Effects of Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use on Intention to Use Digital Devices in Leaf Vegetable Supply Chain among Smallholder Farmers in Dodoma City, 2020.

Abstract

Integration of supply chain operations with technologies has become necessary to cope with the market and competition. The research was designed to assess the effects of perceived usefulness and ease of use on the intention to use digital devices in leaf vegetable supply among smallholder farmers. The study was conducted within Dodoma City whereby cross-sectional survey research design was used and mixed methods were applied. Questionnaires and interview were used as the survey instruments whereby simple random sampling was used to obtain a sample size of 125 respondents from the study population of leaf vegetable smallholder farmers. Data were analyzed by using a binary logistics regression model. Results showed that perceived usefulness (independent variable) in terms of (cost reduction, easy job performance and responsiveness to customers) have a strong significant relationship with digital device usage (dependent variable). Nevertheless, perceived ease of use (independent variable) in terms of (compatibility, simple applications and easy to learn) has a strong significant relationship with digital device usage among leaf vegetable smallholder farmers. It implies that leaf vegetable smallholder farmers are willing (intending) to use digital devices provided that the perceived usefulness (benefits) and ease of using the devices will be achieved. Adequate training is required to emphasize digital device usage which will minimize technology underutilization. There is a need to increase the speed of adoption among leaf vegetable smallholders across the value chain by making smallholder farmers aware of the benefits that can be obtained through digital device usage.