Education, technology and agricultural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose This study aims to assess linkages between education, technology and agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. In developing countries, agriculture struggles with limited resources, poor infrastructure and climate change impacts. Access to information technologies (IT) has become crucial for boosting production and resilience. However, farmers’ lack of understanding of IT can negatively affect their food production. Thus, education is necessary to help farmers understand and use IT to improve their food production. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzes the role of education in the IT-agricultural production nexus in sub-Saharan African nations (SSA) using panel data on 34 countries over the period 2004–2020. The system generalized moments technique was used for the model estimation. Findings The results show that IT can be effectively complemented by education to enhance agricultural production. The thresholds of education needed for IT to increase agricultural production are provided. The established thresholds are as follows: 0.651 for “fixed broadband,” 0.641 for “fixed telephone”, 0.476 for “internet,” 0.538 for “mobile cellular subscription” and 0.489 for “IT.” These findings suggest that the reinforcement of educational quality could help consolidate IT to enhance agricultural production. Originality/value This study complements the extant literature by examining the nexus between education and technology in light of agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa.

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