An assessment of the Extent of ICT Use along the Dairy Value Chain in Western Uganda

The benefits of ICTs to agriculture have been well documented. Agriculture value chains could benefit from the use of ICTs to increase efficiency and reduce costs, thus reducing risk. By its nature, the dairy value chain is an information intensive value chain in order to preserve the quality of the milk. However, information on the use of ICTs within African communities in general and Uganda in particular is inadequate or nonexistent. The aim of this study was to paint a picture of the information society in Western Uganda as regards the dairy value chain. A cross sectional survey was carried out in Kiruhura district, western Uganda, targeting dairy value chain actors. Three stage purposive and random sampling was carried out in order to come up with 162 respondents, who are actors in the dairy value chain. Data was gathered using pretested interview schedules. The ICTs investigated were Radio, Television, Mobile phones and Computers. It was found that Radio and Mobile phone ownership are the highest, at 50.6% and 64.8% respectively. Radio was mostly used for extension (56.2%) while mobile phones were mostly used for financial services (50%). In the typology of information flows, Coordination of milk products distribution was mostly done by mobile phone (66.7%), Knowledge sharing was mostly done by mobile phone (75.9%), and Feedback from consumers was also mostly done by mobile phone at 85.2%. An Extent of ICT Use index was calculated and assigned to every subject in the sample. The mean Extent of ICT use was 0.32 on a scale from 0.00 to 1.00. Therefore there is a low Extent of ICT use along the dairy value chain in Western Uganda. Ordinary Least-Squares regression was then carried out on the data to examine the relationship between the dependent variable (Extent of ICT Use) and the independent variables. From the OLS regression, it was found that Perceived usefulness, Voluntariness of use, Performance Expectancy, Social Influence, some occupations, and Experience in the 5-10 year range had a significant relationship with the Extent of ICT use along the dairy value chain. Experience in the 5-10 year range had a negative relationship with the dependent variable while some occupations, Voluntariness of use, social influence, performance expectancy and perceived usefulness had positive relationship with the Extent of ICT use.