Adoption of ICT innovations in the agriculture sector in Africa: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

According to the latest World Economic Forum report, about 70% of the African population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. This makes agriculture a critical sector within the African continent. Nonetheless, agricultural productivity is low and food insecurity is still a challenge. This has in recent years led to several initiatives in using ICT (Information Communication Technology) to improve agriculture productivity. This study aims to explore ICT innovations in the agriculture sector of Africa. To achieve this, we conducted a SLR (Systematic Literature Review) of the literature published since 2010. Our search yielded 779 papers, of which 23 papers were selected for a detailed analysis following a detailed exclusion and quality assessment criteria. The analysis of the selected papers shows that the main ICT technologies adopted are text and voice-based services targeting mobile phones. The analysis also shows that radios are still widely used in disseminating agriculture information to rural farmers, while computers are mainly used by researchers. Though the mobile-based services aimed at improving access to accurate and timely agriculture information, the literature reviews indicate that the adoption of the services is constrained by poor technological infrastructure, inappropriate ICT policies and low capacity levels of users, especially farmers, to using the technologies. The findings further indicate that literature on an appropriate theoretical framework for guiding ICT innovations is lacking.