Determinants of mobile phone technology utilisation among cassava farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Mobile phone technologies offer opportunities to improve farmers’ access to agricultural information, markets, financial services, and decision-support tools. This study examined the determinants of mobile phone technology utilisation among cassava farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 376 cassava farmers across nine Local Government Areas within the three agricultural zones of the state. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through Open Data Kit. Descriptive statistics and Principal Component Analysis with varimax rotation were employed for data analysis. Farmers utilised diversemobile technologies and applications, including PlantVillage Nuru, market comparison platforms, GPS-based tools, Tractor Connect, mobile banking applications, WhatsApp, and AgriPredict. The analysis identified four major dimensions influencing utilisation: monetary factors, perceived benefits, technology enablers, and constraints, which jointly explained 78.82% of the total variance. Key determinants included farm size, cassava output, income, farming experience, household size, education, age, electricity availability, application complexity, perceived benefits, and feedback mechanisms. The study concludes that mobile technology utilisation depends on the interaction of farmers’ socioeconomic capacity, perceived usefulness, enabling infrastructure, and technological constraints. Improved rural electricity, internet connectivity, affordable credit, and user-friendly, locally accessible mobile applications are recommended.