The Impact of Audio Phone Reminders on Kenya Farmers' Knowledge and Uptake of Drought Tolerant (DT) Maiz

Changing climate, such as drought stress, can lead to harvest failures and losses in Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries. Scientists have been breeding improved seeds that are resistant to drought. However, the demand for these drought tolerant (DT) maize varieties is still low. Farmers also lack knowledge about modern practices that can increase their productivities in growing DT maize. This study designed and tested two strategies of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) aiming to increase farmers' knowledge and uptake of DT maize. The first one is a locally-made or "participatory" video. The second one is a "multichannel" method that integrates the same video with timely mobile phone-based audio messages. We conducted a field experiment in Machakos and Makueni counties in south central Kenya. The experiment randomly allocated the two strategies to farmers in the study areas. We found that farmers in the multichannel group retained significantly higher knowledge about DT maize and its accompanying management practices than farmers in the control group. Though the difference is not statistically significant, farmers in the video-only group also had a higher score in knowledge of these practices than those in the control group. Further, farmers in the multichannel group were significantly more likely to be willing to plant DT maize in the next primary growing season. This study contributes to a greater understanding of farmers' learning and uptake of DT maize. The results suggest that ICT strategies that integrate contextualized knowledge and timely reminders could help farmers gain knowledge about DT maize and encourage them to try new seed varieties.