Technology, Organization, Environment (TOE) framework. An online survey has been conducted with random sampling for data collection, with 107 respondents. The respondents are from agribusiness staff and farmers from various agricultural companies in Somalia. After quantitative data analysis, the results indicated that relative advantage, complexity, top management support, and competitive pressure factors are significant contributors to ICT adoption in Somalian agribusiness enterprises, while ICT costs and vendor support are not significantly related to the adoption of ICT in agricultural business. This study concludes that ICT adoption in Somalia is inspired by insight and motivation rather than financial and external support. Understanding these factors leads to a better understanding of ICT adoption in Somalia. Additionally, it enriches the literature about the agriculture business on the African continent Keywords: Determinants, ICT Adoption, Agribusiness, Small Scale, TOE frameworkComment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Policy Issues of e-Commerce Technology Diffusion in Southeast Nigeria: The Case of Small Scale Agribusiness

The benefits brought about by the emergence of e-commerce, e-business and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) applications have not been fully explored in the developing economies of the world. The less developed economies are still struggling to catch up with ICT application as opposed to its heavy deployment in the developed economies. Empirical evidence suggests that ICTs and other related technologies are increasingly emerging in the communities of the developing economies such as Nigeria. Rural actors engaged in the Agricultural industries (Agribusiness) feel that the implementation of ICTs can influence the development of new business processes and the way existing processes are organised. In the Southeast of Nigeria, which is a typical example of a less developed community, the impact of e-business technologies has yet to be determined. This paper identifies two classical traditional agribusiness supply chains and hence reports on the impact of e-commerce technology diffusion along the equilibrium of the supply chains, focusing on the elimination of intermediary actors from the chain. It provides an assessment of the Governments’ policies and strategies on e-commerce adoption for the sustainability of small-scale agricultural businesses. The paper examines the politics surrounding ICT implementations by actors engaged in the agribusiness sector. This research has motivated The South East State Government, in collaboration with the Federal Government, to give closer attention to their earlier policy of making Nigeria an ICT-enabled country

Social Network Adaptation, a Panacea to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Innovation Diffusion: the Case of Small Scale Agribusinesses in Less Developed Countries

There is substantial research in the area of diffusion of innovation theory (DoI), and its application to information systems and information technology (IS/IT) innovation within organisations. However, scholars in recognition of the conceptual limitations of DoI, have called for the incorporation of certain aspects of social network theory (SNT) into DoI framework. In developing countries, one such justification for this theoretical stance is the fact that information communication channels through which technology innovation is diffused have been shown to substantially influence the rate of technology adoption. In this study, the author focuses on exploring how diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory underpinned by social elements can be used to develop and enable the effective diffusion of innovation among small scale agribusinesses in Nigeria. Data was obtained primarily through qualitative research (semi-structured interviews, document analysis and field notes/observation). Data analysis and coding was conducted using template analysis (Atlas.ti). The findings of the research suggest that an understanding of the conceptual basis of innovation is a major driver of successful innovation adoption

Determining ICT Use Level from Use Pattern: ICT Use Level of Malaysian Agribusinesses

The research was financed by Universiti Putra Malaysia (Putra Grant) No. GP-IPS/2014/9433928 (Sponsoring information) Abstract There has been a continuous commitment of policymakers in Malaysia to support information and communication technology (ICT) adoption in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). For these novel and innovative policy initiatives to be successful, an understanding of the SMEs’ ICT use pattern and use behaviour is required. In this study, the focus is upon the pattern of the use of ICT in agribusiness enterprises and the use level, which could explain the role that ICTs play in the performance (processing and production) of agro-based products by Malaysian agro-SMEs and give insight into the factors that influence their ICT use. The study adopted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and focused on model’s independent variable, i.e., ICT use. Using data obtained from randomly sampled 400 workers (both managers and employees) of 43 agribusiness enterprises that were also randomly selected, the study ran factor and descriptive analyses to determine the most important items in the questionnaire that determine the ICT use level in the scale. The findings have shown that the prevalent patterns of ICT use among the agro-SMEs are in entrepreneurial (organisational) business communication and product processing and production line, though the use of ICT in the latter purview was rather still low. Some recommendations for policy-makers and a suggestion for future research were provided. Keywords: Agribusiness Enterprises, ICT use behaviour, ICT use level, ICT use pattern, SME

Exploring digitalization in the agricultural industry: barriers, enabling factors, and impact of digital technologies adopting

Digital transformation (DT) changes business organizations by intro- ducing innovations in all sectors, including agriculture. Organizations in the ag- ricultural industry have been implementing DT for different forms of innovation. As a result, over the years, several studies explored the adoption of digital tech- nologies in the agricultural industry, mainly focusing on the practical and applic- ative side of digital technologies and exploring single cases in which DT contrib- utes to organizational and operational change. A holistic perspective of DT in the agricultural industry is still lacking in the literature, and barriers, enablers, and findings of DT in agriculture are not present in the literature. In this paper, we present the results of a literature review to identify barriers, enabling factors, and findings of DT in the agricultural industry

Factors Influencing ICT Usage Among Malaysian Small and Medium Agribusinesses: Conceptual Framework and Structural Model

Information and communication technology (ICT) adoption studies have identified ICT as a tool capable of spurring innovative business development in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) if used wisely. Adopting the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model approach with adjustments by integrating two externally derived constructs (SME Managerial Creativity and SME Organisational Size as predictors), this study investigated factors that influence ICT usage among Malaysian agro-based SMEs. A pre-tested survey instrument consisting of 132 items was administered to 400 purposively selected workers from 43 agro-based SMEs that were randomly selected at Selangor. The study was aimed to identify the predominantly used ICTs by the agro-based SMEs in their businesses, to determine factors that influence ICT usage among the agro-based SMEs and to determine the relationship between the six predictors: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, SME organisational size and SME creativity and innovativeness and the dependent variable: ICT usage. Objective 4 was to determine the moderating effect of gender, age and experience on the relationship. Factor analysis was run to reduce the voluminous data; a new, robust model was designed using Structural Equation Modelling. The study concludes that integrating firm and management characteristic constructs into UTAUT model provides a scale capable explaining ICT usage behaviour of Malaysian agro-based SMEs better. Keywords: Agribusinesses, Agro-based SMEs, ICT Usage, SME Management Characteristics, SME Organisational Size, UTAU

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains

Strategic Women Empowerment through ICT Innovation Adoption: Case of Smallholder Rice Farmers in Nigeria

This paper summarizes the experiences of rice women farmers in Nigeria who were directly and indirectly affected by the bio-fuel and solar energy system projects under the much touted agricultural transformation agenda (ATA) initiated by the current Nigerian government. However, some of these women suffered displacement because their rice farms were converted to the government’s green energy project sites. Others were humiliated by flood that washed away their farm land. Although the flood issue was attributed to climate change impact, a gender issue was still raised because these rural poor women could not raise their voice even to express their opinion and neither were they compensated for their farm land. The study capitalized on the economic, social, political and cultural implication of such displacement and conducted a situational analysis of how these women rice farmers whom some of them are not even formally educated are using mobile phones and some who are literate enough were signing up on the internet for email communication and social networking. This was done in order to demonstrate how such technologies can be used to facilitate wider audience communication and also registering their opinion in the public domain. Findings of this study support the result of similar studies in other countries where gender issues were raised towards unfriendly government policies. It shows that adoption of such ICT components was not only part of women empowerment strategy; rather it further opened a window for capacity building towards green econom

ES Adoption in Chinese SMEs: Policy Effects on Users and Providers

The main literature on Enterprise Systems (ES) focuses on large Western firms and has resulted in theoretical models to explain adoption, largely from the perspective of the adopting company. In contrast ES research, and in particular on SMEs in China, is limited. This research examines ES engagement in Chinese SMEs from the joint perspectives of both the SME and the ES technology provider in the context of government policies. The research is based on four cases in Shenzhen, PRC and an extended analysis of relevant government policies at central and local levels. Using King et al’s (1994) institutional analysis it argues for the need of theory to specifically recognise institutional policies. It recognises also, however, that the problems of policy implementation are significant and suggestions for practice are offered

STRATEGIZING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ICT-RELATED INNOVATIONS ADOPTION: MODERATING INFLUENCE OF GENDER, AGE AND EXPERIENCE

The rapid advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) has brought huge entrepreneur benefits and challenges. A key challenge that has been less researched is the demand for skilled manpower in relation to the issue of the role employees’ age and gender play in driving SMEs’ ICT-related innovations adoption. This paper attempted to determine the moderating role of three important workers’ demographic characteristics (age, gender and experience) on the use of innovations related to ICT by SMEs. Adopting the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) perspective, a questionnaire was designed and administered to 400 employees selected from 43 SMEs in the Malaysian state of Selangor. The results of multiple regression analysis indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions all have significant impacts on ICT-related technology innovations adoption (ICTRIA) while the moderator analysis confirmed that the two gender categories, different age groups and different experience levels have specific moderating influence on the relationship paths between the four predictors and technology innovations use. Novel findings show that performance expectancy and social influence are more salient for older female and younger female workers to run jobs related to ICT innovations use in the firm respectively