Digitalisation And Productivity of Smallholder Farmers

Digitalisation is an emerging global trend for the development of agriculture through information technology platforms. Small-holder farmers are central to food security and agricultural development, while globalisation and system integration continue to pose challenges in terms of sustainable outputs. Technology has become a necessity to keep farmers in the loop about the changing dynamics of agriculture productivity. A sample size was obtained using the method of empirical saturation. A participatory, deductive, and exploratory approach were employed to examine the effects of digitalisation on the productivity of small-holder farmers using a localised digital module in the Northern region of Ghana. Exploratory research was deemed suitable due to the evolving nature of the study under contention. The study revealed that small-scale farmers use digitalisation to get information about their farm management and market trends.  Digitalisation has positive impacts on the yield of the farmers and partially solved the problem of food security in the research area. The study concluded that digitalisation supports the improvement of small-scale farming productivity by increasing their access to information. It also increases the general household wellbeing in terms of improved income level but partially solves the problem of food security. The paper recommends specialised digital training for small-scale farmers who require digital information to carry out their activities. Furthermore, network operators should extend coverage to the hinterland to facilitate the operation of digital services for small-holder farmers.