The role of ICTs in agricultural production in Africa

Over the past two decades Africa has experienced the fastest growth in the global telecommunications market, especially due to the tremendous growth of the mobile telecommunications sector. Studies have shown that ICTs play a significant role in a country’s development, and the strategic application of ICTs to the agricultural sector, which is the largest economic sector in most African countries, offers the best opportunity for economic growth and poverty alleviation on the continent. The main objective of this paper is to assess if at all the proliferation of ICTs on the African continent has had any significant impact on agricultural production. The study uses the 2000-2011 panel data for 34 African countries, since this is the period when the spread of ICTs is deemed to have started having an impact on the continent. It applies Antle (1983) methodology and approach by utilizing specific ICTs as input variables. The results suggest that ICTs play a significant role in enhancing agricultural production, despite mobile phones having an insignificant impact while telephone main lines remain a significant contributor to agricultural growth despite the wide proliferation of mobile technologies. The results also suggest that certain socio-economic characteristics such as higher education levels and skills are prerequisites for effective improvements in agricultural production due to the adoption and utilisation of new technologies.    Key words: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), agricultural production, ICT utilisation, Africa, agricultural output, agricultural production function and Feasible Generalised Least Squares (FGLS).