Innovative “Swahili based agricultural apps” underutilized new way of reaching farmers and disseminating information in Tanzania

Abstract

Agricultural professionals are constantly in the search of innovative ways to engage farmers and timely dissemination of information. Smartphone application is one of the popular avenues used in some countries, to engage farmers and disseminate information. This study was conducted to assess the use of Swahili based agricultural apps in Tanzania. Virtual product snowball sampling was used to identify Swahili based agricultural apps in android Google Play Store for sixty days i.e. November to December 2020. The findings show that at least 23 Swahili based agricultural apps were available in android Google Play. The oldest of identified apps was released on 2017, which suggest that the use of customised apps to reach farmers is a new phenomenon in Tanzania. Content of the identified apps show that three apps (13%) provide exclusively information on poultry farming; others have general information on crops and livestock. The content on fisheries and aquaculture is notably meagre in the existing livestock apps. Most (83.2%) of the apps had less than 10,000 downloads and only one app has reached 100,000. The users’ opinions are skewed to positive. Taking into account the number of farmers and adoption rate of internet based smart phones in Tanzania, downloads figures suggest that existing apps are under-utilised. The study concludes that the use of Swahili based agricultural apps is a new practice at the early stage of adoption, which should be harnessed for timely and fruitful engagement with farmers and transformation of extension services in Tanzania.