Are rural smallholders ready for agricultural digitalization? Farmer (In)competencies and the political economy of access in digital agricultural extension and advisories in Northern Ghana

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Tropical Agricultureen_US
cg.contributor.donorInternational Development Research Centreen_US
cg.coverage.countryGhanaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2GHen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionWestern Africaen_US
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierAbdul-Rahim Abdulai: 0000-0003-4699-2407en_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.4324/9781003282075-13en_US
cg.isbn9781003282075en_US
cg.subject.actionAreaSystems Transformationen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatAGRICULTUREen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatCAPACITY DEVELOPMENTen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatECONOMICSen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatEXTENSIONen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatGOVERNANCEen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatPOLICYen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatSMALLHOLDER FARMERSen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food securityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 1 - No povertyen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 4 - Quality educationen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 8 - Decent work and economic growthen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 10 - Reduce inequalitiesen_US
dc.contributor.authorAbdulai, Abdul-Rahimen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-05T08:27:46Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-06-05T08:27:46Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/144990en_US
dc.titleAre rural smallholders ready for agricultural digitalization? Farmer (In)competencies and the political economy of access in digital agricultural extension and advisories in Northern Ghanaen_US
dcterms.abstractDigitalization and digital agricultural extension and advisories are heralded to transform the conditions of smallholder farmers by increasing access to practical knowledge and information. However, critical questions on inclusivity and inaccessibility for farmers persist. This chapter uses a mixed-method approach—surveys of 386 farmers and three focus groups—in Northern Ghana to examine the barriers to farmers' utilization of digital agricultural extension and advisories and the underlying political-economic drivers. Farmers perceived the lack of digital literacy as the main barrier, as most of them do not have 'the ability to' undertake basic tasks, such as Internet browsing, following Interactive Voice Response, using a computer, social media, and sending short message services. The chapter argues that the lack of (digital) literacies results from deeply rooted political and economic structures in educational inequities that create literacy divides among farmers. Ultimately, the lingering digital illiteracy and divide undermine smallholders' access—ability to benefit—and power to influence digitalization futures. Thus, this chapter questions the inclusivity of digital agricultural extension and advisories and calls for matching digitalization processes to the realities of farmers by focusing on advisories that require minimal digital competencies and incorporating digital literacy/training programs into interventions. This work empirically contributes to the nascent agricultural digitalization literature as it critically positions the challenges to inclusive digitalization within broader political-economic structures dictating digital inequities.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsLimited Accessen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationAbdulai, A. (2024) Are rural smallholders ready for agricultural digitalization? Farmer (In)competencies and the political economy of access in digital agricultural extension and advisories in Northern Ghana. In: Chowdhury, A.; Gow, G.A. (eds.) Digital communication for agricultural and rural development. London (UK): Routledge. p. 175-192. ISBN: 9781003282075en_US
dcterms.extent175-192en_US
dcterms.issued2024-04-30en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseAll rights reserved; no re-use alloweden_US
dcterms.publisherRoutledgeen_US
dcterms.subjectdigital extension toolsen_US
dcterms.subjectdigital technologyen_US
dcterms.subjectghanaen_US
dcterms.subjectagricultural extension systemsen_US
dcterms.typeBook Chapteren_US

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