Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.

The use of mobile phones has increased rapidly in many developing countries, including in rural areas. Besides reducing the costs of communication and improving access to information, mobile phones are an enabling technology for other innovations. One important example are mobile phone based money t...

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Autores principales:	Enoch M Kikulwe, Elisabeth Fischer, Matin Qaim
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/62720b8d64dc446793e25db152ae088d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:62720b8d64dc446793e25db152ae088d2021-11-25T05:57:50ZMobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0109804https://doaj.org/article/62720b8d64dc446793e25db152ae088d2014-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109804https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The use of mobile phones has increased rapidly in many developing countries, including in rural areas. Besides reducing the costs of communication and improving access to information, mobile phones are an enabling technology for other innovations. One important example are mobile phone based money transfers, which could be very relevant for the rural poor, who are often underserved by the formal banking system. We analyze impacts of mobile money technology on the welfare of smallholder farm households in Kenya. Using panel survey data and regression models we show that mobile money use has a positive impact on household income. One important pathway is through remittances received from relatives and friends. Such remittances contribute to income directly, but they also help to reduce risk and liquidity constraints, thus promoting agricultural commercialization. Mobile money users apply more purchased farm inputs, market a larger proportion of their output, and have higher profits than non-users of this technology. These results suggest that mobile money can help to overcome some of the important smallholder market access constraints that obstruct rural development and poverty reduction.Enoch M KikulweElisabeth FischerMatin QaimPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 10, p e109804 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Enoch M Kikulwe Elisabeth Fischer Matin Qaim Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.
description	The use of mobile phones has increased rapidly in many developing countries, including in rural areas. Besides reducing the costs of communication and improving access to information, mobile phones are an enabling technology for other innovations. One important example are mobile phone based money transfers, which could be very relevant for the rural poor, who are often underserved by the formal banking system. We analyze impacts of mobile money technology on the welfare of smallholder farm households in Kenya. Using panel survey data and regression models we show that mobile money use has a positive impact on household income. One important pathway is through remittances received from relatives and friends. Such remittances contribute to income directly, but they also help to reduce risk and liquidity constraints, thus promoting agricultural commercialization. Mobile money users apply more purchased farm inputs, market a larger proportion of their output, and have higher profits than non-users of this technology. These results suggest that mobile money can help to overcome some of the important smallholder market access constraints that obstruct rural development and poverty reduction.
format	article
author	Enoch M Kikulwe Elisabeth Fischer Matin Qaim
author_facet	Enoch M Kikulwe Elisabeth Fischer Matin Qaim
author_sort	Enoch M Kikulwe
title	Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.
title_short	Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.
title_full	Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.
title_fullStr	Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.
title_full_unstemmed	Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.
title_sort	mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in kenya.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/62720b8d64dc446793e25db152ae088d
work_keys_str_mv	AT enochmkikulwe mobilemoneysmallholderfarmersandhouseholdwelfareinkenya AT elisabethfischer mobilemoneysmallholderfarmersandhouseholdwelfareinkenya AT matinqaim mobilemoneysmallholderfarmersandhouseholdwelfareinkenya
_version_	1718414342675759104

Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.

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