Title: Could ICT contribute to the revival of family farming?

Authors: Maria Botsiou; Vassilios Dagdilelis

Addresses: Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia str, P.O. 54006, Thessaloniki, Greece ' Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia str, P.O. 54006, Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract: The question dealt with in this paper, concerns the potential ICT contribution in strengthening and reviving the family farming. We present the results of a qualitative research on the ICT usage, that was held in 29 Greek farms (Kilkis prefecture - northern Greece), and conducted with semistructured interviews. The research's objectives were the detection of farmers' attitudes in relation to the ICT adoption in their enterprise, the ICT usage skills' detection, and the collection of statements concerning the selection of the social environment to facilitate closing the existing educational gaps in the ICT usage. In total, there are four types of ICT enterprise conduct, with particular interest in type B, where the farmer chooses to cover his ICT needs with the help of his family members.

Keywords: ICT adoption; family farms; farming; qualitative research; Greece; information and communications technology; information technology; farmers; farmer attitudes; agriculture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2014.063579

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2014 Vol.10 No.2, pp.112 - 128

Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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