AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) SPILLOVER

Year 2019, , 166 - 190, 01.12.2019

Oladipo Olalekan David Wynand Grobler

https://doi.org/10.34111/ijebeg.20191126

Cited By: 3

Abstract

The positive spillover impacts of the efficiency of information and communication technology (ICT) and land accessibility as factor inputs to agricultural productivity are well documented in the literature. Furthermore, input-output efficiency as a measurement of factors contributing towards gross production is no exception in this regard. Few studies on agricultural production and ICT at the household level in South Africa show divergent empirical results. This study investigates the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) and land for farming in the context of household food production in South Africa. Household engagement in agricultural activities is proxy for agricultural production, farm land size is a proxy for land accessibility, telephone and internet use are proxies for ICT in this study. Household data of twenty-one thousand, six hundred and one (21,601) households on agricultural activities and ICTs were generated from the existing survey data of General household survey, 2015 by Statistics South Africa. Majority of the households are not engaging in agricultural activities due to no access to land for farming, but more than 80 percent of the households have access to at least one form of ICTs penetration i.e. mobile telephony. The logit regression shows that internet connection in the household have positive and significant impact on household agricultural production but land accessibility is indirectly related and significant to household food production in South Africa. Therefore land accessibility may be a barrier to agricultural activity involvement in South Africa. The study shows that the positive spillover impacts of ICT may not be possible due to lack of access to land for agriculture. Land for farming, CDMA telephony and internet are highly required for agricultural activities in order to promote food production, reduce cost of telecommunications, promoting agricultural research and development via internet accessibility.

Keywords

Agricultural production, Land accessibility, Information and communication technology (ICT), General household survey, Binary logit regression, South Africa

References

• Acharya, R. & Basu, S. (2010). ICT and TFP growth: Intangible capital or productive externalities?, Industry Canada Working Paper 2010-1.
• Aldosari, F. et al., (2017). Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences Farmers ’ perceptions regarding the use of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , Northern Pakistan. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2017.05.004.
• Ali, J. & Kumar, S., (2011). International Journal of Information Management Information and communication technologies ( ICTs ) and farmers ’ decision-making across the agricultural supply chain. International Journal of Information Management, 31(2), pp.149–159. Available at:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.07.008.
• Bresnahan, T.F. & Trajtemberg, M., (1995). General Purpose Technologies: ‘Engines of growth’? Journal of Econometrics 65, pp. 83-108. 25
• Brynjolfsson E. & Hitt, L.M., (2000). Beyond computation: Information technology, organisational transformation and business performance. Journal of Economic Perspectives 14 (4), pp. 23-48.
• Brynjolfsson E. & Hitt, M., (2003). Computing productivity: Firm-level evidence, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 85(4), pp. 793-808.
• David, OO. 2013. “The Effect of Investment in Telecommunication on Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria”, International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, 2(1): 1 - 23.
• Draca, M., Sadun, R. & Van Reenen, J., (2007). ICT and Productivity. In Mansell, R., Avgerou, C., Quah, D., Silverstone, R. (Eds) Handbook of Information of Information and Communication Technologies, Oxford University Press.
• Food and Agriculture Organization, (2013). FAO Statistical Yearbook. Economic and Social Development Division, New York.
• Fu, X., Mohnen, P. & Zanello, G., (2018). Technological Forecasting & Social Change Innovation and productivity in formal and informal fi rms in Ghana. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 131(August 2017), pp.315–325. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.08.009.
• Grobler, WCJ. (2014). "Food insecure households coping strategies: The case of a low income neighbouhood in South Africa". Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(13): 100-106
• Grobler, WCJ. (2015). "The determinants of urban food security: Insights from a low income neighbourhood in South Africa". Proceedings of the 15th International Academic Conference, Rome.
• Haskel, J., & Wallis, G., (2010). Public Support for Innovation, Intangible Investment and Productivity Growth in the UK Market Sector, IZA Discussion Papers 4772, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
• Hudson, H.E. et al., (2017). Using radio and interactive ICTs to improve food security among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa ☆. Telecommunications Policy, 41(7-8), pp.670–684. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2017.05.010.
• Jovanovic B., Rousseau P. L., (2005). General Purpose Technologies. In: Aghion, P., Durlauf, S. (Eds.), Handbook of economic growth, Elsevier, Amsterdam, vol. 1 ch. 18. 27
• Liao, H. et al., (2016). ICT as a general-purpose technology : The productivity of ICT in the United States revisited. , 36, pp.10–25.
• Lipsey, R G, K I Carlaw, & C T Bekar (2005). Economic Transformations: General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth, Oxford University Press
• Mafizur, M., Arifeen, S. & Mamun, K., (2017). The effects of telephone infrastructure on farmers ’ agricultural outputs in China. Information Economics and Policy, 41, pp.88–95. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2017.06.005.
• Moshiri, S., Simpson, W., (2011). Information technology and the changing workplace in Canada: firm-level evidence, Industrial and Corporate Change 20(6), pp. 1601-1636. Aldosari, F. et al., 2017. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences Farmers ’ perceptions regarding the use of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , Northern Pakistan. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2017.05.004.
• Ochieng, S., Juma, J. & Jakinda, D., (2014). Impact of Information and Communication Technology-Based Market Information Services on Smallholder Farm Input Use and Productivity : The Case of Kenya. World Development, 64(104482), pp.311–321. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.06.011.
• O’Mahony, M., Vecchi, M. , (2005). Quantifying the impact of ICT capital on growth: An heterogeneous dynamic panel approach, Economica 72, pp. 615-633.
• Romer, PM. (1990). Endogenous Technological Change, Journal of Political Economy, 98(5): 71–102.
• Rostow, WW. 1960. The Stages of Economic growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
• Salampasis, M. & Theodoridis, A., (2013). Information and Communication Technology in Agricultural Development. Procedia Technology, 8(Haicta), pp.1–3. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2013.11.001.
• Schumpeter, JA. (1942). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, New York: Harper & Row, 3rd Edition
• Severgnini, B. (2011). Is ICT a Jack-in-the-Box? A counterfactual approach for identifying productivity spillovers, Copenhagen Business School, mimeo.
• Solow, RM. & Swan, TW. (1956). Economic Growth and Capital Accumulation, Economic Record 32 (63): 334-361.
• Statistics of South Africa [StatsSA], (2016). Community survey, 2016 – Agricultural households
• Stiroh, K. J., (2002). Are ICT Spillovers driving the New Economy?, Review of Income and Wealth, 48(1), pp. 33-57.
• Van Leeuwen, G., van der Wiel, H., (2003). Do ICT spillover matter: Evidence from Dutch firm-level data. CPB Discussion Paper No 26.
• Van Reenen, J., Bloom, N., Draca, M., Kretschmer, T., Sadun, R., (2010). The economic impact of ICT, Research report, SMART N. 2007/0020.
• Venturini, F. (2009). The long-run impact of ICT, Empirical Economics, 37(3), pp. 497-515,Venturini, F. (2011). The modern drivers of productivity, University of Perugia, mimeo.
• Zhang, Y., Wang, L. & Duan, Y., (2016). Agricultural information dissemination using ICTs : A review and analysis of information dissemination models in China. Information Processing in Agriculture, 3(1), pp.17–29. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2015.11.002.