Evaluating the Influence of Socioeconomic Factors on Smallholder Farmer's Social Media Adoption in the Nkomazi Local Municipality, Mpumalanga Province

Abstract

Social media has the potential to provide enhanced and faster measures of disseminating agricultural information to smallholder farmers. This study investigated socioeconomic characteristics encompassing demographic factors affecting smallholder farmers' adoption of social media. The study focused on varying livestock and crop smallholder farmers, including cattle, goats, maize, sugarcane, and leguminous crop producers. A cross-sectional survey was employed to collect the data using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a Binary Logistic Regression was used to analyse the data. The sample size was 217 smallholder farmers. The results revealed that age, level of education, annual farming income, and cooperative membership were statistically significant (p < 0.05) in social media adoption. The study findings show that skills and training in ICT increase the probability of adopting social media, and the socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder farmers influence its adoption. The study concludes that stakeholders such as local government must improve smallholder farmers' basic literacy and skills in digital technology. It further recommends that policymakers formulate policies that provide the necessary infrastructure and supporting inputs such as open access internet, cell towers, and cooperative social media platforms that allow for interactive interactions with relevant stakeholders that provide advisory services.