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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 8

Publication Date: August 25, 2022

DOI:10.14738/assrj.98.12763. Balgah, R. A., Bwifon, D. N., & Shillie, P. N. (2022). COVID-19, Armed Conflict and ICTs Adoption Decisions. Insights from

Cameroonian Farmers. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(8). 12-32.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

COVID-19, Armed Conflict and ICTs Adoption Decisions. Insights

from Cameroonian Farmers

Roland Azibo Balgah

College of Technology, Department of Agribusiness technology

University of Bamenda, Cameroon

Dorothy Nyiang Bwifon

College of Technology, Department of Agribusiness technology

University of Bamenda, Cameroon

Peter Ngek Shillie

College of Technology, Department of Agribusiness technology

University of Bamenda, Cameroon

ABSTRACT

It is common knowledge that adopting information and communication

technologies -ICTs can significantly enhance agricultural performance. However,

their adoption and usage in African agriculture remains disappointing. This study

assesses ICTs adoption rates and adoption determinants among Cameroonian

farmers. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a random sample

of 120 farmers in two selected sites highly hit by COVID 19 and an on-going armed

conflict in Cameroon’s North West region. Data collected and analysed using SPSS,

version 25.0 revealed an overall ICTs adoption rate of 87.5%: 3 times higher than

the national average. Experience with ICTs was the lone variable that significantly

influenced ICTs adoption at 95% confidence interval (β=0.414, p=0.034). However,

the age of the farmer (β=0.122, P=0.073), ICTs usage in last six months (β=-4, 316,

p=0.072), farm size (β=1.132, p=0.06), and farmers income (β=-5.22, p=0.072)

significantly influenced ICTs adoption only at the 10 percent level. Based on these

results we conclude that high ICT adoption rates by farmers in the study is most

likely an adaptation strategy to the combined negative lockdown and ghost town

effects of COVID 19 and the on-going armed conflict respectively; which create

incentives for ICTs adoption. We recommend ICT awareness campaigns,

experience-sharing and capacity building as key activities to sustain ICT adoption

and eventually stem future dis-adoption rates. Research thrust on the positive

impacts of perceived negative events like COVID 19 and armed conflicts especially

in Africa is encouraged.

Keywords: ICTs adoption, Farmers, determinants, COVID 19, armed conflict, Cameroon

INTRODUCTION

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a significant role in all aspects of

modern society. ICTs have changed communication patterns, facilitate information search,

modified business transactions and work processes (World Bank 2008; El Bilali and Allahyari

2018), especially with the advent of COVID 19. Broadly speaking, Information and

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Balgah, R. A., Bwifon, D. N., & Shillie, P. N. (2022). COVID-19, Armed Conflict and ICTs Adoption Decisions. Insights from Cameroonian Farmers.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(8). 12-32.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.98.12763

Communication Technology (ICT) is a blanket term encompassing all the technologies and

services involved in computing, data management, telecommunications provision, and internet,

facilitating the transmission and reception of information of all kind (El Bilali and Allahyari

2018). ICTs permeate all aspects of contemporary society providing newer, better, and quicker

ways for people to interact, learn and communicate (World Bank 2008; Olayemi et al. 2020).

Adopting ICTs in agriculture can enhance farm performance, for instance by facilitate access to

agricultural research findings, and Market and Information Services – MIS (World Bank 2008,

El Bilali and Allahyari 2018). Adoption is the extent to which a new technology is accepted and

used for a desired purpose. Adoption rates increase when the adopter has full information

about a new technology and its potential (Feder and Umali 1993).

Agriculture in Africa is one of the sectors were appropriation of ICTs is still far below

expectation, even though, it is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the rural

population (Kimengsi et al. 2020). The agricultural sector accounts for almost two-thirds of the

total employment and about 75% of Africa’s domestic trade World (Bank 2008). With the

majority of the rural population depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, promoting the

growth and development of the sector, enhancing resilience and upgrading competitive

capacity are central to Africa’s development (Awazi and Ouandt, 2021).

One way to enhance growth, development and competitiveness of the agriculture sector is

through the effective and sustained utilization of Information and Communication

Technologies (ICTs). Existing evidence suggests that ICTs have been a significant contributor to

the growth and socio-economic development in countries and sectors where they are highly

adopted (FAO 2017; Stan et al. 2019; Olayemi et al. 2020). The effective integration of ICTs in

the agricultural sector in the United and European countries led to tremendous improvement

in agriculture value chain efficiency and productivity. For instance, traceability technologies

such as block chain, and radio frequency identification (RFID) has enabled transparency and

efficiency throughout the food chain through tracking and tracing of food from farm to fork,

rendering traceability any food related incidents (FAO 2017). El Bilali and Allahyari (2018)

assert that ICT-based innovations can improve rural livelihoods and empower farmers in

developing counties by enhancing their connectivity and increasing access to accurate and

timely agriculture information. In contrast, agricultural transformation through digitalization

is yet to take place at an acceptable rate in Africa: a continent in which over 70% of its

population depends on agriculture for livelihoods (Ayim et al. 2022). Only 33 million of over

384 million farmers (8.6%) in Africa are currently reached by digital applications; projected to

reach 200 million by 2030 (Stan et al, 2019; Ayim et al. 2022). These diversified applications

target advisory and information services, market linkages, financial access, and supply chain

management, with advisory and information service dominating the market (El Bilali and

Allahyari, 2018). ICT applications come handy in multiple settings, such as targeting advisory

and information services, market linkages, financial access, and supply chain management.

Advisory and information services dominate the ICT market (Stan et al. 2019). Given the

potential contribution of ICTs to modernizing African agriculture, and the availability of these

technologies, slow adoption raises some key questions:

Which ICT technologies are preferred by farmers? Which factors explain why some farmers

adopt certain ICTs while others do not? This study attempts to provide preliminary answers

by drawing on the experiences of farmers in North Western Cameroon. The study area is unique

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 8, August-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

given its double experience of COVID 19 and armed conflict: both contextual events that create

difficulty for regular farm transactions, thereby creating incentive for farmers to adopt

available ICTs.

Statement of the Problem

Cameroon is one of the African countries where ICTs adoption rates are still very low. For

instance, the internet penetration rate that was lower than 1% in 2006 grew at the rate of 14%

per annum between 2007 and 2011, and 19% between 2012 and 2017. These growth rates are

far lower than the 32% internet penetration in Africa (Bakehe et al. 2017; Fambeu 2021). Low

penetration has been attributed to high cost of internet, for which Cameroon ranks 152 out of

169 countries. Overall, only 6% of Cameroonians have access to internet. The industry has the

highest number of users, while famers are among those with the least access (Fambeu 2021).

Overall the ICT adoption rate in Cameroon is among the lowest in central Africa (Bakehe et al.

2017; Fambeu 2021). Meanwhile, the agricultural sector – largely subsistence, is a life wire for

40% of Cameroon’s population, employs up to 70% of the workforce, contributes over 40% to

the GDP, and accounts for 30% of export revenues (World Bank 2013; Nji and Engwali 2019;

Kimengsi et al. 2020).

The economy of the North West region – fondly called the break basket of Cameroon is typically

agrarian: over 80% of the workforce is employed in agricultural sectors, and close to 85%

depend on it for their livelihoods (Nji and Engwali 2019). Since 2016, this region has been

engulfed by a socio-political crisis orchestrated by street demonstrations by lawyers and

teachers against the obligatory use of the French language in courts and schools in the (2)

predominantly English-speaking regions in Cameroon (Lazar 2019; Bang and Balgah 2022).

The protests met with stiff resistance from the regular military, eventually breeding

secessionist tendencies. In spite of government efforts to promote dialogue, the crisis escalated

into armed conflict in 2017. Frequent confrontations between armed secessionists and the

regular military have led to heightened insecurity and lockdowns (ghost towns) imposed by

separatists in Cameroon’s North West and South West (‘Anglophone’) Regions. Lockdowns

disrupt access to farm inputs, labour supply, and access to finance and product markets for

farmers in these regions (Shillie et al. 2022).

In addition to the armed conflict, the North West is one of the regions highest-hit with the

COVID 19 pandemic in Cameroon, with a fatality rate of 4.1%, compared to a national average

of about 1.6% (OCHA 2022). Responses to high COVID 19 incidences have included lockdowns,

restricted movements and gatherings, which aggravate the situation of farmers in the region,

who already suffer from the effects of the on-going socio-political crisis-cum armed conflict

(Bang and Balgah, 2022). Under such circumstances, one will expect farmers in these regions

to rapidly adopt ICT options such as internet, TV, Facebook, twitter and different marketing

apps, as alternatives to circumvent the effects of the crises. ICT adoption can facilitate

understanding market price trends (FAO, 2017); access to farm inputs and support services

(Stan et al., 2019), timely access to market information, weather changes (Olayemi et al. 2020);

and secure financial transactions for farmers in these two regions. Such a paradigm has been

recently reported for instance in Indonesia, where social media usage increased in response to

impulsive buying imposed by COVID 19 restrictions (Hanifer et al. 2022).