The potential of agribusiness extranets to improve communications with farmer clients: a case study from Ireland Online publication date: Fri, 06-Feb-2015
by Pádraig Wims
International Journal of Electronic Business (IJEB), Vol. 11, No. 1, 2014
Abstract: This paper critiques the level of adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among the farming community in Ireland. It was found that although computer access and internet use among the Irish population have been increasing rapidly in recent years, farm households are lagging behind. Broadband access has been particularly problematic in rural areas, where farm households are located. A novel extranet service by a large agribusiness is evaluated in this paper; this service allows farmer clients to access all information relevant to their business accounts with this agribusiness. A structured survey of clients was conducted and respondents were stratified on the basis of their usage of this extranet. It was found that three main barriers are constraining adoption and use of ICTs among Irish farmers: inadequate computer skills; unawareness of the potential of ICTs to contribute to the farm business and thirdly access to Broadband in rural areas.
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