Effect of Mobile Phone Ownership on Agricultural Productivity in Benin: The Case of Maize Farmers

Abstract

Given the importance of maize in the diet of citizens and country's objectives in terms of food security and export, a study on maize production is of great importance. This paper examines the effect of mobile phone ownership on agricultural productivity in Benin: The case of maize farmers. It uses a micro-data from Benin by adopting a two stages regression strategy. As previous studies, the results show significant evidence that mobile phone ownership improves maize farmers' productivity in Benin. Specifically, the findings show that the mobile phones ownership enhances the production of 0.21 and 0.04 respectively in the two models. This implies that through phones, extension agents without moving can inform farmers about farming techniques and national leaders should seek to promote the telecommunications so that a greater number of citizens can benefit from better services that enhance their productivity and that of the country.