Article2011

E-Commerce in Agro-food industry in Zimbabwe: myth or reality

Shepherd Mupemhi · Ronicah Mupemhi · Richard Duve

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E-commerce and Technology Innovations Technology Adoption and User Behaviour Digitalization and Economic Development in Agriculture

Abstract

Electronic commerce has become a valuable model for the growth of business in every sector of the economy. This paper examines the level of e-commerce adoption in agro-food firms in Zimbabwe. A cross-sectional design using a survey method is used. The results show that e-commerce growth in agro-food firms in Zimbabwe is still at the embryonic stage. The implications to industry and the whole economy are discussed. The proliferation and hyper-growth of the Internet and related technologies since the 1990s, has created a conducive environment for business (13)). A plethora of studies have shown the strategic and operational applications of e-commerce in organisation. These include internal communication (7), external information search, (8,12) receiving payment, (6) and taking orders (11). Different scholars, including (2,3) have posited that agro-firms are not different from non-agricultural firms in terms of information communication technology (ICT) applications. In Zimbabwe, agriculture is the backbone of the country. Agricultural firms employ 66 % of the total workforce in the country. In terms of revenue, this sector contributed between 20 -25% of the GDP from 1996 to 1999. After the land reform programme which started in 2000, the agriculture industry has been characterised by low yield and productivity as a result of under-investment, uncompetitive prices of produce, low ICTs utilisation, among others. While there have been a lot of publications on the reasons for under-investment and uncompetitive prices in the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe, there is dearth of knowledge regarding the status of e-commerce in this sector. A. Purpose of the study This research had two main objectives. Firstly, to evaluate the extent of use of e-commerce technology by agro-food marketing firms in Zimbabwe. Secondly, to identify factors that have hindered the adoption of this new technology by those firms that have not yet adopted it. B. Literature Review

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1988Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach 1999An exploratory study of small business Internet commerce issues 1994Electronic Commerce: Strategies and Models for Business-to-Business Trading 2003Electronic commerce development in small and medium sized enterprises 2004E‐commerce adoption support and advice for UK SMEs 2010ICT adoption in developing countries: perspectives from small‐scale agribusinesses 2002The Status of B2B E-Commerce in the South African Manufacturing Sector: Evolutionary or Revolutionary?

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