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Horticultural crops information dissemination in Kenya using mobile

1. 2 6 9 Regular Updates uae da d ter HERRERA alioli 17 2 7 Android Application Development Methodologies eee 17 2 7 1 Agile Methodolosgy 5 eee RB deb Be Pee ER HE ra enti ERE HEURES 17 2 7 2 Waterfall Methodology teet e cte n pi eee ERR it 18 2 7 3 Extreme Progr mimnin 1e ettet E E eta stasti ksi 18 2 7 4 Rapid Action Development nieto tt 18 2 8 Conceptual Design tert eletto bep iral ee ee rei aida 19 2 9 Literature Summary oann ee a npe laica 19 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY tecti mre teeth pt ede diri 21 3 1 Mobile Application Development nennen nennen rennen nnne 21 3 1 1 A 21 3 1 2 UII Mira d 22 3 1 3 Development of design scenarios and use cases ssseeeeeneen eme 25 3 1 4 Application Development mii eee eR e P m o Reo EHE erre rein 31 3 2 Research Methodology 5 A 33 32 1 Introduction 5 eee te ie eie ceti e ier rri eta E eet e ege aen esee aede 33 3 2 2 Usability Eyt O ra iiie ner iasaisad saussdacesiesisconcetsssseissaceduenssaietussnavedevacteoaveiees 33 3 2 3 Instrument Development and pre testing aaaaeasesss ee 33 3 2 4 Populations S 35 3 2 5 NEP 35 3 2 6 Data Collection MUR 35 3 2 7 Dat Amal ysis viii nica dias 35 3 2 8 Data Presentation and interpretation ooonoccnoncnonnnanncnnnnnnn conca nonononcnnn nono nennen nem reme 36 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS eene emen 4
2. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2 1 Introduction This entails a background of what other researchers have done in the field of designing user interface on mobile applications This would assist in relating the existing literature with the research problem It also helps in not missing out important dimensions of the problem carried out by others and also helps in identifying and filling gaps that earlier studies had missed Only reviews of the past related studies to the problem are presented here In Kenya crop farmers need to acquire information about their crops at any time they require it and in a convenient way regardless of the context they are in Agricultural Officers from the Ministry of Agriculture provide most of this information directly to farmers through their website visiting farms or during farmer s day where they organize practical trainings to a group of farmers With limited availability of Agricultural Extension Officers who would give advices to crop farmers on the solutions to their crops problems an alternative way of providing the information is required to protect the country s economy Mobile application that would provide information to the crop farmers about their crops problems would be necessary For example with the crop farmer being in a position to recognize the abnormal symptoms affecting his crops he should be in a position to explore the problem and get the possible solutions to the crop without having to
3. UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI SCHOOL OF COMPUTING amp INFORMATICS MSc CS PROJECT Application Development HORTICULTURAL CROPS INFORMATION DISSEMINATION IN KENYA USING MOBILE APPLICATION Wainaina Joyce Wangui P58 66304 2011 Supervisor Dr Robert Oboko A research submitted to the School of Computing and Informatics in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Masters of Science in Computer Science of the University of Nairobi JULY 2013 Declaration This project is my original work and to the best of my knowledge it has not been presented for a degree in any other university Joyce Wangui Wainaina This project has been submitted as part fulfillment of requirements for the award of Masters of Science in Computer Science of the School of Computing and Informatics of the University of Nairobi with my approval as the University Supervisor Dr Robert Oboko Abstract In Kenya some horticultural crops are rarely grown because farmers lack information on growing them The research has established that unreliable sources of pre harvest information have greatly affected the production of strawberry and mushroom in the country This study aimed at developing a mobile application which can assist strawberry and mushroom farmers in Kenya by providing them with pre harvest information about the crops The study also sought to provide a way of accessing the information by farmers efficiently and effectively This
4. A Disagree Thewaythat can understand There istoo much The organization will never learn have to look for system andactonthe toread beforeyou ofthe menusor touseallthatis assistance most information is information canusethe information lists offeredinthis timeswhenl use presented isciear provided by this software seems quite software thissoftware and software logical understandable Based on the analysis majority of the respondent agreed that they could easily get started with the application and be able to learn new features of the application with ease this is evident in that all the respondent 100 said that the system information was clearly presented and understandable and they could act on information provided by the application 81 8 agreed that the organization of menus was logical and same percent disagreed that they could never learn to use all that is offered in the system While 100 disagreed that they have to look for assistance most of the times when using the system 40 5 Helpfulness This is the extent to which the application seems to assist the user Either the amount or quality There is enough information afthe help information varies on the screen when it s across the system needed Disagree Either the amount Dr quality There is i nf the help information varies information on the screen across the system when it s needed Based on the responses 72 7 disagreed that the amount of help inf
5. Installing non market APK files from a computer to your Android phone using the Android Software Development Kit SDK before proceeding to step B 3 3 Plug the phone into the computer via the phone s USB cable 4 To mount the phone pull down on the status bar at the top of your phone s screen and select USB Connected then select Mount 5 An Autoplay wizard may pop up on your computer If not open the computer 53 Explorer file manager application on your computer You should see the phone has been mounted and is listed as an accessible device Click on it to navigate to the phone s SD card 6 Use the computer s file manager to copy the APK file from your computer to the phone s SD card 7 Unmount the phone from your computer i e right click on the phone device shown in your computer explorer file manager application and select Eject or Unmount It is safe to remove the device when it disappears from the computer explorer file manager device list 8 Unplug the phone from the computer 9 Continue with step 3 below 3 Open the Applications menu i e the tab in the bottom centre of the phone s home screen and click on the Settings application 4 Select Applications from the Settings menu 5 Make sure that the first selection Unknown Sources is checked so that you can install an APK file from a location other than the Android Market A warning message about the phone being vulnerable to attack would b
6. making the information materials available on mobile phone becomes difficult considering their capacity screen size etc Designing a mobile application that considers the user interface of the mobile phone size can be adopted to enable the majority of the phone users access the information and enhance their usability for use by people Rahimian V and Ramsin R 2008 2 4 2 1 Designing principles for Usability Any system designed for people should be easy to use easy to learn easy to remember and helpful to users Metamanda 2003 recommend that designers striving for usability follow these three design principles e Early focus on users and tasks e Empirical measurement e Iterative design 11 Early focus on users and tasks The design team should be user driven and in direct contact with potential users Several evaluation methods including personas cognitive modeling inspection inquiry prototyping and testing methods may contribute to understanding potential users Usability considerations such as who the users are and their experience with similar systems must be examined As part of understanding users this knowledge must be played against the tasks that the users would be expected to perform This includes the analysis of what tasks the users would perform which are most important and what decisions the users would make while using your system Designers must understand how cognitive and emotional characteris
7. 56 HOwto Plant You can also play various videos by clicking on the button in the content window to see the content of the video POT pe Requiremer 57 6 The user can also give feedback about the application by clicking on the feedback button which displays an area to write the comment and then click on submit button to send the feedback 58 APPENDIX E Sample Code Listing the Crops on the application namespace AGRICAPPS Activity Label Crop List public class FarmerCropList Activity Button Crop1 Crop2 private TextView txtCrops LinearLayout Container protected override void OnCreate Bundle bundle base OnCreate bundle SetContentView Resource Layout FarmerCrops Cropl FindViewByld lt Button gt Resource Id mycrop1 Crop2 FindViewB yId lt Button gt Resource Id mycrop2 Container Find ViewByld lt LinearLayout gt Resource Id CropsLinearContainer stringsCrop Straw Berry Cropl Text Crop sCrop Crop1 Click delegate var intent new Intent this typeof Farmerlnfo StartActivity intent 5 string sCrop2 Mushrooms Crop2 Text Crop sCrop2 Crop2 Click delegate 59 var intent new Intent this typeof MushroomContent StartActivity intent Displaying the crop content how to plant namespace AGRICAPPS Activity Label Strawberry Planting public class FarmerInfo Activity Button button LinearLayout Container priv
8. Arid Land Information Network Community Sustainable Development Empowerment Programme Communication Commission of Kenya Gross Domestic Product Information and Communication Technology Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Non Governmental Organization Rapid Action Development Software Development Life Cycle Short Message Service Software Usability Measurement Inventory Unified Modeling Language Unstructured Supplementary Service Data Wireless Application Protocol Extreme Programming viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 Background to the problem In Kenya Agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors contributing 24 to the Gross Domestic Product GDP KNBS 2012 Majority of the Kenyan population practices farming The various farming activities they engage in include pastoralism horticultural farming cash crop farming and subsistence farming A significant number of crop farmers in Kenya practice horticultural farming These farmers need reliable and accessible source of information on best farming practices and techniques diseases and their control measures The information should be timely and convenient regardless of the location of the users Agricultural extension Officers from the Ministry of Agriculture provides this information directly to the farmers through the Ministry s website farm visits during farmers field days practical trainings to groups and individual farmers However these means of availing
9. Information Information displayed with still images Video Button Figure 13 Structure of various categories of the crops information 3 1 3 4 Data design How the application data is held in the database This was developed using SQLite database It holds information on the various crops 30 Table Structure MyCrops No Field Name Data Type 1 CropID Integer 2 CropName Varchar 3 CropReq Varchar 4 CropDesc Varchar 5 CropHarvest Varchar 6 ShowCrop Integer Table 1 Structure of the application database 3 1 4 Application Development This phase involved development of the mobile application It included the following sub phases 3 1 4 1 Development of the crops information This involved identification of rare and highly valued crops in Kenya identifying farmers who grow them and visiting them to get first hand data regarding the crops pre harvest practices 3 1 4 2 Development of low fidelity prototype This involved making sketches in papers to see how the application would look like This assisted in getting the ideas in mind when coding 3 1 4 3 Development tools The paper work was translated into a software prototype This involved the actual development of the application using monodevelop platform C programming language visual studio 2005 as Integrated Development Environment and SQLite for database 3 1 4 4 Testing During this phase the application was built int
10. This data was analyzed by creating a system of classification with a list of mutually exclusive categories 35 After this an application was developed that considered usability concepts and principles to disseminate information this was done so as to meet the second objective Later the third objective was tested by carrying out a usability evaluation to assess the usability of the application which would imply overcoming agricultural information access barrier The usability evaluation was done through the use of questionnaires Simple random sampling technique was used to pick respondent during the evaluation The quantitative data was then analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Science SPSS and Microsoft Excel Frequency analysis was done and presentation of the results was done using tables and graphs 328 Data Presentation and interpretation 1 Affect refers to how much the application captures the user s emotional responses This software occasionally would behaves in a recommend enjoy session Working with have been fully hasn talways The software has way which software to with the this software is a very attractive can t be colleagues software fying consideration was expecting presentation understood ri re cy nt cy nt cy nt cy nt cy nt cy nt cy nt hes sme us oo eme ses ip oaf sims ol oo iu of oof of oof al oa los al alan al ma awe Lol ool ol ool ol ool ol ool al mol ol ool
11. a form of research for informing and evolving a project as successive versions or iterations of a design are implemented The key requirements for Iterative Design are identification of required changes an ability to make changes and a willingness to make changes When a problem is encountered there is no set method to determine the correct solution Rather there are empirical methods that can be used during system development or after the system is delivered usually a more inopportune time Ultimately iterative design works towards meeting goals such as making the system user friendly easy to use easy to operate simple etc 2 5 Current Kenyan Mobile Applications in Horticulture 2 5 1 M Farm mobile application This is an application that gives Kenyan farmers information pertaining to the retail price of their products buy their farm inputs directly from manufacturers at favorable prices and find buyers for their produce It is available both as an application in Android and Short Message Service SMS to all phones The application provides information regarding markets for horticultural products only but lacks other information useful to horticultural farmers especially during pre harvest period of the crops Accessed from http mfarm co ke in February 2013 How the M Farm operates The provider collects wholesale market price information on 42 crops in five markets in Kenya Pricing information is collected daily through
12. and what is close to hand and not what actually the best is or most appropriate Nicholas 1996 The inadequate number of Agricultural Extension Officers is another barrier to information access For example Ozawa 1995 and Aina 2006 noted that because of the low numbers of Agricultural Extension Workers farmers hardly obtain new information This is because the ratio of Agricultural Extension Workers to farmers is low Bilonkwamanagara 2008 points out that Agricultural Extension Workers do not reach every farmer and few farmers receive agricultural extension services Hence there is limited flow of information about the latest agricultural technologies and both men and women are equally denied access to extension services in villages where there are no extension agents Mntambo 2007 2 4 Mobile Applications According to McNamara 2009 Mobile Applications are software designed to take advantage of mobile technology enabling the collection and transmission of data for economic and social activities whether for commercial administrative or entertainment purposes Mobile phones are owned by more people provide delivery in an instant more convenient way can deliver personalized information to individual owners are cheaper to deploy provide other functions such as voice communication In addition most mobile applications can be replicated across different mobile interfaces and devices such as SMS phones mobile browsers smart
13. contact an Agricultural Officer or any other expert The need for a mobile application is critical for the farming environment where there is minimal or no services from the Extension Officers or other experts Information is considered as an important resource that contributes to the development of a nation It provides the core for the development of knowledge it is the basis for innovations and is a resource for an informed citizenry with the result that it is a key commodity for the progress of a society Majid and Kassim 2000 2 2 Mobile Phones Mobile applications can be used on a growing list of devices though the prevalence of smart phones with a data plan which allow users to run applications on the phone s operating system browse the web and send and receive e mail makes them attractive options for mobile projects that are supported with mobile technology The use of mobile devices seems a natural fit for distributed learning and field activities in that handheld technology can not only accompany the learner almost anywhere but also provide a platform that is rapidly evolving and always connected to data sources Educause ELI 2010 In this research a focus is given to Android mobile phones A survey carried out by Audiencescapes in July 2009 shows the various trusted means of delivering information to crop farmers both in rural and urban areas of Kenya Mobile phones are increasingly widespread though not like Radio espec
14. disseminating information This was developed and evaluated by users who found it useful in disseminating horticultural information Third objective was to increase access to information for horticultural farmers using mobile technologies This was achieved as many of the application evaluators indicated that the application is usable which means it can add to the existing systems With its implementation farmers would be able to access information from their mobile 42 43 Limitations of the study During the study there were some challenges that were encountered and some were solved They included Acquiring correct first hand data for the application was a challenge This was solved by reviewing online materials and getting contacts to people who have knowledge Consultation with people assisted in identifying those with first hand information Another challenge was getting users to evaluate the application This was mostly because the farmers who grows or are interested in growing the rare horticultural crops are few in the country The study overcame this challenge by getting information from farmers attending Agricultural Society of Kenya show in Embu County The target was farmers visiting mushroom and strawberry demonstration by the Ministry of Agriculture 44 Recommendations The study found out that the mobile application developed can be used effectively by the farmers This is evident from the usability evaluation conducted a
15. information to farmers have been facing challenges mainly due to scarcity of Agricultural Extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture resulting to infrequent and unreliable farming information According to Kibett J K et al 2005 one extension officers currently serves 1 000 farmers instead of the recommended 400 farmers With the increasing emergence and use of modern technologies devices such as mobile phones have become common gadgets in our society According to quarterly statistics report of Communication Commission of Kenya CCK at the end of second Quarter of the 2012 13 financial year a total of 30 7 Million subscribers were registered on the mobile network representing a marginal growth of 1 0 percent from the last quarter Mobile penetration stood at 78 0 percent during the period up from 77 2 percent recorded during the previous period Talbot 2011 reported that Android phones are increasing in the Kenyan market and are becoming more affordable with more than 350 000 Android users Thus most people including farmers own or have access to Android mobile phones Mobile phones can be used to meet the rising demand of information by crop farmers by providing access to mobile applications that can assist them in accessing information regarding farming activities such as diagnosing diseases affecting their crops and possible solutions to the diseases This in return would improve their yield leading to the betterment of Ke
16. of USSD technology in Mobile Banking Margono T amp Sugimoto S 2011 The barriers of the Indonesian extension workers in disseminate agricultural information to farmers International Journal of Basic amp Applied Sciences 11 2 98 105 Metamanda 2003 paper on Designing for Usability Key Principles and What Designers Think Miles M B amp Huberman A M 1984 Qualitative data analysis A sourcebook of new methods Beverly Hills CA Sage Mobinex 2010 Mobile Application Development Methodology V3 Momodu M O 2002 Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour of Rural Dwellers in Nigeria A Case Study of Ekpoma in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State Nigeria Library Review Journal 51 8 406 410 Nicholas D 1996 Assessing Information Needs Tools and Techniques London ASLIB Norman J C amp Ntokotha E M 1990 Assessment of Agricultural Information Needs and Resources in SADCC Member Countries Southern African Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural Research Gaborone 46 Omekwu C O 1998 Needed User responsive Agricultural Libraries in Developing Countries http www sla org pubs serial iu 1998 omekwu html Ozawa V N 1995 Information Needs of Small Scale Farmers in Africa The Nigerian Example Quarterly Bulletin of the International Association of Agricultural Information Rahimian V and Ramsin R 2008 Designing an agile methodology for mobile
17. slm 36 120 0 100 0 80 0 60 0 40 0 N Agree 20 0 00 i Undecided N Disagree would recoment lenjoysession Working with this ltisobviousthat The software The software has Thissoftware softwareto withthe software softwareis userneedshave hasn talways averyattractive occasionally colleagues satisfying been fullytaken done what was presentation behavesin away into expecting which can tbe consideration understood The respondents were given the application to use in accessing information and later evaluated on affect dimension of usability Based on the analyses majority were satisfied and were affectionate on the application this is evident in that all the respondent 100 said they would recommend the software to other farmers and that they enjoy working with the software whereas 90 996 said that working with the software was satisfying 2 Efficiency This refers to the degree to which the user can achieve the goals of his interaction with the application in a direct and timely manner UE ETE esi coppia The speed of this software is fast enough pne Fenn 37 M Asree m Undecided M Disagree Instruction and Software st The speed ofthis prompts are sometime stoped software is fast helpful unexpected hy enough Based on the analysis majority of the respondent found the application efficient The entire respondent 100 responded that the application was fast enough while 81
18. study outlines the development of a mobile application which contains information on Strawberry and Mushroom crops Various categories of the two crops were developed and their details given This was to ensure that farmers could easily access the information they need regarding the crops Use of videos and images was integrated in the application for ease of understanding the concepts The study found out that horticultural farmers can use the developed mobile application effectively considering the findings of the usability subscales evaluated of efficiency affect control learn ability and helpfulness Acknowledgements I would wish to thank the Almighty God for standing with me and giving me the strength to pursue my study I wish to acknowledge my husband Cyrus Muiru for giving me ample time and support during the entire study To my father my two mothers and my siblings thank you for your prayers and encouragement during the entire time I was conducting the project To my supervisor Dr Robert Oboko thank you for always being available throughout my research project listening giving me supportive advice and insight on my project Mr Robert Gitau of Rogita Plants Care Consultants Mr Stanley Kinyanjui and Mr Stephen Kamau of COSDEP I appreciate your support for being key informants of my study data To my colleagues Stephen Mwaura and Nicholas Kakwe thank you for your support in various stages of the project My clas
19. the watering process How do you improve production after mulching Explain the pruning process Are the crops affected by diseases and what are the symptoms How do you control or prevent the diseases Mushroom 1 2 3 4 5 What are the tools reguired when one needs to plant Mushroom Explain the substrate sterilization process Explain the planting process What are the major diseases and pests that affect mushroom How do you control or prevent them 49 APPENDIX B Application Usability Evaluation questionnaire These questions were adapted from Software Usability Measurement Inventory SUMI questionnaire Options were whether user Agrees 1 Undecided 2 Disagrees 3 The following questions ask about your experience when using the mobile application Please take few minutes to respond to them Use options of whether you Agree 1 Undecided 2 or Disagree 3 1 O 0 U OQ ta A W N NO N N NO Re a a gt n Ra Pana wW N e O NO NR Da d WO NY KF O I would recommend this software to my colleagues The instructions and prompts are helpful The software has at some time stopped unexpectedly Learning to operate this software initially is full of problems I sometimes don t know what to do next with this software I enjoy my sessions with this software If this software stops it is not easy to restart it It takes too long to learn the software commands Working with this so
20. 12 publication online Available at http www Knbs or ke downloads pdf Kenyafacts2012 pdf Accessed February 2013 M Farm 2011 Online Available at http www mfarm co ke Accessed November 2012 Mobile Marketing 101 Chapter 4 Mobile Technologies SMS MMS USSD amp Bluetooth Wireless Infrared 2013 Online http www quirk biz cms 3189 quirk emarketing mobile marketing101 ch4 pdf Accessed November 2012 Quartely Sector Statistics Report of April 2013 Online Available at http www cck go ke resc downloads Sector statistics for Quarter 2 2012 2013 pdf Accessed in January 2013 Using SQLite in your C Application Online Available at http www codeproject com Articles 22 1 65 Using SOLite in your C Application Accessed in February 2013 Specialists IAALD CABI University of Agriculture Makurdi Nigeria 40 1 Available at http www worldbank org html cgiar newsletter june97 9nigeria html Accessed in February 2013 48 APPENDICES APPENDIX A Interview Check List Strawberry l What is the name of this County Describe the weather condition in the area Major horticulture crop in the area What are the requirements when one needs to plant strawberry crop and how long does it take to mature Explain the planting process What are the various ways of planting the strawberry What type of farm input is required How regularly do you use the farm inputs Explain
21. 2 4 1 Concl sionsz ops ended Ao Saad 42 4 2 Key Achievements nae uen is 42 4 3 Limitations of the Study 25 ass gt se as s t a ais 43 4 4 Recommniendations eret O ena t ra me zs dea eese Pegs 43 4 5 Suggestions for Further Research terre rete e FE re oda khi erg 43 REFERENCES rmt 44 APRENDICES resistant 49 APPENDIX A Interview Check List echte it tee ete adt as tusi ra 49 APPENDIX B Application Usability Evaluation questionnaire eee 50 APPENDIX C Application Installation Manual adapted from http vbraille cs washington edu doc how to install apks pdf eeene 52 APPENDIX D User Manual on working with the application eseee 56 APPENDIX E Sample Code pereat o tel a eos dir e iia 59 List of Figures Figure 1 Mobile Application Development Methodology Guide Mobinex 2010 11 Figure 2 The design scenario of how horticultural mobile application works 15 Figure 3 Adapted from Agile development methodology by Larman C 2004 16 Figure 4 Scenario of the application administrator updating the content esses 19 Figure 5 Scenario of a user deploying application in mobile phone sessssse 20 Figure 6 Scenario of a user accessing informatiOn cc cece eee e seen eee m em 20 Figure 7 Structure or the applieatlom sv E A en armas te a ss 21 Figure 8 Disp
22. 3 1 2 Agile Methodology The mobile software application has user interface modules which react immediately to user interactions and since this is an environment with rapidly changing user demands the development of such applications requires an agile approach Among the available software development methods agile methods are the most appropriate and potential solution for mobile applications Rahimian V and Ramsin R 2008 This methodology was adapted in the application development which had the following phases 3 1 2 1 Needs Analysis During this phase the scenarios about how the application was to be used in real life were designed In this phase the following questions were answered Which user features functions were to be developed for which section Which services were to be integrated to the application How would the segmented users use the application in real time What were the usability scenarios for the application During walking in the car busy environment working environment etc Which platforms would be supported This phase had three processes which include Requirements features and components specifications It also involved goal design that determines the principles and goals to guide in the other steps involved in the application development 3 1 2 2 Requirements Specifications Requirements specification involved designing of activities that would give the overall goals and more specific re
23. 8 said that it worked perfectly 3 Control is the degree to which the user feels he and not the software is setting the pace leaming to operate Sometimes don t Ifthissoftware lttakes too long to This software seems to tis easy tosee ata is initially full of know what to do next stops itis not easy leam the software disrupt the way normally glance what the options problems with the software to restart it commands like to arange my work are at each stage A25 p N5 Frequency Percent Total 11 100 0 11 100 0 11 100 0 u 1001 11 100 11 100 38 s Agree m Undecided a Disagree 0 T Learningto Sometimes dont Ifthis softweteakes too long Thissoftware ltisezsytosee st operate isinitially know what todo stops itisndt learn the seemsto disrupt a glance what the fullofproblems nextwiththe easy to restart software the way normaly optionsare at software commands like to arrangemy each stage work Based on the response given by the respondents majority of them felt that they could easily set the pace for the application and not the application setting the pace This was supported by 72 7 respondent who did not get difficulties in operating the application 81 8 of respondents said that the application was fast enough and worked perfectly 4 Learn ability is the ease with which a user can get started and learn new features of the product 39 a Undecided
24. Nigeria Dutta 2009 points out that because they are illiterate they often get information that is outdated unreliable and inaccurate through informal networks and this puts them at a disadvantage professionally as well as financially Small Scale farmers are likely to be affected in the same way Television and radio are good sources of information However they are expensive rural areas lack of electrification batteries are expensive the timing of the programmes is sometimes not helpful the messages are of poor quality and use the wrong language Kalusopa 2005 Dutta 2009 Information access can also be hindered by a lack of resources and excessive costs For example internet access and online use of information systems are costly as noted by Nicholas 1996 Most of the agricultural information is written in English which cannot be understood by small scale farmers in Africa and as pointed out by Ozawa 1995 Momodu 2002 a large number of African farmers are illiterate and so they cannot read or write in any language Information which is written in English is not useful to small scale farmers In supporting the same idea Omekwu 1998 points out that small scale farmers in developing countries are unable to acquire up to date information due to language barriers The information provided needs to be simple and in a language which can be understood by many farmers noted Rwazo 2007 Therefore people use what is easiest to get
25. UREREVIE Vesna Aia 6 2 1 Iritrod ctOn cri A EA AA a a a a 6 22 Moble Phone Seas rette rr eerte ce Ue ana day P Eug d EX SERRE E ER eg esee etre ya 7 2 3 Hindrances to Information Accessibility in rural areas eeeeeee 7 2 4 Mobile Applications ere ete eee E e e te ae A 9 2 4 1 Mobile Applications Platforms eeseeeeeeeeeeeeeenen rennen nemen nemen 10 2 4 2 Importance of quality user interface for mobile application seeesessss 11 2 5 Current Kenyan Mobile Applications in Horticulture eseeseeeeeeeemee 13 2 5 1 M Farm mobile application eese nennen nem rennen rennen 13 2 5 2 Bun eie 14 2 5 3 Summary of existing applications nennen emere rennen 14 2 6 Mobile Application Development Guide eese nnne eene 14 2 6 1 Needs ASSeSSITIeDt c3 irre e IH A 15 2 6 2 Storyboarding iia Ras sete atia eere akas kases EE ee eee E pe Rao cad 16 2 6 3 Server Client Unified Modeling Language UML Flow eee 16 2 6 4 bsp mE 16 2 6 5 Offline Online Developer iere et ree teni s a 16 2 6 6 Testing phase of the developed application eeeeeeennen e 17 2 6 7 Signing Process Process of encoding a digital certificate into the application 17 2 6 8 Application Distribution Application delivery to the segmented users 17
26. al Organization for Standardization Kalusopa T 2005 The Challenges of Utilizing Information Communication Technologies ICTs for the Small Scale Farmers in Zambia Library High Technology 23 3 414 424 Kari H K 2007 Availability and accessibility of ICT in the rural communities of Nigeria The Electronic Library 25 3 363 3 2 Kibett J K Omunyin M E amp Muchiri J 2005 Elements of agricultural extension policy in Kenya Challenges and opportunities African crop science Conference Proceedings Vol 7 pp 1491 1494 Kirakowski J amp Corbett M 1993 SUMI the Software Usability Measurement Inventory British Journal of Educational Technology 24 210 212 Krishna Reddy P amp Ankaiah R 2005 A framework of information technology based agriculture information dissemination system to improve crop productivity Current Science 88 12 1905 1913 Lake C amp Tessmer M 1997 Constructivisms implications for formative evaluation Paper presented at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology 45 Larman C 2004 Agile and Iterative Development A Manager s Guide Addison Wesley p 27 ISBN 978 0 13 111155 4 Lawal Adebowale O amp Akeredolu Ale B 2010 Agricultural workers perception of information and communication technology usage for agricultural development in Southwest Nigeria Journal of Social Development in Africa 25 2 Long Van 2009 Use
27. apid Action Development Model RAD is best suited for projects that are very urgent and need quick delivery the main objective of Rapid Application Development is to avoid extensive pre planning generally allowing software to be written much faster and making it easier to adapt to changing requirements 18 2 8 Conceptual Design Mobile Phone Access Information SSSI from server through Application Server Farmer their mobile Request data Process amp Return from database requests j XY Deposits Crops Agricultural Experts Information IFtoERSHOH E Resourcein Access data in the Database the db Figure 2 The design scenario of how horticultural mobile application works The Agricultural expert who is the administrator of the application updates the application with current information resources which is stored in the database db The Farmer User downloads the application in his android mobile phone through the play store or Google play from the application server He then installs the application in his phone and gets a shortcut icon in the main menu which he can use to open the application any time he needs to access it 2 9 Literature Summary A review of the literature has found examples of successful applications which have considered farmers needs Most of the requirements considered are post harvest information requirements Factors affecting success dissemination of agricultura
28. application The feedback content is accessible to the administrator to assist him in improving the application in reference to the user s feedback 28 Feedback Feedback tab Write your feedback here Figure 10 User feedback form Strawberry Crop Information button When user clicks on the strawberry crop button he should access various categories of information regarding strawberry The user can navigate easily to the type of information he needs without having to scroll a lot of data If it is information regarding the diseases their symptoms and how to control them he will just click on that button to access that information Strawberry Farming Ecological Requirements Soil Management How to Plant Diseases Symptoms amp Control Measure Figure 11 Structure of the Strawberry information category Mushroom Crop Button When user clicks on the Mushroom crop he should access various categories of information regarding mushroom Where he can easily access the type of information he needs and have an option to select 29 Mushroom Farming Tools Needed Substrate Sterilization How to Plant Challenges and Solutions Figure 12 Structure of the Mushroom information category Categories Information When a category button is clicked it displays the content of that category with text information still images and a video button which opens a video regarding the provided information Horticulture farmer
29. application installer or file manager to open it The installer would list all the APK files stored directly in the root directory of your SD card In the list you should see the APK file you copied to the SD card in step 2 Click on this APK file name Similarly the file manager would provide a list of the SD card contents from which you can select the APK file A new screen showing the selected application s name at the top is displayed This screen gives you more details about the application including the different functionalities it would need to access To install the application just click on the Install button on the bottom of the screen A new screen is displayed once the installation is complete and you can choose to immediately run the application by clicking the Open button on the bottom of the Screen 55 APPENDIX D User Manual on working with the application 1 Download the application on your android mobile phone Install the application in your mobile 2 After installing the application an icon named crops info will be displayed in the main menu as shown in figure below 3 Click the icon named Crops Info to open the application in the main menu It will display the list of available crops in the application as shown in the figure 4 Select the crop you wish to access information about by clicking on the button displayed You will then get various categories of information regarding that crop
30. ate TextView txtCropTitle private TextView txtCropPlanting private Button btnVideoPlay protected override void OnCreate Bundle bundle base OnCreate bundle SetContentView Resource Layout FarmHelp txtCropHarvest Find ViewByld lt TextView gt Resource Id tvCropPlanting btnVideoPlay FindViewByld lt Button gt Resource Id btn Videos READ FILEF string content 60 using StreamReader sr new StreamReader Assets Open StrawberryPlanting txt j content sr Read ToEnd Set TextView Text to our asset content txtCropHarvest Text content END READ FILE btnVideoPlay Click delegate var intent new Intent this typeof HelpActivity var intent new Intent this typeof FarmerVideoPlayer StartActivity intent h Displaying Video in the mobile application namespace AGRICAPPS Activity Label Farmer Helper Videos public class FarmerVideoPlayer Activity protected override void OnCreate Bundle bundle base OnCreate bundle WebView webView new WebView this webView Settings JavaScriptEnabled true webView Settings SetSupportZoom true webView Settings BuiltInZoomControls true 61 out webView Settings Load WithOverviewMode true Load 100 zoomed webView ScrollBarStyle ScrollbarStyles OutsideOverlay webView ScrollbarFadingEnabled true webView VerticalScrollBarEnabled true webView HorizontalScrollBarEnabled true webView SetWebViewC
31. ation which is required by farmers while growing horticultural crops to assist them in getting high yields of their crops 2 6 Mobile Application Development Guide Mobinex 2010 provided a guide to mobile application development methodologies which indicates the various phases to be included in the methodologies as shown in figure 4 14 Needs Assessment Storyboarding Server Client UML How Signing Process Application Dsitribution Regular Updates Figure 1 Mobile Application Development Methodology Guide Mobinex 2010 2 6 1 Needs Assessment This phase should put forward the scenarios about how the application would be used in real life In this phase the following questions would to be answered Which user features functions would be developed for which segment Which services would be integrated to the application How would the segmented users use the application in real time What are the usability scenarios for the application While walking in the car busy environment working environment etc Define Offline Online information Which platforms would be supported Decide application distribution method 15 2 6 2 Storyboarding This is used to determine the interface and other structural characteristics and the workflow of the application It would answer the following questions e How would be the flow chart of the application What kind of information would be included in whi
32. ch page Which model would be used for content presentation n which page which content buttons would be used In this phase the following items have to be determined The structures of the pages in application Navigations of the buttons and pages Flow of the pages in application scope 2 6 3 Server Client Unified Modeling Language UML Flow The operations on data resources and their usage Definition of the resources that would provide the dynamic data 2 64 Design This is the visual design of the application interface It would answer the following questions What would be the Brand Name for the application Name of the application Brand Name Brand Image etc How the segments would be designed What are the visual and audio media that would be used in the application What type of mobile would be used for this application 2 6 5 Offline Online Development Flow phase from offline application to online version by integrated the dynamic data s What are the success criteria for application performance Which delivery method would be used for this application download 16 2 6 06 X Testing phase of the developed application It would answer the following questions What would be the Test Cases Writing test cases should start at the beginning of the development and would evolve in each step Does the application fulfill the established performance requirements Which p
33. computing infrastructure and other consumer usage On the other hand psychological barriers are due to the failure of individuals to perceive their information needs or the failure to obtain needed information from appropriate providers Other factors according to Wouldiamson 1997 include the cost of information and fear of accessing information by the community In addition lack of education remains the primary obstacle to meet information needs of the working poor in developing countries Dutta 2009 The study conducted in Southern Africa Development Community countries by a two man commission revealed that the major constraints in relation to agricultural information were a lack of adequate equipment such as computers photocopiers up to date books as well as inadequate budgetary allocations and the lack of scientific journals Norman and Ntokotha 1990 Aina 2006 points out that farmer in Africa is largely illiterate so they cannot use the printed materials as a vehicle for disseminating agricultural information The use of print media that is leaflets and newsletters as message carriers are of limited use for reaching illiterate farmers Relevant agricultural information publications in Africa are scarce due to inadequate financial resources In addition the quantity and quality of publications still pose a problem as relevant information cannot be accessed in a timely manner by users Ozawa 1995 Citing the example of fisher folk in
34. dy targeted farmers planting mushroom and strawberry in rural areas in Eastern and Central region of Kenya who have access to android mobile phones 325 Sampling Purposive sampling of farmers attending Agricultural Show of Kenya ASK Embu was done with a target of fifteen 15 farmers 3 2 5 1 Sample Size Eleven 11 farmers were randomly chosen and used to evaluate the application Five 5 were mushroom farmers and six 6 were strawberry farmers 3 2 6 Data Collection The application was deployed and installed on mobile phones that have android operating system It was then demonstrated to eleven 11 farmers individually on the operation of the application They were then allowed to practically use the application to access the information provided by the application The young and literate users were given a questionnaire to evaluate the application For others who were not quick in understanding the questionnaire the questionnaire was administered to determine the usability of the application This phase answered the following question Does the application meet the certain criteria such as functionality visuality and usability 3 2 7 Data Analysis Data analysis was performed for the purpose of ensuring the set objectives were met To meet the first objective a field visit was conducted through a key informant interview to collect content for the application A purposive selection was done to identify the key informants
35. e displayed Select OK to continue if you trust the APK file you are about to download You can change this setting back after the current installation is complete 6 If you do not already have an application installer or file manager installed on your phone you would need to download one from the Android Market and install it To do so follow steps and 8 If you already have an application installer on your phone skip to step 9 7 Open the Android Market application in the Applications menu on the phone and search for App Installer Note if you have never accessed the Android Market before please see the first section Installing applications from the Android Market to your phone for more information Several app installer applications would be listed Click on one of the free installers in the list e g Applnstaller by Cdroid Themes then click on the 54 Install button at the bottom of the screen Alternatively search for a free file manager such as Astro File Manager by Metago and install it from the market 8 After the application installer or file manager is installed pull down on the status bar atthe top of the screen and you should see its name listed click on this name to open the application You can also open the installer or file manager by following step 9 9 If you already have an application installer or file manager on your phone open the 10 11 12 Applications menu and select the
36. ed an agile development method as incremental multiple releases cooperative a strong cooperation between developer and client straightforward easy to understand and modify and adaptive allowing for frequent changes Larman C 2004 said that it has the following planning requirements analysis design coding unit testing and acceptance testing 2 7 2 Waterfall Methodology Waterfall Development Model is best suited for projects where in the project requirements are static amp would not change over the period of time during the software development life cycle SDLC This development approach divides the overall project into sequential phases In this process the development is seen as flowing steadily downwards like a waterfall through various phases Emphasis is on planning time schedules target dates budgets and implementation of an entire system at one time 2 7 3 Extreme Programming Extreme Programming XP is a software development methodology which aims at improving software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements As a type of agile software development it attempts at having multiple short development cycles rather than one long which helps in reducing the cost of change or modification This methodology is best suited for agile development process wherein large size projects are broken down into smaller units to facilitate the over all development process 27 4 Rapid Action Development R
37. ed for content presentation n which page which content buttons would be used In this phase the following items were determined The structures of the pages in application Navigations of the buttons and pages Flow of the pages in application scope Crops Information ui Crop Crop Comments Strawberry Mushroom from users Figure 7 Structure of the application 3 1 3 3 Layout design This is the design of how various pages were to be displayed in the application They depend on the way user can navigate through the application Main layout This gives the layout structure of the main page of the application It has tabs with the main menus for the application 27 Crops List Feedback Tabs Content Display Container Layout Figure 8 Displaying application tools Crops List tab This tab lists the crops available in the application under the crops list tab They are listed as buttons which when clicked they give the user various categories of sub information regarding the selected crop button The user selects the crop button which he is interested in getting information about Crops List Feedback Strawberry Crop Mushroom Crop vr Figure 9 List of crops in the application Feedback tab This tab allows the user to give feedback regarding the information he access in the application When the user clicks on the feedback button he gets a text area where he can type his feedback regarding the
38. fter development of the application where majority of the respondents 100 were affectionate on the application 100 respondents found the system fast enough and 81 8 said it worked perfectly this was evident that the application was efficient enough 72 7 of the respondents also said they could control the application while 81 896 said that the learn ability of the application was good Therefore the researcher recommends piloting of the application by the Government to enhance its service delivery to the public and further adoption for promotion by other bodies interested in horticultural farmers 4 5 Suggestions for Further Research To further widen and improve some of the findings of this study further work needs to be carried out Other horticultural crops information needs to be added to the application these would be relevant for horticultural farmers who grow more than one crop The post harvest information regarding the horticultural crops like marketing and storage practices can be integrated in the content This would be useful to farmers in accessing the pre harvest and post harvest information 43 REFERENCES Abrahamsson P Salo O Ronkainen J amp Warsta J 2002 Agile Software Development Metods Review and Analysis VTT Electronics Aina O 2006 Information Provision to Farmers in Africa The Library Extension Services Linkage World Library and Information Congress 72nd IFLA General Conference and Co
39. ftware is satisfying The way that system information is presented is clear and understandable This software seems to disrupt the way I normally like to arrange my work Working with this software is mentally stimulating There is enough information on the screen when it s needed I can understand and act on the information provided by this software There is too much to read before you can use the software The speed of this software is fast enough It is obvious that user needs have been fully taken into consideration The organization of the menus or information lists seems quite logical I would never learn to use all that is offered in this software The software hasn t always done what I was expecting The software has a very attractive presentation Either the amount or quality of the help information varies across the system This software occasionally behaves in a way which can t be understood 50 24 This software is really very awkward 25 It is easy to see at a glance what the options are at each stage 26 Ihave to look for assistance most times when I use this software 51 APPENDIX C Application Installation Manual adapted from http vbraille cs washington edu doc how to install apks pdf Installing non market application APK files from a computer to your phone using an Application Installer or File Manager Requirements This method requires an SD card for the phone Also if you do not already have an app
40. ially with urban dwellers who have significantly higher access to most media and Information and Communication Technology ICT platforms The Audiencescapes survey also showed the number of people with access to mobile phones as 71 and those who use the media weekly for any purpose as 78 This indicates that the number of people using the mobile is higher than the number of people with mobile 2 3 Hindrances to Information Accessibility in rural areas Studies and projects around the world related to agricultural information dissemination have encountered different obstacles depending on several issues These problems include poverty illiteracy insufficient support lack of timely information user friendly interface two way communication insufficient network infrastructure and a lack of awareness of mobile phones benefits and cultures Kari 2007 Margono amp Sugimoto 2011 Various factors are also known to hinder information accessibility in rural areas in Kenya According to Ellen 2003 these factors include societal institutional psychological and intellectual ones Societal factors are responsible for blocking the availability of the resources necessary for satisfying the information needs within society whereas Institutional barriers are due to the unwillingness of the information providers to share information Cogburn and Adeya 2000 adds that Africa has low telephone penetration inadequate broadcasting facilities
41. independent data collectors using geocoding to ensure that the prices are being collected from wholesale traders actually located in each market Steps involved in SMS The user subscribes to M Farm by sending an SMS to 3555 in this format Join FirstName LastName Location To be able to sell your products through their marketplace To get Crop Prices from M Farm by sending an SMS to 3555 in this format Price cropname location User Subscribes to M Farm by sending an SMS to 3555 in this format Sell cropname weight price 13 252 M Kilimo A system that supports the collection collation storage retrieval and dissemination of agricultural information at KenCall centre by a group of agriculture experts To access the service farmers call the help line numbers and ask their questions The in house agricultural experts provide the right solutions or call them back with feedback within 24hours Accessed from http www m kilimo com in February 2013 2 5 3 Summary of existing applications The existing applications provide information to farmers through making calls to the center like the M Kilimo for the farmer to receive information This makes it hard for farmers to access information effectively as they have to use money in making calls any time they need information about farming M Farm provides farmers with post harvest information like market information and linking farmers with buyers This application lacks pre harvest inform
42. it into a USB SD card adaptor and Insert it in your computers USB port 52 8 An Auto play wizard may pop up on your computer If not open the computer explorer file manager application on your computer You should see the SD card listed as an accessible device Use the file manager to copy the APK file from your computer to the root directory of the SD card Eject the SD card from your computer i e right click on the SD card device shown in your computer explorer file manager application and select Eject or Unmount A message is typically displayed telling you it is safe to remove the device Remove the USB SD card adapter from your computer take out the SD card and then insert the SD card into your Android phone Continue with step 3 below B Option 2 Plug the phone into the computer s USB port 1 If you are running Windows on your computer this option requires that you have USB drivers for the phone installed on your computer These drivers are available by installing the Android SDK If you currently do not have the drivers installed please follow steps 1 4 in the next section Installing non market APK files from a computer to your Android phone using the Android Software Development Kit SDK before proceeding to step B 3 2 If you are running Linux or Mac OS X on your computer you do not need to install USB drivers However if you are a Linux user you need to complete step 5 in the next section
43. ive categories The following data was found necessary for inclusion in the application Strawberry e Ecological requirements e Soil Management e How to plant strawberry e Diseases symptoms and control measures e Watering and Pruning Mushroom e Tools needed e Substrate sterilization e How to plant e Challenges and solutions As a result functional requirements were established which required the development of an application that combines text images and videos in disseminating information to the user 3 1 2 3 Features Specification Use of Images and Videos to ease understanding of the agricultural techniques and practices was incorporated This made it easier for farmers to understand the information disseminated to them 24 3 1 2 4 Specification Evaluation This was conducted during requirements specifications so as to shape the design redesign in order to meet the user s needs This was in collaboration with experts from ALIN who outlined to us what should be incorporated into the application to assist farmers Review of the existing applications was also done and missing gaps were targeted to be filled in developing the mobile application 3 1 2 5 Goal Design This determined the principles and goals to guide in the other steps involved in the mobile application development The goals identified included e To understand the dissemination process of information through the mobile phones e To facilitate the information dis
44. l information vary including lack of appropriate application for disseminating information illiteracy irrelevant information poverty and lack of knowledge among others 19 The existing applications provides mostly the post harvest information this was the reason why an application to disseminate pre harvest information was found necessary Also the means of providing crop information with the existing system is not convenient compared to the mobile application developed in this study The next chapter discusses the design methodology used to design the mobile application for easing access to agricultural information 20 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 31 Mobile Application Development 3 11 Introduction This chapter outlines the method used for the development of a mobile application It adopts the agile methodology for software application development It has explained the various phases involved in the development which includes needs analysis conceptual design development testing and usability evaluation Figure 3 Adapted from Agile development methodology by Larman C 2004 This was a detailed design phase which involved building of models on what is a mobile application clarifying exactly what the application would do who would use it how it would perform and what devices it would work on It transforms the user requirements into a conceptual user interface and information dissemination system It involves 21
45. laying application 10018 lt sauss das d aed a e eat 2l Figure 9 List of crops in the appliCallOtic aee eere od t OR EAR Ere eo ga PAR RR d EAST NER 22 Figure Os User feedback POET oce Xe EIE pipas 22 Figure 11 Structure of the Strawberry information CategOTY occooccconcccnncccnncconcccnnccnnon 23 Figure 12 Structure of the Mushroom information category sese 23 Figure 13 Structure of various categories of the crops information 24 Figure 14 Bar Graphs showing the Affect subscale of usability a 30 Figure 15 Bar Graphs showing efficiency subscale ccc ce eee cece eee ne ene enee eae eneens 31 Figure 16 Bar Graphs showing control subscale 0 cece aa 32 Figure 17 Bar Graphs showing learn ability subscale iii 33 Figure 18 Bar Graphs showing helpfulness subscale eee 34 vi List of Tables Table 1 Structure of the application databases 24 Table 2 Results Table showing the Affect subscale of usability o oooococconccocconccnnonncono 29 Table 3 Result Table of Efficiency Factors eee A eve ves SLS vo evan eO en 30 able 4 Result Table for control oio se s SERE PER FER eSI M Peu Se e e a DR E SURE 31 Table 5 Result Table for Learn ability subscale aaa 31 Table 6 Result Table for Helpfulness subscale vii ALIN COSDEP CCK GDP ICT KNBS NGO RAD SDLC SMS SUMI UML USSD WAP XP Abbreviations and Acronyms
46. lication installer or file manager installed on your phone then cellular or internet service is required to access the Android Market from which you can install an application installer or file manager 1 Download the application APK file to a folder of your choice on your computer Note You would sometimes find that when you download an APK file to your computer the extension is changed to zip by the browser Try renaming the file within apk extension in place of the zip extension 2 The next step is to copy the APK file from your computer to an SD card You have two options for performing the copy either the SD card can be mounted in the phone or it can be unmounted Copying to an unmounted card requires that you have a USB card reader attachment that accommodates an SD card Alternatively copying to a mounted SD card requires you to connect the phone to the computer via USB cable which requires that you Install or have already installed USB drivers for the phone on your computer Instructions for each of these options follows A Option 1 Copy to unmounted SD card 1 Assuming the card is currently inserted in your phone you would need to remove it First open the applications menu on the phone and select the Settings application From the Settings menu select SD card amp phone storage then select Unmount SD card 2 Open the back of the phone and remove the SD card 3 Mount the SD card on your computer i e insert
47. lient new AwesomeWebClient webView SetWebChromeClient new Awesome WebChromeClient this AddContentView webView new ViewGroup LayoutParams ViewGroup LayoutParams FillParent ViewGroup LayoutParams FillParent newProgress newProgress webView LoadUrl file android_asset CROPHELP Crop 1 htm1 private class AwesomeWebClient WebViewClient private class AwesomeWebChromeClient WebChromeClient private Activity mParentActivity private string mTitle public AwesomeWebChromeClient Activity parentActivity mParentActivity parentActivity mTitle parentActivity Title public override void OnProgressChanged WebView view int mParentActivity Title string Format Loading 0 mParentActivity SetProgress newProgress 100 62 if newProgress 100 mParentActivity Title mTitle 63
48. m statement Faced with the scarcity of Agricultural Extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture the Government has not managed to keep pace with the growing number of farmers requiring extension services like horticultural farming techniques new farming practices among others One extension officers currently serves 1 000 farmers instead of the recommended 400 farmers Kibett J K et al 2005 The perceived impact of agricultural extension has grown low according to African crop science society 2005 This has led to farmers relying on their traditional myths in identifying crop diseases when they are affected for example farmers have to travel long distances to seek solutions from government agricultural offices and private agro vets where they have to describe symptoms of the affected crops in order for them to get the right agro chemicals prescription This leads to crop waste since farmers do not get the solution to their problems on time Others have to attend farm demonstrations or field based trainings which may take most of their time use internet materials some of which may have misleading information or Mobile based USSD code which are session based provides limited details and may be costly Mobile Marketing 101 2013 Information dissemination to horticulture farmers is poor due to inefficient means of delivering information The highly valued and rare crops like mushroom and strawberry are rarely grown in Kenya Thi
49. n also enhance the performance of horticultural farmers as they get richer in information regarding their crops and they do not have to over rely on Agricultural Extension Officers Research objectives 1 4 1 General Objective To provide a mobile application that disseminates information to horticultural farmers on new skills and farming techniques 1 4 2 Specific Objectives 1 5 To identify the required factors for the development of a mobile application To develop a usable mobile application for disseminating information To increase access to information for horticultural farmers using mobile technologies Assumptions This study assumes that 1 6 The targeted crop farmers all have android mobile phones For this study it was cheaper for prove of concept and it is available for testing Definitions of important terms Usability Making application easier to use and matching them more closely to user needs and requirements Accessibility Ease with which information can be retrieved regardless of the location where one is located User Interface It is the means in which a person controls a software application e Mobile Application A software application designed to run on mobile phone In this case a mobile phone running on android operating system e Disseminate Dissemination to spread or give out something especially news information ideas etc to a lot of people Cambridge University Press 2009
50. nd effective means of disseminating information considering usability concepts and principles in designing the application b Application data Research Methodology The research used purposive interview approach to get content for the system application The content was gathered from the key informants using question guided interview Sample questions attached in the appendix The desired variables were identified and their viability established to form basis of the application interface and the user requirements The application was developed with the necessary information on Mushroom and Strawberry growing c Data collection This involved collecting relevant pre harvest data for horticultural crops specifically Strawberry and Mushroom from farmers already farming these crops This was done at Rogita Plants Care 23 Consultants at Limuru and Community Sustainable Development Empowerment Programme COSDEP Demo Center at Gachie Kiambu County The data was collected using interview guided by questions and also observation d Data Analysis The data collected was analyzed so as to get information for the application which would be useful to farmers growing and willing to grow the identified crops Analysis was also done for the application content user s characteristics evaluation of the application and goal analysis The qualitative data collected was analyzed done by creating a system of classification with a list of mutually exclus
51. ne The application Icon is displayed in the main menu of the phone after installation where the user can easily access it Access information from Android Mobile Farmer User Figure 6 Scenario of a user accessing information The user opens the application through his phone and scrolls through the application reading the information provided whenever he needs the information He can refer to the information while practically doing what he is accessing from the phone which acts as a guide or instructor 3 1 3 1 Design of application content This is the information contained in the application The data that is provided in the application was collected through an interview and analyzed from two farms which included Rogita Plants Care Consultants at Limuru and Community Sustainable Development Empowerment Programme COSDEP Demo Center at Gachie Kiambu County 26 3 1 3 2 Navigation design The structure of the application was described and how users can navigate through the application depending on the functionality of the application and information of the system Links to each user s information were made available in the application This was used to determine the interface and other structural characteristics and the workflow of the application It answered the following questions What kind of information would be included in which page How would be the flow chart of the application Which model would be us
52. nt specifications conceptual design and the paper based prototype They were guided by test cases attached in the appendix B They identified the following comments which were integrated in the development of the application Use of clickable buttons to link to various pages The word mushroom was spelt incorrectly e Button named play video should be renamed to a more descriptive name Video on how to plant Strawberry 32 3 2 Research Methodology 3 224 Introduction The research used various approaches to collect information Before developing the application interviews were done to get the content for the system application from farmers who were purposively identified After getting the content from the key informants the desired variables were identified and their viability established to form basis of the application interface and the user requirements The application was developed with the necessary information on Mushroom and Strawberry growing After developing the systems eleven 11 farmers were identified to use the application as a way of evaluating its applicability efficiency and effectiveness in providing information to the users The application was first demonstrated to the users and they were allowed to practically use the application on their own and later evaluated 3 22 Usability Evaluation Usability evaluation was conducted to assess the implementation of the application and increase in access of ho
53. nya s economy Mobile phones can be efficient in providing agricultural extension to farmers since they can be accessed from anywhere anytime and have a wider reach Lawal Adebowale amp Akeredolu Ale 2010 However making the information materials available on mobile phone becomes difficult considering the physical form of the phones Designing a mobile application that considers the user interface challenges due to mobile phone size can enable the majority of the phone users to access the information with ease Christina W 2010 This would improve delivery of the much needed information and save the farmers the stress of accessing the information from their mobile phones Considering the goals of the farmers and the context to which they may need information effective and efficient user interface for mobile application would greatly provide an effective means of information dissemination to the farmers Christina W 2010 Studies have shown that effective user interface on mobile phones can promote access to information due to its wider coverage During this study most of the existing mobile applications are based on unstructured supplementary service data USSD which can only provide limited details in the data thus not supporting appropriate interaction with the users Long V 2009 There is a need for an agricultural information application that can provide more information in various forms like videos text and images 12 Proble
54. o a debuggable package that can be installed and ran on the emulator or an Android mobile phone The application was first tested within the development environment using Android Emulator which is inexpensive way before subjecting it 31 to the field testing This was done so as to ensure there were no errors in the application like coding errors navigational errors Testing was also done to ensure that the functionality of the application was achieved according to the specified requirements This phase answered the following questions e What were the Test Cases Does the application fulfill the established performance requirements e Which problems have occurred during the test 3 1 4 5 Design walkthrough This involves finding out if the goals and objectives of the application are being met during the application development This includes the requirements specifications features and components application goals conceptual design and the prototype This was conducted after a prototype was developed to identify and diagnose any problem with the system and to ensure that the application meets usability features A design walkthrough was conducted by two 2 experts from e Government who were well compliant with mobile application development to find any requirement missing in the application that could influence usability and experience of the users when using the application This was done taking into consideration the requireme
55. ormation varies across the system and 45 5 agreed that there is information on the screen This indicated that the application provided helpfulness to the users when they need it 41 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4 4 Conclusion From the study it can be concluded that horticulture farmers in rural areas of Kenya can access information using their mobile phones for their farming activities effectively This was especially on information on rare crops that are hardly ever grown due to lack of information by farmers about them This was evident from the responses given during the evaluation of the application 4 2 Key Achievements The study managed to achieve the set objectives The overall objective was to provide a mobile application that disseminates information to horticultural farmers on new skills and farming techniques This was achieved through developing a mobile application that could be installed on mobile phones with android operating system The application could disseminate crop information to users in an efficient way The specific objectives were also achieved The first was to identify the required factors for the development of the mobile application This was attained in the early stages of the study after reviewing the existing systems and identifying gaps in them and also in collecting data on the crops from two farms in Kiambu County The second objective was to develop a usable mobile application for
56. pending on the nature of the native app Internet connectivity may not be required Margaret R 2013 2 4 1 2 Web application A Web application Web app is an application program that is stored on a remote server and delivered over the Internet through a browser interface Web services are Web apps by definition and many although not all websites contain Web apps Within the mobile computing sector Web apps are sometimes contrasted with native apps which are applications that are developed specifically for a particular platform or device and installed on that device However the two are 10 not mutually exclusive because many applications contain elements of both native and Web apps Margaret R 2011 2 4 1 3 Hybrid application A hybrid application hybrid app is one that combines elements of both native and Web applications Native applications are developed for a specific platform and installed on a computing device Hybrid apps are often mentioned in the context of mobile computing Hybrid application features include Can function whether or not the device is connected Integration with a device s file system Integration with Web based services An embedded browser to improve access to dynamic online content Margaret R 201 1 2 4 2 Importance of quality user interface for mobile application Mobile phones can be used to provide information since they can be accessed from anywhere anytime and has a wider reach However
57. phones and tablets Mobile applications are designed to educate entertain or assist users in their daily lives 241 Mobile Applications Platforms 2 4 1 1 Native application A native application native app is an application program that has been developed for use on a particular platform or device Because native apps are written for a specific platform they can interact with and take advantage of operating system features and other software that is typically installed on that platform They are built for a particular device and its operating system thus they have the ability to use device specific hardware and software meaning that native apps can take advantage of the latest technology available on mobile devices such as a global positioning system GPS and camera This can be construed as an advantage for native apps over Web apps or mobile cloud apps The term native app is often mentioned in the context of mobile computing because mobile applications have traditionally been written to work on a specific device platform A native app is installed directly on a mobile device and developers create a separate app version for each mobile device The native app may be stored on the mobile device out of the box or it can be downloaded from a public or private app store and installed on the mobile device Data associated with the native app is also stored on the device although data can be stored remotely and accessed by the native app De
58. quirements for design of the mobile application The main goal of the application was to disseminate information to horticultural farmers regarding new technologies and farming practices of highly valued and rare crops in our country through the use of an android supported mobile phone It involved the following 22 a Requirements Gathering User and Application Requirements A target group was identified which included horticultural farmers growing highly valued and rare crops Mushroom and Strawberry Their requirements were identified which included accessing their crops information any time they need it in an effective and efficient way This was realized after visiting Arid Land Information Network ALIN which is a Non Governmental Organization NGO It provides information to farmers through the use of Maarifa Knowledge centers located in various parts of the country where farmers visit the centers to access information about crops We also visited another horticultural information provider Smart Farmer Magazine editors who produces magazines with information regarding horticultural crops Other existing applications in Kenya were reviewed like M Farm and M kilimo and the gaps were identified We realized that the means that the existing systems provide information was not efficient to farmers This led to identification of our application requirements which included an application that can disseminate information to farmers efficient a
59. roblems have occurred during test Which problems can occur during application delivery 2 6 7 Signing Process Process of encoding a digital certificate into the application e Does the application meet the certain criteria such as functionality visuality and or usability e n which mobile platform the signing process would be operated e Does any changes in functionality visuality and or usability in the application after the signing process 2 6 8 Application Distribution Application delivery to the segmented users e How would the application be delivered Wireless Application Protocol WAP downloads etc e How to avoid the difficulties during the application delivery 2 6 9 Regular Updates The organization structure required to do the periodic content updates of the application e What would be the application update period e Who would be responsible for updates e What is needed for application update 2 7 Android Application Development Methodologies 2 7 1 Agile Methodology Agile Development Model is based on iterative development wherein the entire software development life cycle is broken down into smaller iterations or parts The project scope and 17 requirements are clearly laid down at the start of the development process This type of model is best suited for large size projects as it helps to minimize the overall risk and lets the project adapt to changes quickly Abrahamsson et al 2002 defin
60. rticultural information This was a user based evaluation that measured perceived usability by users This was guided by Software Usability Measurement Inventory SUMI questionnaire which is an internationally standardized questionnaire for quantitative measurement of how usable a product is in the view of the user It also gives a global measure of usability together with measure of five orthogonal factors which includes Efficiency Affect Helpfulness Control and Learn ability which have been empirically identified as dimensions of perceived usability This may complement objective measures of performance of the application SUMI requires at least ten users who have experience of the software to evaluate effectively A working version of the software must be existing This is according to Kirakowski J and Corbett M 1993 323 Instrument Development and pre testing Interview guide questions were developed to guide the interview when collecting data for the application and also observation The questions were set so as to collect pre harvesting information of strawberry and mushroom crops SUMI questionnaires were adopted in usability evaluation of the working system 33 The questions were to evaluate usability based on five subscales which included Efficiency These questions include Instruction and prompts are helpful The speed of this software is fast enough Software at sometime stopped unexpectedly Affect Questions incl
61. s is because farmers have limited access to information on growing the two crops in the country or those who grow them fail to get expected yields due to challenges experienced during their farming like using the best farming practices and controlling diseases affecting them 1 2 1 Purpose of the project The study involved developing a mobile application to avail information to horticultural farmers to improve their farming skills and techniques The research evaluated the developed mobile applications for disseminating horticultural information to ensure that it meets the user requirements and performed the intended functions The application disseminates crop information to farmers in an effective and efficient manner suited to the farmers characteristics and context The research would provide further awareness to the application developers and other stakeholders like the Ministry of Agriculture Non Governmental Organizations interested in Agriculture and horticultural farmers The latter can rely on smart mobile phones to gain skills related to their crops using the mobile application or use the information provided while doing their farming 1 3 Significance of the Study 1 4 The key outcome of this research is a usable application that would disseminate new skills and techniques on horticultural farming to farmers Implementation of the mobile application can overcome barriers to information access for horticultural farmers It ca
62. semination to horticultural crop farmers in an efficient and effective way This required making the application clear satisfactory efficient and effective e To consider application s user interface in interacting with the application The design goals for the user interface were identified and how the user can acquire the information from the application 313 Development of design scenarios and use cases This guided on how the user interacts with the system the functions to be performed with the application This involved identifying main task of the application which was to disseminate information Features for the designing user interface were identified like tabs buttons layout imageview etc Update Manage application content Application Administrator Figure 4 Scenario of the application administrator updating the content 25 The administrator of the application updates the content through the developing tools and the updated version of the application is made available to the user He provides the information required by the farmers regarding the various horticultural crops on the application Deploy application in Android Mobile phone Farmer User Figure 5 Scenario of a user deploying application in mobile phone The farmer User who needs the horticultural information downloads the application from apps store play store of his android mobile phone and deploys the application in his mobile pho
63. smate Purity Mayaka thank you for your assistance during field work and Erick Kiilu for your unwavering support in editing the study report I wish to appreciate others whom I have not mentioned here who contributed to this project in one way or another May God bless you all Table of Contents Declara M N i Xe cup ii Acknowledgements in ntes AA ee ete ere ir be e rides iii Table oE Contents nua adas iv HISt OE I6UT S st sies asis pikas asa as tos KS T aa ss es as es ke s eit vi Past ot Tabless depart rete E RAE asi ro d t ip eks dai vii Abbreviations and Acronyms lsas ar nnne en tnn nn nns estne t ss viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ihe eret enne nre scedvesadcttssiacveavslasi batelaasisesieeviesssceveessuerees 1 1 1 Backeround to the problem 5 re diia 1 12 Problem statement eissira OT 2 1 2 1 Purpose OF the Project encierra bern ee erbe tte ern a peas coerente er ege Eiso 3 1 3 significance of the Study emerit eden treo rentis eL Udo reale Ree eet Eae e Scd nod 4 kA Research obJeCtiVesi aio iet tre ad 4 1 4 1 General ObJEctiVe C 4 1 4 2 Specific ODJECUVeES m 4 1 5 ASSUIP UONS ss save E 4 1 6 Definitions of important terms nennen rennen rana rana rear earn earn rear enne 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERAT
64. software development A hybrid method engineering approach second International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science 2008 RCIS 2008 vol no pp 337 Rwazo A J M 2007 Readers Forum Small Scale Farmers Need Information to Reduce Pesticides Risks Southern Africa Pesticides Newsletter 2 1 1 2 http web uct ac za depts oehru dox vol2issuel pdf Talbot D 2011 Android matches in East Africa Wouldiamson K 1997 The Information Needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Older Adults an Australian Study in Vakkar P Savolainen R and Dervin B Eds Information Seeking in Context Proceedings on Research on Information Needs Seeking and Use in Different Contexts August Tampere Finland London Taylor Abraham 33 350 Website references Android application development methodology Online Available at http developer android com tools workflow index html Accessed February 2013 AudienceScapes National Survey of Kenya July 2009 Online Available at http www audiencescapes org country profiles kenya communication and development agricultural issues staying informed about agri Accessed December 2012 Educause Library items Online Available at http www educause edu eli Accessed December 2012 47 Extension services policy handbook online Available at http www http www cgd or ke documents Hand 20Book pdf Accessed January 2013 Kenya facts 20
65. tics of users would relate to a proposed system One way to stress the importance of these issues in the designer s minds is to use personas which are made up representative users See below for further discussion of personas Another more expensive but more insightful method is to have a panel of potential users work closely with the design team from the early stages Empirical measurement Test the system early on and test the system on real users using behavioral measurements This includes testing the system for both learn ability and usability It is important in this stage to use quantitative usability specifications such as time and errors to complete tasks and number of users to test as well as examine performance and attitudes of the users testing the system Finally reviewing or demonstrating a system before the user tests it can result in misleading results The emphasis of empirical measurement is on measurement both informal and formal which can be carried out through a variety of evaluation methods Iterative design Iterative design is a design methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping testing analyzing and refining a product or process Based on the results of testing the most recent iteration of a design changes and refinements are made This process is intended to ultimately improve the quality and functionality of a design In iterative design interaction with the 12 designed system is used as
66. udes I would recommend this software to colleagues I enjoy session with the software Working with this software is satisfying Working with this software is mentally stimulating It is obvious that user needs have been fully taken into consideration The software hasn t always done what I was expecting The software has a very attractive presentation This software occasionally behaves in a way which can t be understood This software is really very awkward Control Questions includes It is easy to see at a glance what the options are at each stage This software seems to disrupt the way I normally like to arrange my work If this software stops it is not easy to restart it It takes too long to learn the software commands Learning to operate is initially full of problems Sometimes I don t know what to do next with the software Learn ability Questions includes The way that system information is presented is clear and understandable I can understand and act on the information provided by this software The organization of the menus or information lists seems quite logical I will never learn to use all that is offered in this software I have to look for assistance most times when I use this software 34 Helpfulness Questions includes e Either the amount or quality of the help information varies across the system e There is never enough information on the screen when it s needed 3 24 Population The stu
67. uncil 20 24 August Seoul Benyon D R amp Murray D M 1993c Applying user modeling to human computer interaction design Bilonkwamanagara M F 2008 Role of Informal Agricultural Information Dissemination Networks in Poverty Alleviation in Njombe District Tanzania Unpublished MA Rural Development Dissertation Sokoine University of Agriculture Tanzania Christina W 2010 Things to consider when designing your mobile app Cogburn D L amp Adeya C N 2000 Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities for Africa in the Information Economy The United Nations University INTECH Discussion Paper Series Dutta R 2009 Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour in Developing Countries A Review of the Research The International Information amp Library Review 41 1 44 5 De Villiers M 2002 The Dynamics in the Theory and Practice of Instructional Design University of Pretoria Pretoria South Africa Ellen D 2003 Telecenters and the Provision of Community Based Access to Electronic 44 Information in Everyday Life in UK Information Research 8 2 146 http informationr net ir 8 2 paper146 html ISO 9241 10 1996 Ergonomic reguirements for office work with visual display terminals vdt part 10 Dialogue principles International Organization for Standardization ISO IEC 9126 2 2003 Software engineering product guality part 2 External metrics Internation

Horticultural crops information dissemination in Kenya using mobile

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