Mobile Agriculture in South Africa

The rapid diffusion of mobile and wireless technologies is transforming agricultural development globally. In South Africa, rural e-government service delivery has been hampered by low Internet penetration. Mobile government offers a promising alternative to deliver public services to remote rural communities. In this regard, the author examines the potential of mobile and wireless technologies to deliver value-added services to rural communities in South Africa. An implementation framework comprising a multi-functional agro-portal and mobile agriculture services is proposed. The benefits and barriers of using mobile and wireless technologies in rural areas are examined, while key considerations and policy implications for mobile agriculture are discussed. The author advocates the development of “value-based” and “demand-driven” mobile agriculture services for the future growth and survival of mobile agriculture, which requires greater competition among service providers, use of multi-lingual e-content, integration of indigenous knowledge, mobile agriculture curriculum, mobile cyber-security, and customized value-added services for rural communities.