The present study aims to assess the impact of mobile phones on agricultural
and rural livelihoods in Rwanda, with the case study of Jenda and Rambura
sectors. A total sample size of 68 respondents (34 respondents in each sector)
was selected.
A structured questionnaire was used as the main data collection instrument.
It was prepared in both English and Kinyarwanda and made of open and
closed questions. The data were entered using the Microsoft Excel
programme and thereafter results were analyzed using SPSS software.
The three major findings of the study are:
1. The identification of demographic factors influencing the usage of
mobile phones by rural households revealed that gender (1.72) has a major
influence on mobile phone ownership.
2. The main impact of mobile phones use on farmers is access to market
information (1.49) while the main impact of mobile phones use on rural
livelihoods is financial efficiency (1.49)
3. Poverty is the main challenge affecting the rate of mobile phone use.
The study has proven that mobile phone is indeed a viable tool for
economic development and a facilitator of sustainable livelihoods among
those engaged in agricultural based and non agricultural based livelihood
activities. Mobile phones promotes agricultural livelihoods by providing
access to market information, increasing market participation, increasing
productivity and reducing search and transaction costs. Mobile phone also
promotes rural livelihoods by reducing transport costs, saving time,
providing job opportunities, helping in emergency coordination and allowing
financial transactions to be conducted.
In the conduct of the study, some challenges that hinder mobile phones
adoption were reported such as poverty, illiteracy and ignorance. The study
provided recommendations focus on how to tackle those challenges