eAgriculture research network : effectiveness of ICT-based interventions in linking African farmers to markets; technical report

Abstract

Poor access to market information is an important impediment to the commercialization of smallholder agriculture in Africa. Yet, progress in agriculture is content upon farmer access to efficient input and output markets. Attempts to improve smallholder farmer access to efficient markets have recently shifted to the use of ICT-based interventions. A scoping study commissioned by IDRC found widespread use of ICT-based applications in agriculture. As a follow-up of IDRC study, the proposed study aimed at developing a research proposal that would systematically analyze the existing ICT-based interventions to determine what works and what does not in the context of smallholder agriculture...