19th annual research workshop mobile phones and micro and small enterprises (mse) performance and transformation in dodoma, tanzania by Dr. V. Venkatakrishnan

SECTION IV: MOBILE PHONES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN TANZANIA

Mobile phones were reported to have been used in various sectors in Tanzania for different purposes. Nyamba (2012) indicated that the largest increase in the use of ICT has been in mobile phones. He claimed that mobile phones have penetrated even the rural areas. Based on these, the researchers from Sokine University of Agriculture, Morogoro alongwith their colleagues from other universities were investigating whether mobile phones really can create an opportunity to address the problem of poor coverage of agricultural extension services to maize farmers in the Kilosa district, Morogoro Region. They were also focusing on the role of mobile phones in improving coverage of agricultural extension services in Tanzania. As on the time of reporting (2012), the project was still in the early stages and the results were expected.

Calandro, Stork and Gillwald (2012) reported the main findings of the 2011/2012 ICT access and usage household and individual survey in 11 African countries. They found out that ‘although the Internet penetration in most countries is still very low, more than 70% of Ugandans and 67% of Ethiopians Internet users first used the Internet on a mobile phone. In Tanzania, Namibia and Nigeria about half of the population use the Internet first on a mobile. The growing importance of the mobile phone to access the Internet is also stressed by the responses to the question “Where did you use the Internet in the last 12 months?” Either complementarily to computer access or exclusively, above 80% of Internet users in Namibia, Uganda and Ethiopia access the Internet via a mobile phone. For South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Rwanda Internet is accessed through a mobile phone by 70% of Internet users’ (page 3).
Chambo et al (2013) conducted a study at ten secondary schools in Kilimanjaro Region. The findings of the study indicated that majority of students had mobile phones and had access to internet connectivity. However, the study concluded that m-learning platforms that were in place were not viable solution in all contexts and not necessarily the best solution (Chambo, et al, 2013:698).

The study by Mtega et al (2012) investigated how mobile phones have been used for teaching and learning purposes at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). Most of the respondents of this study reported to use traditional mobile learning applications including text messages and calls. Few respondents had smart phones with a number of m-learning applications and most of them were teaching staff. These were able to create upload, download and share academic resources through their smart phones while others recorded and stored files in their phones. It was also found that among teaching staff many were not aware of the capacity of their mobile phones such that they underutilized them (Mtega et al, 2012:118).

With regard to fishermen in Tanzanian, Myhr and Nordstrøm (2006) found that the fishermen used mobile phones to find buyers and thus cut the time for bringing the fish to the consumers, which led to better quality and higher prices for their products and also made them less vulnerable to loss due to a damaged catch. The fishermen were also able to reduce the amount of spoiled fish while in search of a market buyer (Myhr and Nordstrøm, 2006).
Souter et al. (2005) conducted a study in Mozambique, Tanzania and India. They stated that the potential of mobile phones, in order to reduce vulnerability, lied in people’s ability to obtain information that allowed them to deal with seasonal factors (e.g. weather information), to reduce the imbalance between themselves and those they trade with (e.g. price information) and to respond more quickly and effectively to shocks. This study showed that those engaged in business activities and those of higher economic status believed that the use of mobile phones has brought them significant economic benefits (Furuholt and Matotay, 2011: 6).
Sife et al. (2010) have done a survey on the contribution of mobile phones to rural livelihoods and poverty reduction in Tanzania. They concluded that the phones contributed by expanding and strengthening social networks; increase people’s ability to deal with emergencies and increased the efficiency of travel and business activities (Furuholt and Matotay, 2011: 6).
A study conducted by Furuholt and Matotay in Babati, Tanzania during 2009 and 2011 found out that possibility to own or access a mobile phone had brought radical changes to the way Tanzanian farmers communicated, received information and supported decision making. Further, it revealed some of the unusual new usage and the impact brought about by mobile phone usage (Furuholt and Matotay, 2011: 8-9). This study found out that during preparation for farming and cultivation, farmers used mobile phones, mostly when calling agricultural extension officers for agricultural related advice, about prices and types of seeds and organizing manure and fertilizers. As farmers spend most of the time in the farm areas in the villages, the phones also helped them in communicating with agrovets shops, seeking information about types of seeds and fertilizers to be used given the nature of the season. For example, due to delays of the rains, farmers were sometimes advised to use short-term seeds. They were also able to communicate with extension officers to enquire about subsidized fertilizers and seeds. Another popular type of mobile phone usage during preparation, cultivation and planting was for mobilizing of labour from distant farms and villages. For some farmers, mobile phones were useful when they needed to hire and negotiate prices for tractors for cultivation purposes. It was also reported that the harvesting season was the peak season for the farmers and at that time mobile phone usage increased. During this season, the farmers mostly used their mobile phones in the following ways (arranged in order of importance): calling market centres, agents, players and dealers for prices; selling crops via mobile phones; organizing for storage and booking warehouses; collecting information and ordering of preservative chemicals and contacting distant family members (Furuholt and Matotay, 2011: 10-12). Reduced vulnerability for the rural farmers, information transparency and opportunity for doing additional businesses were cited as the other benefits of usage of mobile phones.
Kadigi et al (2013) had developed an electronic mobile phone Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system namely, “e-Ng’ombe” in an attempt to tackle the pitfall of information asymmetry between producers and other actors in the value chain of indigenous beef cattle in Mwanza region, Tanzania. The authors are optimistic that when successfully adopted and up-scaled to the national level, e-Ng’ombe has the potential of addressing the problem of information asymmetry. It might be noted that the system is under implementation and further details are awaited.
Lund (non-dated) has brought out information on a mobile-phone based experiment called ‘wired mothers’ to improve the maternal and neonatal health in Zanzibar. The pregnant women were linked to a primary health care centre through the use of mobile phones for receiving standard text reminders for care appointments. They also could call the primary provider in case of acute or non-acute problems. Wired mothers’ cards with phone numbers of health centre were also distributed to these mothers for this purpose. Results of this experiment are not yet known.
Hassan and Semkwiji (2011) have focused on the role of mobile phones on sustainable livelihood in Arusha and Unguja (Zanzibar). The main service obtained through mobile phones was information delivery including economic related information such as business news, weather conditions, types and prices of different commodities like new handsets, social information like on ceremonies, deaths, and sickness as well as religious news. They observed that mobile phone technology was believed to increase household income, especially for those engaging themselves in mobile phone business industry, such as selling airtime, running telephone kiosks, agents of m-banking and those employed by the communication service providers. A considerable number of respondents for this study (36%) preferred to receive business related information such as sources and prices of agricultural inputs and other commodities, agro-produce markets and prices, the use of m-pesa service etc. Other preferences mentioned were education related news, entertainment-sports, political and other government events, transport issues like weather, fares, employment information, educational health services and national and international economic news (p.15).
Dias et al (non-dated) have shown that SMS-based data transmission system in combination with open source tools can be feasibly implemented within the social worker community in Tanzania. They also claimed that ‘the SMS-based technology will help supplement the current paper form method for data collection within this community while improving the efficiency and timeliness of transmitted data. Additionally, the affordability of SMS compared with alternative avenues for information communication, render this approach more feasible to and adoptable by the end user; the Para-Social Workers (PSWs) at the ward or village level’ (Dias, et al, non-dated:8).
A study conducted at the District Educational Offices at Iringa Municipal and Iringa Rural, Tanzania found out that perceived ease of use, costs of usage, possible side effects of usage and the compatibility of the technology were the factors influencing the attitudes towards using the mobile phone at work. It concluded that the employees of the two District Education Offices in general had a positive attitude towards using the mobile phone. owHpHH However, the study found out that mobile phone was not quite compatible with the then working conditions as it was not possible to sign an SMS with a signature, as the technology and the work situation not yet were perfect for them to use the mobile phone (Dahl and Lövgren, 2011: 66-7).
Another study was conducted in 2009 in Tanzania (Iringa) and Jamaica focusing on women’s use of mobile phones. It found out that compared to an early study ‘Mobile Phone and Poverty Alleviation: A survey study in rural Tanzania’, which was conducted in 2008, the disparity of mobile phone ownership between men and women was lower in 2009. The ratio of women to men in the previous study was about 1 to 3 while in the 2009 study it was around 1 to 1.5. The later study predicted a better future trend for women and mobile phone technologies in rural Iringa. The study of 2009 also found out that there were advantages such as faster communication in cases of emergency (i.e. sickness or death), reduction of transportation costs, making the business practices easier and solving many family problems which have made the mobile phone an accepted tool in rural Iringa (Ngumbuke, 2010: 79-80 and 84).
Contrarily, Kihwele and Bali (2013:101) based on their study in four secondary schools in Dodoma concluded that parents and teachers agreed that students with mobile phones performed poorly and misbehaved more often than students without mobile phones. They recommended, in order to have value-based control system for appropriate use of mobile phones, providing proper education on mobile phone use and re-introducing censorship board to control the quality of contents on websites.

Similarly Molony (2006), though has identified a good number of entrepreneurs using ICT in various ways to enhance their business prospects, found out that it is a challenge to make interconnection affordable for more users as coverage further expands into rural areas. It was claimed that only when interconnection is affordable, majority of Africans can regularly employ mobile phones and attempt the even greater challenge of applying the Internet for the ‘developmental’ uses (Molony, 2006:348)

Dusabe et al have also devised mobile phone based text messaging service focusing on sexual and reproductive health referral services for implementation in 9 intervention communities in Mwanza region. This is based on the text messaging feature of any basic mobile phone. The intervention will run for 18 months from June 2012 to January 2014 (including 7 weeks pretest). Within a period of 10 months, 45 drug stores have enrolled on the system and 15 dispensaries and 3 health centres have agreed to collaborate with them. More than 800 patients with various RH conditions have been referred from drug stores to dispensaries and health centres (Dusabe et al, non-dated).
Bogan et al (2009) presented a mobile phone-based application called CommCare which helped community health workers (CHWs) to provide home-based care and social support to HIV, tuberculosis and other chronic patients in Tanzania. The application guides the CHWs through a series of questions which they answer using the phone’s number pad. It was stated that initial findings showed that the phone-based system is generally viewed positively by the users and by the clients as more discreet and better for privacy than the paper-based system.
Modi (2013) has identified that in Tanzania there were four mobile-phones based health programs that have the potential to help a large number of people: “Phones for Health”, “SMS for Life” (both supported by government partnerships with private organizations) and e-IMCI and Project Mwana (both supported by non-profit and research organizations). She listed out the ways in which the Phones for Health will enable increasing flow of information between different health systems. By texting or calling patients and local health workers of disease status, directions for taking medicine, or local health issues to be aware of, the program was expected to create an education channel and it also aimed to create a ‘culture of information seeking’.
It was reported that “SMS for Life” used mobile phones, SMS messages and electronic mapping technology to track stock levels of medication at health facilities to increase access to malaria treatment medication and reduce the number of deaths due to malaria. According to Roll Back Malaria Initiative (2010), the “SMS for Life” ran as a pilot program for six months in three districts in Tanzania and the results of the pilot were positive (Modi, 2013).

Hoefman et al (2012:42) brought out the experiences of using mobile phone technology to influence uptake and delivery of Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) among male adolescents and men in Northern Tanzania. Three categories of MMC information in the form of short message were sent out to individuals who opted to be included in the campaign: ‘TOHARA’, meaning ‘Text to learn advantages of MMC’; second with the keyword ‘WAPI’ meaning ‘Text to learn where to access MMC’ and third with the keyword ‘BAADA’ which delivered Post-operation text messages to individuals who had undergone MMC. The study claimed that it was possible to use mobile phone short messaging as a measure to increase uptake of MMC. It also found out that, of the 11401 unique individuals who requested to know the advantages of MMC, 417 (3.7%) requested for post-circumcision information, an indication that they actually underwent MMC.

Ringo and Busagala (2012:72) undertook a study on the role of mobile phones in community policing (sungusungu) in Dodoma Region of Tanzania covering Dodoma Municipality, Bahi and Chamwino districts. This study found out that a greater portion (20.6%) of respondents used mobile phones to report crime incidents than other technological means. The statistical analysis indicated that the proportion was significant (p < 0.01).
Wetengere (2013) found that lack of market information, unfamiliarity with packing and transporting the products, lack of storage facilities and time consuming were the marketing constraints facing farmers. This study brought out that the use of mobile phones have provided timely and accurate market information, widened market options, improved negotiation power and maintained freshness of the products. Further, mobile phones have reduced losses and saved time and money. As a result, the income of the farmers has increased tremendously (Wetengere, 2013:1).
Mobile-money transfer services (MMT) popularly known as m-pesa, tigo-pesa and ezypesa are based on the text-based message service of mobile phones. As on September 2013, it was reported that there were 134,158 mobile money agents serving 40% of the population and occupying 19% of the landmass. There were 30.3 million mobile money subscribers in September 2013 (accounts) or 90% of adults were having mobile money accounts of which 9.9 million or 43% of adults were considered to be active users. The MMT covers areas like P2P (remittances), P2B (bill payments, loan repayments, etc) and P2G (tax payments). Many studies have been conducted in different parts of Tanzania in this regard (Komba, 2013; Venkatakrishnan and Ngilangwa, 2013; Senso and Venkatakrishnan, 2013 and Ngilangwa and Venkatakrishnan, 2014).