Examining the continued intention of using the Ugunduzi app in farmer-led research of agro-ecological practices among smallholder farmers in selected areas, Tanzania

Abstract

Farmer-led research of agro-ecological practices could support smallholder farmers in identifying the best-fit practices to improve crop production. A smartphone based app named Ugunduzi was developed purposefully to support farmers in their research activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate smallholder farmers’ intentions to continue using the Ugunduzi app in the Tanzanian districts of Masasi, Mvomero, and Bagamoyo. Cross-sectional research design was used in which qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 60 smallholder farmers who participated in the research and used the Ugunduzi app. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3 was employed to analyze the data. The results indicated that the app could continue to be used by smallholder farmers in the study areas due to its usefulness in supporting them to identify best-fit agro-ecological practices in their areas and to have a better future season plan through records kept in the app. The app also showed great potential for increasing agro-ecological knowledge through sharing information. However, a few difficulties were observed, especially in the early stage of using the app due to some processes involved. From the study findings, it was recommended that, due to its effectiveness observed in supporting farmers, the app be promoted by development actors to be used by many smallholder farmers around the study areas to improve crop production. In order to support farmers in reducing the effort required to use the app, it was recommended that key stakeholders provide farmers more training on effective use of the app.

Keywords:

• agro-ecological practices
• farmer-led research
• food production smallholder farmers
• Ugunduzi app

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge smallholder farmers from the study areas, in particular those who participated in this research for their cooperation in making the study a success. We thank members of staff from Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) and SWISSAID Tanzania project as well as Bagamoyo District agricultural extension officers for their valuable support of this study. Special thanks go to academic members of staff from the Department of Agricultural Extension and Community Development of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) for their productive comments on this study. We are grateful to SWISSAID Tanzania project “Research and Advocacy for Agroecology” who is the funder of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

SWISSAID Project “Research and Advocacy for Agroecology” [Grant Number TA2/17/04].