MIS adoption and its effects on the technical efficiency of agribusiness firms in Cameroon

This paper intends to determine the factors influencing the adoption of Management Information Systems (MIS) as well as the effects such systems have had on the technical efficiency of agribusiness firms in Cameron. 183 MIS users and 300 non-users were sampled through a multistage sampling procedure. An Ordered Logit model was employed to show that the user’s level of satisfaction, the purchase price of equipment and technological performance all have a positive effect on MIS adoption. Conversely, fear of change in firm management, access to government regulations, and complexity of MIS equipment discour- age the adoption of MIS. The Cobb-Douglas stochastic production function meanwhile revealed that ICT expense, firm size and number of customers were positively significant for the revenue of MIS users. For MIS non-users, ICT expense, firm size and quantity purchased also had a positive significance for revenue. However, the average technical efficiencies were 0.96 and 0.55 for MIS users and non-users, respectively, meaning that MIS users were far more technically efficient than MIS non- users. Also, the Tobit regression model on MIS users revealed that MIS improved the technical efficiency of agribusiness firms adopting them. This study therefore recommends that agribusiness firms in Cameroon invest in MIS; moreover, they should encourage its adoption by training their staff in how to use it optimally

Evaluating demand side factors that affect institutional credit use and profitability of small-scale growers of roots and tubers: evidence from Cameroon's South West region

In this study, demand-side variables affecting the use of institutional finance with small-scale growers of roots and tubers profitability in Cameroon’s southwest are investigated. Using a multi-step stratified and straightforward random sample process, 837 respondents were chosen. In study was found that as farm size grows, so does the likelihood of loan need. A farmer with more years of farming expertise has more opportunities to use and demand finance. Credit institutions are more willing to lend to couples because they believe they will be able to repay the loans collectively. Educated farmers are certain that using borrowing to grow their investment will yield output that will cover their loan repayments due to their knowledge of production processes and record keeping. Further, the profitability of institutional credit users for cassava, cocoyam, and yam was higher than that of non-users of institutional credit. New techniques for identifying financially disadvantaged rural poor in the Region should be created by focusing on metrics that would increase the efficiency of entrepreneurs and take them closer to the production frontier. One of these solutions may be for the government to encourage microfinance institutions to lend to businesses in the form of inputs rather than cash