Book chapter · 2021
Agriculture Business Problems: Analysis of Research and Probable Solutions in Africa
In Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems, Advances in Business Information Systems and Analytics, pp. 33–58, IGI Global · Published
Summary
What question does this chapter answer?
What are the key problems hindering agriculture advancement and information systems adoption by farmers in West Africa, particularly Nigeria, and what probable solutions does the empirical literature suggest?
What did the chapter find?
A critical review of empirical agriculture literature from 2015–2020 found that about half the studies (50.81%) spanned multiple levels of analysis and roughly 40% addressed psychology-domain subjects, led by attitude change (22.58%) and training (16.94%). Key problems included lack of modern-method training, corrupt and broken input dissemination, poor infrastructure and logistics, insecurity from terrorism, lack of credit and weak strategic planning, with only weak evidence of significant information system use in agriculture.
Why does it matter?
The authors propose integrating training, knowledge sharing and attitude change – including via social media – and combining infrastructure, technology provision and anti-corruption efforts led by government as probable solutions. Their keyword themes and conceptual models are intended for agriculture software developers, practitioners, extension professionals and researchers, and they recommend mixed-methods studies that pair empirical evidence with problem-solving by local subject matter experts.
This study is part of the evidence overview What is holding back Nigerian agriculture and farm technology adoption? Evidence from extension workers and farmer surveys
Key findings
- The chapter's contingency analysis of agriculture problem literature found that 50.81% of studies used a combination of levels of analysis, versus 20.97% at industry, 14.52% at macro and 13.71% at micro (farm) level.
- In the reviewed agriculture literature, attitude change was the most frequent subject focus (22.58%), followed by training (16.94%), social culture (9.68%), infrastructure (8.87%) and knowledge sharing (8.87%).
- The authors calculated that approximately 40% of the reviewed agriculture papers addressed psychology-domain subjects, namely attitude change and training.
- The chapter cites evidence that African countries met 89% of food production requirements in the 1960s but only 75% by 2000, with continued decline in some West African countries.
- The review reports that Nigeria's bulk wheat import-to-export ratio is growing at an unsustainable 11% annual rate, and that some rural Nigerian farmers earn the equivalent of only $1 USD per day.
- The review notes that popular American software adoption models do not function well in rural Nigerian agricultural settings because of language barriers, socio-cultural differences, perceived limited choices and lack of best-practice knowledge.
- The authors found only weak evidence of significant information system use in West African agriculture, attributing it to a lack of farmer training and of time for strategic planning.
Source: Strang et al. (2021), In Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems, Advances in Business Information Systems and Analytics, pp. 33–58, IGI Global. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4849-3.ch003
Chapter at a glance
| Research question | What hinders agriculture productivity and information systems adoption in West Africa, and what are probable solutions? |
|---|---|
| Design | Retrospective critical literature review with conceptual modeling; no new data collected |
| Data | Peer-reviewed empirical studies of agriculture and food security problems, 2015–2020, supplemented with older articles; focus on Nigeria |
| Methods | Keyword thematic (Pareto) analysis, contingency analysis by level of analysis and subject, cross-case subject analysis and literature topic synthesis |
| Main result | Attitude change (22.58%) and training (16.94%) dominate the literature; 50.81% of studies used combined levels of analysis; only weak evidence of information system use |
| Implication | Integrated training, knowledge sharing and attitude change plus government-led infrastructure, technology provision and anti-corruption efforts |
| Citation | Strang et al. (2021) · DOI 10.4018/978-1-7998-4849-3.ch003 |
Abstract
Researchers need to investigate global life-threatening problems tied to agriculture such as food insecurity and malnutrition pandemics. This chapter reviews empirical fact-based state-of-the-art literature underlying the agri-business adoption barriers and the agriculture food insecurity crises. The authors focus their effort on identifying the hot spots of global agriculture problems, in developing nations. They use critical analysis to identify the most pressing issues and controversies surrounding West Africa. They then explore empirical literature suggesting possible remedies and future research needs to resolve the agriculture problems, in a way that these concepts would generalize globally and be of interest to other scholars. They produce several conceptual models to assist future agriculture research scholars including keyword thematic diagrams, cross-case subject analysis, topic contingency analysis, and literature topic synthesis. They then focus on probable solutions and they create several conceptual models to summarize those. They close with recommendations for future research.
Abstract as published in Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems.
Key terms
- Extension worker
- An experienced farmer, selected and hired by the government to mentor and train local farmers, using their credibility as a farmer to approach their clients (the chapter's own definition).
- Food insecurity
- A situation in which people lack reliable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food; the chapter describes Nigeria as in a food security crisis for the last 10 years.
- Pareto analysis
- A prioritization technique that identifies the small share of items (here the top 20% of phrases) that account for most of the occurrences (at least 80%).
Limitations
- The chapter is a retrospective literature review and critical analysis; no new data were collected.
- The analysis was heavily weighted toward Nigeria and focused on issues discussed more often in the literature; frequency of a subject reflects research quantity, not the significance of the problem or quality of research.
- The review is only a beginning step in identifying constraints on information system adoption in Nigeria and West Africa; the authors recommend further mixed-method empirical studies.
How to cite
Strang, K. D., Che, F. N., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2021). Agriculture Business Problems: Analysis of Research and Probable Solutions in Africa. In Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems (pp. 33–58). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4849-3.ch003
BibTeX
@incollection{strang2021agriculture,
title = {Agriculture Business Problems: Analysis of Research and Probable Solutions in Africa},
author = {Strang, Kenneth David and Che, Ferdinand Ndifor and Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao},
booktitle = {Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems},
series = {Advances in Business Information Systems and Analytics},
pages = {33--58},
year = {2021},
publisher = {IGI Global},
doi = {10.4018/978-1-7998-4849-3.ch003},
url = {https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4849-3.ch003}
}Reprinted in Research Anthology on Strategies for Achieving Agricultural Sustainability (IGI Global, 2022), DOI 10.4018/978-1-6684-5352-0.ch063.
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