Researchjournali’s Journal of Agriculture

Vol. 8 | No. 11 December | 2021 1

E-Extension Models
For Improved
Viola Kirui
Extension Service Egerton University, Department of Agricultural
Education and Extension, Kenya

Delivery In Kenya:
A Review

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ABSTRACT

The large number of smallholder farmers in Kenya served by declining number of public extension staff has
necessitated for more innovative methods of extension service delivery for effective coverage. This has led to
the introduction of e-Extension services which can play a crucial role in bridging the gap of inefficiencies of
accessing agricultural information by farmers. The number of public, private and non-governmental
organizations providing e-Extension services in Kenya have been on the increase. The services are provided
through a range of platforms such as agricultural websites, mobile applications, social media platforms, farmer
call centers as well as a complementary of radio and TV with social media platforms and mobile phones. The
platforms are expected to give timely, relevant, cost effective and useful information to farmers on best farming
practices, input supply, marketing information among others to enable them improve agricultural productivity
in their farming enterprises. Usage of these services however, is dependent on their ability to meet agricultural
information needs of farmers. These paper aimed to review studies on e-Extension models for delivering e-
Extension services to farmers for improved agricultural productivity. Various e-Extension models available to
smallholder farmers in Kenya, and ways in which their contributions to increased access to agricultural
information can be enhanced have been discussed.

Key Words: Agricultural information, e-Extension Services, e-Extension Models, Smallholder Farmers

1. INTRODUCTION

There are approximately 1.5 billion smallholder farmers in the world and they provide approximately 80 percent
of the food in many developing countries Kenya included. Despite this fact, these farmers tend to be under-
resourced and lacking access to improved inputs, rural services and markets, leading to low productivity and a
lack of opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. Smallholders in many developing countries remain
disadvantaged when it comes to accessing quality Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) (Davis & Franzel,
2018). The development of ICTs has facilitated the dissemination of knowledge and information and has been
identified as a major driver of economic growth (FAO, 2017). Agricultural extension service delivery whose
core mandate is to disseminate agricultural information to farmers can benefit significantly through the use of
ICTs (Nyako & Kozari 2021).e-Extension is a system which depends on ICT’s such as mobile telephony,
innovative community radio and television programs, mobile phones in combination with radio, video shows,
information kiosks, web portals, rural tele-centers, farmer call centers, video-conference, offline multimedia
CDs and open distance learning (Asenso-Okyere & Mekonnen, 2012). Kenya has embraced the provision of e-
Extension services in the delivery of extension and advisory services to farmers’ due to increased mobile
penetration and internet connectivity which stands at over 90 percent as at 2019 (Communications Authority
[CA], 2019). The objective of this study was to review 1) the role of ICTs in agricultural extension service
delivery 2) e-Extension models available to smallholder farmers in Kenya and areas of improvement for

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efficient extension service delivery and 3) factors affecting use of e-Extension services among smallholder
farmers. To address these objectives previous literature published on peer reviewed articles was done based on
relevance to the topics of the study.

2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2.1 ROLE OF ICTS IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

Agricultural extension has been recognized as an essential mechanism for disseminating information and advice
as an "input" into modern farming. The traditional agricultural extension is mainly done by an extension officer
visiting a farmer or farmer field schools (Aker, 2011). However, in most developing countries, there are few
extension officers to serve many farmers (World Bank, 2019). For example, in Kenya the ratio of extension
staff to farmers stands at 1:1500 which is way below the FAO recommended ratio of 1:400. Other than high
farmer to extension ratios, public extension systems also face difficulty in reaching all farmers due to an array
of other challenges ranging from being heavily under-resourced, lack of skilled human resource and
infrastructural support and government reduced budgets in the agriculture sector (Liebenberg, 2015; Davis
&Terblanche, 2016; FAO,2017). Cook et al., 2021 also asserts that the Covid-19 pandemic has also disrupted
the provision of extension services making it difficult for extension agents to physically meet all farmers and
communities. This has been further exacerbated by the fact that farmers are sparsely populated and often times
isolated across large areas. A robust public extension services can only manage to directly reach about 10
percent of the farmer population, and become more limited were less operating funds are available (Bell, 2015).
Another key challenge is that farmers increasingly request specified and varied information, as farming is
becoming more and more market oriented. The farming systems are also quite homogenous as agricultural areas
differ in type of crops cultivated, inputs, labour, machinery and quality standards used. In order to be truly
effective, information and knowledge has to be tailored to meet the needs of the individual farmers (ibid). There
is a need therefore for innovative ways in which the same few extension officers can serve a larger group of
farmers with minimum effort (Lwoga, Stilwell & Ngulube, 2011). ICT has the potential to respond to a number
of challenges that confront public extension systems.

A wide variety of ICT approaches have been tried to enhance extension service delivery. These approaches
differ in the format and the means by which the information is transferred; for example, by text, voice or picture,
through queries or SMS messages, online platforms, videos, call centers radio and television (Bell, 2015). In
some cases, there is direct communication between the sender and the farmer. In others, the messages are
disseminated through a farmer extension worker or a local facilitator that has access to the internet. Other
approaches support two-way interaction enabling back to back and timely sharing of information between
farmers, extension agents and researchers (Barber et al., 2016; FAO, 2017). Some are also interactive in nature
providing farmers with real time solutions to their problems and needs (Saravanan, et al., 2015).

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Research findings reveal that ICTs do improve the productivity and livelihoods of poor small holder farmers
(Munyua, et al., 2009). GSMA, 2018 reports that agricultural digital platforms are driving e-commerce and
provision of digital agricultural services in developing countries. Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria,
Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe have been described as hotspots for digital technology solutions
in Africa. According to Krishnan, (2020) a study done in 2018 in the East African Community among a sample
of 70 agricultural technology firms, between 66 percent and 86 percent specialized in farming applications and
enabling service applications for development. A number of evaluations have been conducted on the impacts
of agricultural applications using ICTs in developing countries to improve the spread of information related to
improved agricultural technologies and management practices. For example, studies have shown positive
impacts of ICTs when applied to extension services for example, Casaburi et al., 2014 found that sending SMS
messages with agricultural advice to sugarcane smallholder farmers increased yields by 11.5 % compared to a
control group with no messages. Fabregas et al. (2019) also reports positive results from six randomized
controlled trials in Kenya and Rwanda that used SMS messages to increase the use of agricultural lime to reduce
soil acidity and increase yields. Gwademba et al., 2020 also reports an increase in maize production among
maize farmers in Tana River in Kenya who had access to ICTs and were receiving customized extension
information services. They indicated that extension information ran included agricultural insurance, access to
inputs, mobile banking weather information, crop/livestock husbandry, markets, production forecasts and
record keeping disseminated through ICT platforms such as cell phones, the internet, radio and television.

2.2 E-EXTENSION MODELS USED IN EXTENSION SERVICE DELIVERY IN KENYA

The availability of ICT tools and services in the developing world have revolutionized key economic activities
such as agriculture. The integration of ICT in agricultural production facilitates access to technical and market
information that contributes to efficiency improvement and productivity gain along all agricultural value chains
(Mwantimwa, 2019; Kansiime et al., 2019). The application of ICTs in agricultural extension brings incredible
opportunities and has the potential of enabling the empowerment of farming communities (Asenso-Okyere &
Mekonnen, 2012). According to Gichamba et al. (2017) e-Extension system enables extension officers to reach
out to farmers using more efficient alternatives to traditional extension system of agriculture using platforms
like Short Messaging Service (SMS), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), downloadable applications,
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and mobile applications. Most services would be duplicated
across different technologies in order to accommodate a larger clientele given the wide array of mobile devices
among the target users. Some approaches support two-way interaction enabling the farmer to respond to or
request from the provider (Barber, et. al., 2016). e-Extension services can speed up the process of agricultural
technology transfer from research to farmers and improve adoption of agricultural technologies by supporting
farmer learning, problem solving and accessibility to profitable markets for their crops (Munyua, et. al., 2009).
Their impact varies widely depending on which specific technology is used, but also on farmers’ level of

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literacy. Research by Heeks (2018) on the impact of e-Extension on rural resilience in developing countries
found out that it makes the sharing of traditional and new agricultural knowledge stronger and easier. In
addition, it can facilitate farmers to receive and use agricultural skills like market information, management of
pest and diseases, information about climate patterns, techniques of farming and livestock management.
Information and communication technology (ICT) enhances the capacity of farmers to learn by providing audio
and video conveying agricultural information (Narine et al., 2019). The use of ICT in agriculture enables
illiterate farmers to listen, watch and learn (Bhattacharyya et al., 2018).

The government of Kenya introduced an e-Extension programme nationally in 2014 to support agricultural
extension service in the country. Through the Ministry of Agriculture, 654 e-Extension agents were trained
nationally and equipped with a smartphone, a laptop and a modem to enable then reach farmers efficiently.
Using innovative approach such as SMS, farmer training, WhatsApp messaging and social networking
extension agents were expected to be placed at the county and ward level and use push and pull method to
disseminate information. The farmers were also expected to incur a cost in the cause of this in the form of
airtime to be able to make calls send SMS inquiries or buying internet bundles to access information online
(Gichamba et al., 2017). The government also listed various online and mobile based platforms that its extension
officers use for agricultural extension. The officers were issued with mini-laptops and internet modems and
were trained on how to get content from the various platforms and disseminate them to farmers. They were then
expected to provide e-Extension services to farmers to enable them to get efficient and efficient extension
service delivery. The government also has wide-ranging digital applications opportunities and analytics in
agriculture which is envisioned under the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS)
2019 - 2029. The targets of ASTGS included creation of digital products such as ICT-enabled extension agents,
digitally trained youth extension agents, digitization of existing data in the agriculture sector, real-time data
collection systems, digitally developed platforms to provide services to farmers and digital subsidy registration
and stock monitoring delivery system (MoALF&I, 2019).Challenges still exists however in the realization of
this targets with progress being identified to be uneven particularly in the rural areas due to geographic and
socio-economic factors which has hindered access to digital services (MoALF&I, 2021). Even though the
country still faces these challenges there are enormous number of e-Extension models that are available in the
country and are providing farmers with different customized e-Extension services (Gichamba et al., 2017). The
providers of these services include public, private, non-governmental and faith- based organizations. The next
section discusses examples of the e-Extension models available to farmers in Kenya and ways that they can be
enhanced.

2.2.1 MOBILE PHONE BASED E-EXTENSION MODEL

As of 2018, two-thirds of the world’s 7.6 billion population owned mobile phones. Increasing penetration of
mobile phones makes it a potential tool to overcome social development barriers such as technology, literacy

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and gender that cause inequality and the digital divide (FAO, 2019). The mobile platform is the primary
computing device for most developing countries. In addition, the mobile phone has been recognized as a tool
of vast potential for economic transformation in key economic sectors of developing countries (Aker & Mbiti,
2010) and has therefore become the default delivery platform for most social and economic empowerment
activities in developing countries. Kenya is one of the countries that has been recognized to be on the lead in
the development of m-services in Sub Saharan Africa tapping into the accelerating mobile penetration over the
years in the country. As at the end of September 2019, Kenya had 53.2 million subscribers up from 52.2 million
subscriptions reported at the end of June 2019 (Communications Authority [CA], 2019). This translates to 96
percent and 93 percent of at least 2G and 3G coverage respectively. The report further indicated that the total
internet subscriptions rose by 4.1 percent to 52 million subscribers with mobile data accounting for 99 percent
of the total subscriptions (CA, 2019). This shows that there is a high potential of transforming Kenya’s
agricultural food systems through mobile platforms in accessing agricultural information given the high mobile
and internet penetration among the population majority of which are involved in agricultural activities.

Information and extension services through the mobile phones also better known as m-services has
transformative potential in accessing important agro-meteorological information among rural farmers (Krell
2020). M-services are delivered in form of Short Message Service (SMS), Unstructured Supplementary Service
Data (USSD), mobile applications and helplines. Baumüller (2016) grouped m-services into four categories:
information and learning, financial services, access to agricultural inputs and access to output markets. M-
services can be used to connect buyers to sellers, disseminate general information about farming and livestock
(such as market information on prices), and send alerts on pest and disease threats (Baumüller, 2018; Santosham
& Lindsey, 2015; World Bank Group, 2018).

In Kenya, it has been documented that access to mobile money services was found to reduce extreme poverty
in female-headed households by 22% (Suri & Jack 2016) and to have a positive impact on agricultural
household income (Kikulwe et al., 2016). Examples of m-services that are currently available to farmers in
Kenya include but not exclusive icow, ikilimo and M-farm. ikilimo is a mobile based application that provide
farm based and advisory services to farmers on various topics ranging from animal production, farm machinery
& equipment’s, food processing, high value crops, plant production and marketing. The platform is available
to farmers as a mobile web application. The information available in the application has been created by a team
of agronomists and agricultural experts. Since its inception in 2013 it is reported that the platform attracted
5,000 farmers within the first year and the numbers have continued to grow annually (Gichamba, 2017). icow
is another mobile based application which provides extension and advisory services to farmers using different
platforms such as USSD, SMS and the web (Qiang, et al., 2012). The platform offers advisory services to dairy
farmers by tracking the fertility cycle of their cows, giving them breeding tips, animal nutrition and milk
production efficiency to help them increase milk yield and income (Brown 2014 as cited by Gichamba 2017).

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Farmers register to icow platform through a USSD code, subscribes for the services and register their cows and
their insemination date by SMS short code. A study by Marwa et al. (2020) shows that the use of icow services
by smallholder farmers in three counties in Kenya had a positive and significant effect on milk production and
income. Similarly, it has also been reported that farmers using icow platform increased their yields by 3 litres
per cow resulting in increased income (Gichamba, 2017).

Another application is M-Farm which is mobile service and a web platform aimed at improving smallholder
farmers’ participation in the market through linking them to buyers (Baumüller, 2015). With M-Farm, Kenyan
farmers can either collectively sell their produce to large buyers through contracts or are connected to buyers
and sellers via the internet or mobile phone (Wyche & Steinfield, 2016). It groups farmers’ orders, provide
them with current market prices as well as facilitating access to large-scale markets such as exporters,
wholesalers and retailers and is also possible to purchase and deliver the products. According to Baumüller
(2016) such kind of services could improve agricultural productivity in two ways. One by encouraging
technology adoption, since access to information about price and demand can reduce uncertainty about the
likely profitability of a technology. Two by increasing prices, since market information can widen competition
and improve farmers’ bargaining position. The author also reports that information about prices influences
production processes, such as deciding what to grow and when to harvest, and encourages farmers to expand
certain crops, but is less influential in introducing new ones. A study by Wyche and Steinfield ( 2016) to
investigate the factors that impede adoption of M-Farm services in western Kenya showed that farmers who
owned feature phones did not use them to access M-Farm services due to a number of factors. They report that
the factors included lack of mobile phone credit which limited use of SMS, lack of electricity which limited
charging of phones, wear and tear of phones limiting its use, user perceptions toward mobile phones where
preference is for voice communication rather than SMS-interaction.

2.2.2 VIDEO BASED E-EXTENSION MODEL

Agricultural information through public extension has generally been undersupplied and its provision remains
challenging particularly in most developing countries. One way in which this information can be accessed by
farmers is through use of simple agricultural extension videos in local languages, which can be delivered in
downloadable formats though their mobile phones. As smart phones continue to expand farmers will
increasingly have the means to watch videos demonstrating new agricultural techniques or take pictures of pests
and diseases affecting their crops and make requests for automatic identification, diagnosis and
recommendations as well as raising questions with agronomists and extension agents (Van Campenhout et al.,
2016; Bentley et al., 2015). This technology combines pictures and words in motion and learning takes place
through seeing and hearing. It is believed that when both seeing and hearing senses are engaged, farmers can
learn better and acquire knowledge faster. This is due to the fact that images and words in motion tend to appeal
to visual and audio senses respectively (Bentley et al., 2014)

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Videos, especially digital ones may help to meet the challenges of disseminating information to farmers and
reaching the poor, marginalized, women, and young people. Bentley et al., (2015) indicate that some uses of
video in agriculture include raising awareness, stimulating demand for support, farmer-to-farmer extension,
training on agricultural innovations, stimulating creativity, and as a tool for documenting and monitoring and
evaluation. The authors also further attests that different types of videos include documentary for describing
events, institutional for promoting a project of an organization, instructional developed mainly by researchers
with limited input from farmers, farmer learning videos made with farmers and participatory videos which made
by farmers themselves. Some of the evidence of the impact of videos and potential scalability include studies
of farmer-learning videos in Benin and Uganda where rice-growing communities could remember the contents
of rice videos five years after viewing them and had made technical and institutional innovations such as
contacting extension agents to request rice seed. Also, Women’s groups in Benin that watched videos innovated
more, and strengthened their groups to produce and sell parboiled rice while Ghanaian cocoa farmers trained
through video viewing clubs had significantly improved knowledge of technical topics compared to a control
groups (Bentley et al., 2014). A study by Ongachi et al. (2017) also revealed that video mediated learning
approach had a greater influence on the uptake of Maize Striga control strategies compared to Farmer Field
Schools among farmers in western Kenya.

An examples of video based e-Extension model available in Kenya include access agriculture which provides
a platform through which farmers can access downloadable videos that has been translated into different local
languages. According to Karubanga et al. (2016) video mediated agricultural information is an effective tool
particularly among famers with no formal education but also asserts that it cannot stand alone in both knowledge
acquisition and application. Access to agricultural videos by rural farmers still remains a big challenge
according to Okry et al., (2014). Most rural farmers in third world countries like Kenya have little access to
source of power and possess ordinary mobile phones without internet and memory card features; a fact which
affects visualizations of the farmer-to-farmer video (Zossou et al., 2009). Further, lack of adequate access to
video related accessories, lack of personal access to the videos, Inappropriate content that are irrelevant to the
farmers’ needs in most rural areas alos make it difficult for farmers to embrace video mediated learning (Zoundji
et al., 2016). Karubanga et al. (2016) reports that the use of videos among farmers however could be improved
through awareness creation through local channels such as radio, translating videos in to local languages, and
customizing and adopting the videos to local context. Bentley et al., (2015) also enumerates some of the key
principles of to be considered when using videos as agricultural extension and learning tool. These include,
good quality videos, relevant content based on farmers’ needs, farmer involvement on video development,
videos should be combined with other extension training methods and be institutionalized within rural advisory
services through appropriate policies and regulatory frameworks.

2.2.3 SOCIAL MEDIA BASED E-EXTENSION MODEL

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Social media refers to the web-based tools and media that allow users to personally and informally interact,
create, share, retrieve, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks (Suchiradipta
& Saravanan, 2016). Social media includes social networking sites, blogs and microblogs, online forums,
discussion boards and groups, wikis, socially integrated text messaging services, videos and podcasts, and many
more (Suchiradipta & Saravanan, 2016). Examples of social media platforms that have transformed the way
farmers interact and are able to access agricultural information include platform a such as WhatsApp, Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube among others. These platforms have presented a cost-effective means of communication
with, and among, smallholder farmers and other key agricultural stakeholders such as extension officers, agro-
dealers, retailers, agricultural researchers and policy makers (FAO, 2019). According to Saravanan et al., 2015,
the basic philosophy of social media is the democratization of information that provides a medium for social
interaction, community networking, intercrossing relationships and collective participation among
stakeholders.

Social media sites enable users to share content or to participate in social networking. Through social media,
users are able to access services using web-based technologies on desktops and laptops or download services
which provide social media functionality to mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. These electronic
services have led to the creation of highly interactive platforms through which individuals, communities and
organizations can share, co-create, discuss and even modify user generated content (FAO, 2019). As noted by
Gonte, (2018), social media has developed significantly in the past few years, creating opportunities for rural
farmers to obtain information and knowledge about agriculture. Barber et al. (2016) viewed social media as
integrating all functions; from providing advice and sharing knowledge to creating awareness, linking with
other actors, and technology transfer. The use of social media in agricultural extension and advisory services
has changed the traditional technology and information dissemination into a modernized form (Ali & Man,
2017).

In Kenya, mobile penetration is estimated at 100 percent, with 83 percent of these users having a smartphone
(CCK 2018; Nguniri, 2018). Access to smartphones has led to a rise in the use of social networking platforms
such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and WhatsApp. These platforms provide means for people of shared interest
to interact with the help of Internet connectivity through phones, tablets, or computers despite the distance
(Chesoli et al., 2020). Other than social purposes such as keeping in touch social networking has been used to
promote products and services, data collection, dissemination of information and agricultural extension and
advisory services (Welch et al., 2018). Examples of social media agricultural innovations that have been
developed in Kenya include Mkulima Hub Kenya, Young Farmers Market, Digital Farmers Kenya, Mkulima
Young and are enabling farmers to access agricultural information (Kipkurgat et al., 2016). Other Kenyan
agricultural institutions such as The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization and the
Agricultural Information Resource Center have also incorporated social media platforms such as Twitter,

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YouTube, and Facebook and blogs as part of their information systems. It is also evident that there is
convergence of traditional media and social media in providing and shaping agricultural content. Agricultural
program aired on Kenyan television such as “Shamba shape up” aired by Citizen TV and “Seeds of Gold” a
pull out in the Saturday nation newspaper both have social media platforms. Other agricultural programs on
local radio stations also have social media platforms for receiving feedback from farmers. Low usage social
media among farmers however, has been attributed to lack of awareness, lack of internet connectivity and data
bundles, costs associated with using gadgets in accessing social media sites and lack of skills (Kuria, 2014).

2.2.4 MASS MEDIA COMBINED WITH MOBILE PHONE E-EXTENSION MODEL

Radio is one of the most widely used media for disseminating information to rural audience across Africa as a
result of the increased ownership and widespread use among farmers (Hudson et al., 2017; Sousa et al., 2016).
Therefore, it offers a create opportunity to reach often remote, dispersed and poorly underserved farmers, by
overcoming barriers of distance and poor road infrastructure common in most rural areas (Baumüller, 2018).
Radio has also been well researched on in terms of ICT based extension advisory method which provides
farmers with accessibility to agricultural information and extension services. Radio has been paired with other
ICT applications to provide farmers with agricultural advisory services. An example of this is combination of
radio and mobile phones, often though SMS and real time mobile calls in the Kenyan local vernacular stations
which broadcast agricultural programmes with interactive sessions were farmers can ask questions and receive
feedback from experts. This according to Hudson et al., 2017 has become an important tool in information
exchange and community networking.

A few studies are there that have assessed the impact of the use of radio and mobile phone in delivering
agricultural information that triggers an increase in awareness and uptake of agricultural technologies (Aker,
2011; Baumüller, 2018; Hampson et al., 2016; Hudson et al., 2017; Kaskekacharo, 2016). Hudson et al. (2017)
have shown that participatory radio campaigns increased knowledge and adoption of promoted agricultural
practices in African countries. A review of the literature on the impact of mobile phone-based services for
farmers in developing countries, conducted by Baumüller et al. (2018), presented contrasting and limited
evidence. However, other studies have shown that mobile-based services paired with radio are associated with
improved knowledge and adoption of agricultural practices (Fu & Akter, 2012; Larochelle et al., 2019),
production of diversified crops (Aker & Ksoll, 2016), gender equality and improved household welfare
(Sebakira & Qaim, 2017). Other studies in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and Ethiopia have shown that radio still
remains the most widely used medium in disseminating agricultural information to rural farmers. The studies
show that interactive radio programmes were widely used by farmers because they are broadcasted in local
languages making it easy for them to understand the content (Hudson et al., 2017; Barakabitze et al., 2017;
Misaki,2016; Otene, 2018). In Kenya according to a study done by Okello in 2010, radio is mostly used in rural
areas due to its extensive coverage of frequencies, availability of many vernacular radio stations, and its

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portability nature. A number of vernacular radio stations in Kenya also airs agricultural content for example
Inooro FM, Kameme FM, Citizen FM and Utugi FM with some complementing each other with the Television
stations airing the same content (Okello, 2017). These stations also integrate use of other ICT platforms such
as SMS, USSD, mobile calls and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to engage their listeners.

Another Mass media ICT tool that has gained a lot of popularity among most Kenyan rural farmers is the
Television mainly due to increased accessibility to electricity. This in turn has led to an increase in agricultural
TV programmes that broadcast agricultural technologies and information and are also available in various
languages. Examples of agricultural TV programmmes aired in Kenya include “Shamba Shape Up” aired by
Citizen TV, “Seeds of Gold” aired by NTV, “Mkulima Young”, “Mugambo wa Murimi” aired by Inooro TV,
and “Mkulima ni Ujuzi” aired by QTV (Pauline, 2013; Okello, 2017). Therefore, Radio and Television have
played, and still continues to play, an important role in agricultural extension and in getting farmers in touch
with key extension services. According to Mtega and Msungu (2013) complementarity of TV, mobile phone
and radio were found to positively influence the use of these ICT tools among farmers in Tanzania. The
researchers found the radio and TV were complementary with TV showing the same program in the evening
hours, and radio in the early hours of the day. In addition, their study confirmed that the positive effect of
complementarity on the intention to use the mobile phone both in information access and mobile money
services.

2.2.5 FARMER CALL CENTER E-EXTENSION MODEL

Farmer call center is one of the emerging ICTs which has become the largest development intended to provide
extension services where, operators answer farmers’ questions at a central location. Call centers integrates
different technologies to maximize the use of information and streamline its activities with operators (CoLab,
2018). Through their phones, farmers are able to access timely and relevant technical support at reasonable
costs from the call centre (McGuire et al., 2015). Farmer call centers are becoming popular in providing
agricultural extension services in developing economies. For example, the Indian Kisan Sanchar Limited is a
mobile information provider to rural farmers through 38,000 Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (IFFCO)
societies throughout India and provides farmers with real time agricultural information through a call center
and daily voice messages. In Kenya, the Farmers Helpline operated by KenCall, a for-profit call center, is a real
time call service staffed by agricultural experts and subject matter specialists that provides agricultural
information, advice and support to smallholder farmers over the phone, using voice and voice call-back to
farmers, not SMS (USAID, 2010, Mojaki & Keregoro,2019). The call centre primarily targets individual
farmers but also the services are available to agricultural extension agents. Farmers are provided with
information on, inputs, climate and market information improved agricultural production and processing
through their mobile phones. In an event that the farmers’ questions cannot be answered by the expert at once

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the helpline agent contacts a second line consultant and reverts to the farmer within 24 hours and the services
are available in English, Swahili and other local languages (Kiambi, 2018).

Nakuru Farmer call center is another example of a farmer call center in Kenya. The center borrowed heavily on
the methodology from the India Kisan Call Centre based in Hyderabad in Telangana State, India. The purpose
of the call center is to provide real time extension messages through phone calls, SMS and social media
platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp to farmers (County Government of Nakuru [CGN], 2020).
The operators at the call center attempts to answer the problems or queries of the farmers immediately. In case
the operator at the call centre is not able to address the farmer’ questions, then it is forwarded to an identified
agricultural specialists and the answer reverted back to the farmer. The center is supported by the Nakuru
County Government through the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries since 2018 (DOALF
Nakuru County Extension report, 2020).

2.3 FACTORS AFFECTING USE OF E-EXTENSION SERVICES AMONG SMALLHOLDER

FARMERS
The section above has discussed the various e-Extension models used for delivering extension services to
farmers for improved agricultural productivity. ICT has been indicated to be an enabler to building a society
that is well informed and were all members are able to create, access, share and utilize information and
knowledge (Okello 2010). Three prerequisites requirements have been reported to determine the full potential
benefits of utilizing ICTs. These include access, capacity (ICT skills) and applications (services). Access to
ICTs include both hardware and the underlying infrastructure. ICT capacity includes varying degrees of skills
along a continuum ranging from basic ICT skills to specialized technical skills. Finally, the application or
services must be localized affordable and relevant (Nyirenda, 2010). Access depends on the provision of ICT
infrastructure and content, while the adoption of the service is dependent on the value the individual places on
it.

There are numerous challenges that have hindered the penetration of ICT in agriculture in Kenya. Notably, on
the nature of communities, a number of challenges have been identified which include their ability to use the
technology to access information for their work, gender and social differences (Awuor, 2016). A study
conducted by Munyua and Adera (2009) summarizes the main challenges that influence the use of ICT as: high
cost of available technologies, inadequate infrastructure and lack of ICT skills, poor and expensive connectivity,
inappropriate ICT policies, language barriers, low bandwidth, inadequate and/or inappropriate credit facilities
and systems. Other challenges identified are, poor involvement of women and other vulnerable groups,
unsuitable local content, weak institutions and inadequate collaboration and awareness of existing ICT facilities
and resources, a poor information sharing culture and low awareness of the role of ICT in development at all
levels (Asenso-Okyere & Mekonnen, 2012)

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3. CONCLUSION

e-Extension services are very crucial in providing agricultural information to farmers and have proved to be the
impetus in improving productivity on farming activities. They have shown to play a crucial role in enabling
farmers access timely, relevant and cost effective information for decision making, access quality market,
collaborate with other stakeholder and access advisory services. Given the challenges that exists in the extension
system in the country which has constrained farmers from accessing agricultural information the adoption of e-
extension could provide great opportunities to extension service delivery. The rapid penetration of mobile
access in particular has led to improvements in the lives of the rural farmers and the trend could continue as
internet access also expands. Different ICTs and platforms have been used to meet different information needs
of farmers through different e-extension models. It is therefore, important that the providers of the e-Extension
services should ensure that they create awareness about availability of the services and also customize their
massages to meet the needs of the farmers.

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