Abstract. Full text article available at http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd28/4/ngow28059.html
Information and communication technologies are commonly acknowledged as the best means of knowledge and information acquisition for socio-economic growth in rural areas of developing countries. The study was carried out to generate information on the socio-economic characteristics of agro-pastoralists, sources of production information, type of information and communication technology obtained, the level of utilization and effect of information and communication technology on the agro-pastoral system. The study adopted a combination of cross-sectional and case study designs. Data were generated through direct administration of structured questionnaires to 407 agro-pastoralists, key informants interview that involved managers from Rural-ICT Service Providers (RISP) and village extension officers.
Results show that seventy percent (70%) of the agro-pastoralists contacted were men, with the higher proportion of ages ranging between 18-34 years followed by 35-54 years old. 62.4% of sample agro-pastoralists had attended primary education, with the rest (37.6%) having secondary education and above. In terms of ownership of important ICT assets, agro-pastoralists contacted have and are more familiar with radio (84.5%), mobile phones (76.2%), telecentre (64.1%), and television (73.7%) for agricultural and livestock information and knowledge acquisition than magazines (44.0%) and newspapers (36.4%). Only 42.2% of the agro-pastoralists agreed that ICT have highly positively impacted their livestock and agriculture (agro-pastoral livelihoods); 31.0% confirmed that they have been impacted; while 24.8% agreed that they have not been able to coordinate and harness information obtained from ICT to improve their productivity in livestock and agriculture. It is concluded that the potential of ICT services in rural areas as yet remains untapped. This is because of the limited level of awareness on the use of RISP (telecentres alongside with community radio) to improve and enhance agriculture and livestock production. Therefore, urgent measures are required to derive maximum benefits of ICT among agro-pastoralists for sustainable agro-pastoral system in rural Tanzania.