Adoption of information and communication technology for the development of the incubated rural farming cooperatives in Limpopo province, South Africa

Information and communication technology (ICT) is ubiquitous and has penetrated various economies and farming included. The advent of ICT has expanded the farming sector evidenced by a whole range of value chains that can be tapped to ameliorate the South African triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality particularly in rural areas. Through the adoption of the South African anthology of “Walala wasala” translated as “You snooze, you loose”, this study aims to explore the extent of ICT adoption for development of the incubated rural farming cooperatives in Limpopo Province. Although there are available studies around ICT adoption in farming and cooperatives around the globe, thus far, no commissioned study of this magnitude is available in Limpopo Province on this topic. The contributions of this work will undoubtedly serve as the baseline for subsequent studies. The study is premised on two theories namely, the Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory and Kurt Lewis’s Change theory. These theories were found relevant and suitable for the study as the former serves as the input and the latter as output. The study employed mixed research methods. However, given the nature of the study of obtaining an in-depth information from the participants, the qualitative method dominated the counterpart. The study population was obtained from the 2018 list of the 56 incubated farming cooperatives from the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA). A stratified sampling method comprised of mixed genders from youth and adult farmers was conducted. Due to the Covid 19 protocols, an online semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data was analysed through the five steps of the Atlas. Ti management system. It was through this application that themes were established. The main findings of the study revealed that technology devices, data internet, airtime are unaffordable; youth are the highest ICT adopters; most adult farmers use experience and indigenous knowledge systems; illiteracy as an obstacle In conclusion, besides the government programmes of developing cooperatives through incubation in Limpopo Province, not much has been achieved to realise the usefulness of ICT adoption in farming.Development Studie