SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF MOBILE-BASED AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION ACCESS AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN KERICHO COUNTY, KENYA

Mobile phones are increasingly playing an important role in delivering agricultural extension, weather, market and production information to smallholder farmers. Nevertheless, farmers do not engage with mobilebased agricultural information services at the same frequency, and the factors explaining these differences vary across rural contexts. This study examined the relationship between selected socioeconomic and technological characteristics and the frequency with which smallholder farmers accessed agricultural information through mobile phones. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used with 287 small scale farmers who had complete observations. The dependent variable was frequency of mobilebased agricultural information access, categorized as regular, occasional or never. Explanatory variables included age, educational attainment, primary occupation, landholding size, household income, mobilephone ownership and device type. Data were analyzed using cross-tabulations, Pearsons chi-square tests and Fishers exact tests. Linearbylinear association tests were also used where ordinal trends were relevant. Age, education, occupation and mobilephone ownership were significantly associated with access frequency. Farmers younger than 35 years recorded the highest regular access rate at 72.0%while farmers aged 56 years and above mainly accessed information occasionally.