Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses the materiality of mobile-based extensions services in Da es Salaam, and it estimates the indirect effect of mobile phone on maize yields (as maize is the most popular staple crop in Tanzania).

Paper long abstract:

The agricultural sector accounts for over 30% of Tanzania’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment to nearly 65% of the working force (FAO and ITU, 2022). While the agricultural sector is generally more prominent in rural areas, it has been also growing in the peri-urban areas. Dar-es-Salaam, for example, has an increasingly important urban agricultural sector. However, the country’s agricultural productivity remains generally poor. This is attributable to deficient communication between agricultural extension providers and smallholder farmers, among other factors. Extension here entails the application of new knowledge to farming practices through farmers’ education or sensitization. In Tanzania, agricultural extension services have traditionally been provided by the public sector under the coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture, with minimal involvement of the private sector. However, given the poor quality of infrastructures and the government’s inadequate funds and resources, the public sector has been fiercely criticized for its poor performance in delivering agricultural extension services.

In this context, Information and Communication Technologies ICTs, especially the mobile phones, are increasingly recognized as a potential substitute for improving the coverage of agricultural extension services. The increasing number of mobile phone owners in sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, thus presents an exciting potential in improving smallholder farmers’ access to agricultural extension services. However, this new development also raises a few questions that also need to be addressed, such as how do mobile phones really transform the extension industry and to what extent do they affect farming practices and outcome?