ASSESSING THE USE OF MOBILE PHONE TO ACCESS AND UTILIZE INFORMATION IN WHEAT PRODUCTION: THE CASE OF BURIE DISTRICT, AMHARA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

This study was intended to assess the use of mobile phone to access and utilize information in wheat production in Burie District. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the use of mobile phone, factors determining the use of mobile phone; and challenges and opportunities of mobile phone use to access and utilize information in wheat production. Four kebeles were selected purposively for their wheat production potential. Simple random sampling technique (lottery method) was used to select 128 wheat producer farmers. Interviews schedule, key informants interview and focus group discussions were the methods used for collecting the data. For analyzing the data, descriptive statistics like frequency and percentage; and binary logistic regression model were used. Contingency coefficient and variance inflation factor were used to check multicollinearity problems among the independent variables. From the 128 respondents,79 (61.72%) were mobile phone users while 49 (38.28%) were mobile phone nonusers. The model result indicated that the level of education, size of land, total annual income, information seeking behavior, perceived simplicity to use mobile phone, access to credit, reliability of formal information sources, media exposure and experience in agriculture were positively and significantly affecting the use of mobile phone to access and utilize information in wheat production. Relatively educated farm households with better land holding, income, perception about simplicity of mobile phone and information seeking behaviour had better tendency to use mobile phone for wheat production information. Similarly, farm households with more experience in agriculture, having access to credit, media exposure and reliable formal information source had better tendency to use mobile phone. Arranging adult education programs, providing reliable agricultural information, using media, providing credit access, enabling farmers to use the land they owned efficiently and improve their income is important to increase their mobile phone use. Providing support and improving the information seeking behaviour of farmers and sharing experience in mobile phone use are better ways to access and utilize agricultural information in wheat production