Main Research Findings

Mobile phone (MP) technologies and their applications – such as mobile money transfers – are gaining in importance, connecting farming households to markets through enabling market information, money exchange, and market integration, thus aiding inclusive social and economic welfare improvements. Previous research on MP technologies has largely focused on impacts in terms of market access, input and output prices, and remittances. Possible impacts on social welfare indicators – such as household nutrition or gender equality – have largely been neglected, even though improvements in such social welfare dimensions were prioritized in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A knowledge gap thus existed in understanding household income, agriculture, gender equality, and nutrition effects of MP technologies that are now widely adopted in many developing countries. With regards to key MP technologies’ applications like mobile money (MM) services, previous research showed that the rapid spread of MM in Africa could contribute to welfare gains in rural and urban households.

One important mechanism that was mentioned in several studies is through higher remittances that MM users receive from relatives and friends. However linkages of MM services with supplementary income activities generating off-farm incomes, and access to high-value markets had not yet been investigated.

We addressed these knowledge gaps by studying impacts of MP use on household income, gender equality, and nutrition using regression models and panel data from Uganda. We used simultaneous equations, and gender disaggregated data to study MP use impact pathways. With regards to MM services we tested the hypothesis that other impact pathways – that were not analyzed previously – could also be important, especially in a smallholder farm context.

68 Precisely, we hypothesized that MM services could help farmers to access higher-value markets and thus receive higher prices for their products. We also hypothesized that the use of MM could increase off-farm income beyond remittances.

Where we used aggregated MP use as the treatment, results showed that MP use has significant positive impacts on household income, gender equality, and nutrition. From reduced-form panel modes, where we controlled for other factors, mobile phone use increases household income by 26% and gender equality by 19%. Similarly, mobile phone use enhances household food security and dietary quality. Gender-disaggregated data analysis also reveals that female MP use bears stronger effects on household income, gender equality, food security and dietary quality than male MP use. These improvements are inclusive since are proved at household level both in aggregate terms and gender disaggregated perspectives. More clearly, female MP use improved gender equality or women empowerment through increasing proportions of productive assets owned by females or jointly with their spouses. These income and gender effects of female MP use impacted positively on household nutrition; hence we identify income and gender equality as key MP impact pathways for household nutrition. These are interesting findings since traditions in rural settings of SSA have largely alienated women from household resources’ ownership.

Such alienation of women from resource ownership had left household sectors dominated by women for instance feeding and health lacking in household resources allocation. Female MP use significantly increased income; through reduced transactions costs and access to market information.

With regards to the hypotheses tested for MM services use, results revealed that the adoption of MM technology contributes to higher household welfare in terms of household income and consumption. Total household income gains through MM were estimated at 19%. Gains in

off-69 farm income were estimated at around 45%, regardless of whether or not remittances were included. In fact, the MM treatment effect on remittances alone was found to be insignificant, suggesting that MM services may be more relevant for other off-farm income sources in this particular case. Small businesses in handicrafts and trade and transport services are the most important off-farm income sources for rural households in the sample. These businesses benefit from the new savings and money transfer opportunities through MM technology. MM users were also found to be more likely to sell coffee in dried and shelled form to buyers in higher-value markets instead of selling to local traders immediately after harvest. Due to higher savings and off-farm incomes, MM users are less cash-constrained, so that the need to sell immediately after harvest is reduced. Moreover, MM services facilitate transactions with buyers from outside the local region, because this often involves agreements where product orders, deliveries, and payments do not occur at the same time and place. Controlling for other factors, MM users fetched 5% higher average prices for their coffee than farmers who were not using this new technology.

In brief we conclude that MP use and MM services can contribute to rural social and economic development through various pathways. The rapid spread of MP and MM technologies within only a few years is remarkable and implies their acceptance and importance to adopting households.

On the other hand, although results largely turned out as hypothesized, data were collected from only central Uganda, and used only two survey rounds, hence results may not be widely interpreted. However, we stress that – to the best of our knowledge – this is the first study exploring impacts of MP use on gender equality and nutrition using a panel survey with gender-disaggregated observations. This is also the first study to analyze impacts of MM services on

off-70 farm incomes and agricultural marketing. Of course, there is always scope for further improvements in terms of the geographical coverage and the data and methodologies used.