Mobile Telephony in The Agricultural Sector - Case Study Example

Comprehensive Analysis of Mobile Telephony in the Agricultural Sector Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction and Overview 3-4 Company Background 4 Description and Analysis of Mobile Telephony 4-7 Recommendations 7-9 Conclusion 9 References 10 Executive Summary Agriculture is definitely one of the major income sources for poor people living in the rural areas and economically beneficial globally (Tuteja et al, 2012). It constitutes about 70 percent of employment for the people living in these areas. However, farmers in these areas usually have difficulties accessing information that is vital in this thriving agricultural sector. Some of the technologies and farming information that rural farmers are unable to access include: planting information, weather forecasts and market prices among others. This important agricultural information remains a critical issue in this sector mainly in the developing countries. Therefore, mobile telephony technology can be adopted by an agricultural organization due to the various reasons from the analysis be discussed below. The paper will seek to analyze mobile telephony technology in the agricultural sector. Introduction and overview Mobile telephony in the agricultural sector can be defined as a process through which farming information services is provided to farmers. This information is provided to farmers who have access to mobile phones. Relevant information provided to farmers include: weather forecasts, product market prices, farming techniques and farming information in general (Rouvinen, 2006). In the process of analyzing agricultural mobile telephony, it is important to know: its advantages, disadvantages, impacts and usage. To begin, Agricultural mobile telephony services is a very easy tool to use and has greatly transformed the operation between producers and consumers globally. In order for a farmer to use this technology, a mobile phone is needed. The mobile phone must first of all be connected to a terrestrial network to enable communication. Moreover, internet accessibility by these phones usually plays a vital in providing additional information. To start using the service, one is required to subscribe to the agricultural service on their mobile phones. For example, a farmer can send the word ‘agriculture’ to a number like 211 in order to gain access to the variety of services provided. The farmers can then go ahead and choose their area of specialty. Company Background Since agriculture accounts for a large employment population in the rural sector, an agricultural company can effectively use this technology to address various issues that faces the rural agricultural sector such as poor farming methods. The company can benefit from this technology economically in form of investments because of the various advantages that comes with it. For example, the use of this mobile telephony technology would have positive results in terms of high market prices and delivery of quality results. Description and Analysis of Mobile Telephony Agricultural mobile telephony has various advantages. From research conducted, agricultural mobile telephony technology has had various positive impacts to the farmers and government their respective governments. Reduction in information costs, increase in farmers’ incomes, agricultural market efficiency and reduction in transport costs are among the positive incomes of mobile telephony technology. Income of farmers who use mobile telephony technology has increased over the past years. This has been achieved through increased yields found from better farming methods. In this type of technology, farmers access important information from their mobile phones upon request about farming techniques. For example, in India, mobile telephony is widely used by farmers. A farmer gains access to variety of professional farming information that is provided via text. In addition, farmers have significantly raised their incomes through access of better markets for their products using this type of technology (Ferero, 2013). Mobile telephony technology gives farmers a variety of viable markets. This means they can look for the best market price for their products using this technology. Reduced information costs are another advantage associated with this technology. Mobile telephony technology improves agricultural produce by reducing information costs associated with it (ICT in Agriculture, 2012). Normally, there are various costs present in the agricultural chains. Transaction and operation costs are some of the expenses normally incurred by farmers. Mobile telephony ensures most of these costs are significantly reduced. For example, this technology relieves farmers from harvesting and processing costs. Once the farmers’ crops have yielded, they can sell their products directly to buyers when still in the farm. Therefore, this technology greatly reduces their transaction costs. Moreover, the technology saves the farmers form costs they would incur going to seek for professional advertise from agricultural experts (Ferero, 2013). Reduction in transport cost is also another advantage of this type of technology. There is no cost incurred by a farmer in form of transport in order to inquire information about the market prices, agricultural farming methods or weather patterns. This is possible since the farmer accesses information directly from his or her phone. For example, an onion wholesaler would access all the information he needs concerning the market trends of his product by using this technology. Therefore, mobile technology is significant in areas that are geographically complex and extensive. On the other hand, mobile telephony technology has various cons. One main disadvantage of this technology is that it is not effective in areas that farmers are illiterate. This side effect is mainly experienced in the under developed and developing countries. This is because the technology involves an application that requires literacy by the person using it. Therefore, it cannot be used by people who are very illiterate. Technological errors are also another main disadvantage of mobile telephony technology (Tuteja et al, 2012). Virtually every technology is prone to errors and this technology is no exception. Some of the technological errors that can be experienced in this type agricultural technology include: wrong information about the type of fertilizer to be used on a certain crop, overrated or understated market prices. To expand on this, a farmer can inquire about the onion farming but be given information about cabbage farming. This wrong information can lead to serious loses to the farmer in terms of product yield. Lack of internet access could also be another demerit of mobile telephony technology. In most rural areas, internet access is usually very limited. For farmers to acquire additional and informative informing about agricultural farming, it is necessary that they have access to the internet. This means farmers in remote areas where there is no internet access are disadvantaged. Additionally, lack of timely access to information can also be a disadvantage to the farmers. When farmers get information inquired late, it contributes to poor yields since such information will not have been used on time. Therefore, as much as the mobile telephony technology has positive outcomes, it also faced with various challenges as discussed above. Mobile telephony technology has various impacts. Environmental, economic and social issues are some of the impacts associated with this technology. Environmental impacts relate how the mobile technology affects the surrounding. These impacts can either be positive or negative. Concerning the environment, mobile telephony technology has various positive impacts which include: access of information by a large group of people and better farming methods among others (ICT in Agriculture, 2012). To begin, this type of technology enables a variety of farmers to access the services offered. This means that in a society where people value their well being, they would take initiatives to inform themselves of the importance of such technologies. Hence, the mobile telephony technology positively impacts the environment. Additionally, the technology positively impacts the environment by providing better farming methods to farmers. It enables farmers to gain access to the exact type of farming technique required for the proper growth of crops planted by farmers. This means improved farming methods leads to realization of good yields for farmers. On the other hand, this technology can negatively affect the environment when farmers get the wrong information on issues such as product market prices for their crops. Therefore, this technology is environmentally sound for farming. Recommendations Economically, the technology plays a very important role to both the local consumers and their respective governments. When there is realization of high and quality yields in a country’s agricultural sector, economic growth will be realized due to various reasons. Firstly, product market prices will be high since goods will be of good quality hence an economic boost to the government. Attraction of investments is also another means in which mobile telephony technology can be of economic benefit. Investment opportunities are secured with the production of quality products that can be imported The (World Bank, 2012). This means the government will economically benefit from finances brought in by investors. Therefore, usage of this technology is beneficial to economical boost of any country considering the fact that agriculture forms the backbone of many countries. Moreover, mobile telephony technology in the agricultural sector has social impacts too. Social impacts relate to appropriate norms such as good interpersonal relationship practiced by various members of the society. Since the technology can be embraced by any farmer in the society, good farming methods will be encouraged. From the above discussed impacts and pros, any agricultural organization can embrace or adopt the mobile telephony technology. Positive results can be realized in an agricultural organization through the use of this technology (ICT in Agriculture, 2012). An agricultural organization can benefit from this technology by conducting research in various regions to discover different kinds of issues. Farming methods, crops planted, amount of yields produced and income realized from the sale of agricultural products are some of the data that should be collected by the organization wishing to embrace the telephony technology. Once this information has been obtained, agricultural organizations can effectively use the technology to give farmers exact and timely information about farming methods. Moreover, the agricultural company can adopt various means to ensure wrong farming information is not provided to farmers. Reducing the rates in which the farming service is offered is also another means that the organization can gain trust of farmers. Through this reduced cost that is affordable, the organization will have a large client base. These in turn will give the company a positive image. Another main reason for adoption of a technology like the mobile telephony is that it would result in realization of good returns financially for the agricultural company. With a wide customer base, the company would realize high returns when they market and sell the products of their customers. This means the agricultural organization would participate by selling the farmers’ products locally and internationally with the aim of making profits. Moreover, when product sales are high in the international markets, the company would be able to expand their clientele base into the international market (World Bank, 2012). This is only achievable if the agricultural organization provides quality and reliable services to farmers. Therefore, with the help of the mobile telephony technology, the agricultural company can expand its services globally. Additionally, efficiency and timely provision of information play important roles in adoption of mobile technology telephony by an agricultural company. Conclusion In conclusion, agricultural activities should be embraced because they account for employment in the rural areas. The major benefits that come from this important economic sector such as investment attraction and employment are some of the reasons why mobile telephony technology should be embraced. As discussed above, mobile telephony technology plays very crucial roles in the growth of county socially, environmentally and economically. For example, in relation to economic impacts, it aids in economic growth of a country both locally and internationally through the sale of quality products. Moreover, this technology can be adopted by an agricultural organization that wishes to expand its operations internationally. Therefore, mobile telephony technology can be adopted by an agricultural organization to ensure its growth and investment expansion globally. References Ferero, M.P. (2013). Mobile Communication networks and internet technologies as drivers of technical efficiency improvement. Information Economics and Policy. 25(3), 126-141. ICT in Agriculture (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ictinagriculture.org/sourcebook/module-3-mobile-devices-and-their-impact Rouvinen, P. (2006). Diffusion of digital mobile telephony: Are developing countries different? Telecommunications Policy, 3(1), 46-63. The World Bank. (2012). Agricultural Innovation Systems: An Investment Sourcebook. Washington: World Bank Publications. Tuteja, N., Gill, S. S., & Tuteja, R. (2012). Improving Crop Productivity in Sustainable Agriculture. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Read More