Assessing the role of information and communication technologies and knowledge in increasing incomes and improving governance in smallholder organizations: the case of Githunguri dairy cooperative society ltd and Kikama federation

Abstract

lCTs have been identified as the solution to creating new growth paths For Kenya's economy, but very little investment in lCTs is seen at the dominant economic sector that is agriculture. Avenues for investing in rural areas are limited as most investments go to urban-centers, which leave local people in the rural areas with limited choice but to innovate in order to survive. Use or smallholder farmer organizations has not been known to create a well-managed business or enterprise development that increases household incomes in the same manner as corporations do. Therefore, when such an organization, that demonstrates a difference and a changed pattern is identified, just because of employing appropriate information and communication technology tools, then there is need to explore how to upscale such experiences to help meet the developmental needs of a country. This study therefore explores what Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society has done to promote increased income generation for its Farmers by using lCTs to help it enhance its 'accountability and hence governance within the chain of activities it engages with, starting with milk collection, to the management and board of directors' oversight of' its operations. The study has used a control organization, a Federation of smallholder farmers in similar region as Githunguri but will no organizational formation as Githunguri to demonstrate the power of an organized, lCT driven farmer organization This study has used a systematic sampling method to select 100 members of each organization. the choice of a sample of 100 was used to make the study amenable to using the z-test, which easily approximates the population being studied. The main findings were that lCTs particularly the digital handheld scale has been isolated as promoting Income generation at the smallholder farmer level, while knowledge and learning is ascribed to the Radio, TV and Mobile phone in that order. Farmers interviewed ascribed increased earnings, increased savings, and reduced costs or operation to the use or the use or the digital handheld scale. The study recommends that boosting the use of ICTs through training and related awareness campaigns is necessary so that the proportion of' farmers that have affiliation to the PC, Email and the lnternet is increased. Public-private partnership models used in a cooperative perspective are recommended for use to support investment in community ICTs to support web-based value chain linkages. For such investments to succeed in creating wealth, market-lined value chain investments should be used so that they can engage with technology integrators/providers for the achievement or efficiency in the value chain and creation or wealth in the rural areas.