Volume 11, Number 12, August 2021

The Adoption of the Internet of Things for SMART Agriculture in Zimbabwe

  Authors

Tsitsi Zengeya, Paul Sambo and Nyasha Mabika, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe

  Abstract

Zimbabwe has faced severe droughts, resulting in low agricultural outputs. This has threatened food and nutrition security in community sections, especially in areas with low annual rainfall. There is a growing need to maximize water usage, monitor the environment and nutrients, and temperatures by the adaptation of smart agriculture. This research explored the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) for smart agriculture in Zimbabwe to improve food production. The mixed methodology was used to gather data through interviews from 50 purposively sampled A2 farmers in the five agricultural regions of Zimbabwe and was supported by the use of the Internet. The findings reveal that some farmers have adopted IoT in Zimbabwe, others are still to adopt such technology and some are not aware of the technology. IoT’s benefits to Zimbabwean farmers are immense in that it improves food security, water preservation, and farm management. However, for most farmers to benefit from IoT, more awareness campaigns should be carried out and mobile and fixed Internet connectivity improved in some of the areas.

  Keywords

Internet of Things, Adoption, Smart Agriculture, Activity Theory, Covid-19.