New information and communication technologies for dairy goat marketing: the case of Meru South Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Dairy goat farming is a lucrative enterprise among the smallholder farmers due to its potential for socio-economic empowerment of the resource-poor. However, due to inefficient marketing systems, the smallholder farmers have not been able to realize maximum returns from their dairy goat enterprises. To resolve some of the market inefficiencies inherent in the conventional marketing approaches, smallholder farmers have shifted their attention to the use of new information and communication technologies. This study established awareness and use of the new ICTs in marketing of dairy goats among the smallholder farmers. The study was carried out in Meru South Sub-County. Chuka and Magumoni divisions were purposely selected. A sample of 97 dairy goat farmers was chosen through systematic random sampling from a population of 2,800 smallholder farmers. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data, while descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. The use of new ICTs was highest among the respondents aged between 21 and 40 years. Awareness of the use of mobile phones and internet for dairy goat marketing among the respondents was 87.5% and 12.5%, respectively. Generally, the awareness and use of the new ICTs in the marketing of the dairy goats was high; mobile phone was the most commonly known and widely used ICT. Keywords: Dairy goats, Awareness, Use, Meru South, New ICTs