Farmer's Perception and Adoption of Digital Technologies as Information Sources for Farming Activities in the City of Tshwane, Gauteng

Smallholder farmers are challenged by limited resources, finances, and access to complex production technologies, which hinder the implementation of good production practices such as good seed selection, knowing when to plant and harvest, pest and disease control, and access to lucrative markets. This paper used quantitative research methods to explore smallholder farmers’ perceptions, adoptions, and differences in agricultural incomes between adopting and non-adopting farmers. This study reveals that smallholder farmers perceive access to real-time information as important; however, adopting digital technologies as information sources is still considered low. Binary regression analysis further revealed that the access to extension services variable positively correlated with adopting the internet (web pages), YouTube and Farmers Weekly website as information sources. Digital technologies were generally perceived to be reliable, time-effective, and easy to use; however, adopting these technologies had no significant impact on the farmer’s agricultural income. This paper concludes that digital technology adoption is still considerably low; however, more and more farmers are not only open to adopting these technologies, but those who have adopted prefer incorporating them among sources they use to acquire farming information. Using digital technologies did not cause differences in agricultural income for these farmers. This study recommends public-private partnerships and community engagement through cooperatives to further drive technology adoption, fostering market access and improving livelihoods for smallholder farmers.