JAEF > Volume 4, Number 3, August 2019

Industry Performance and Digital Disruption: Unleashing Possibilities for the African Farmer
DOI: 10.22606/jaef.2019.43002

Author(s)
Susanna E Botwood, Richard Chinomona, Krishna K Govender
Affiliation(s)
Da Vinci Institute of Technology Management, South Africa
Da Vinci Institute of Technology Management, South Africa
Da Vinci Institute of Technology Management, South Africa
Abstract
This study investigated digital maturity elements and possible disruptive technology platforms to test whether these elements contain the “secret recipe” for African farmers to gain access to markets and unleash their performance possibilities to alleviate poverty and increase the African farmer’s income. To empirically test four research hypotheses, data was collected from a sample of registered farmers and co-ops in databases from ProAgri, PanGlobal and TLU, and analysed using SPSS and the Smart PLS statistical software. It became evident that the most important antecedents of digital maturity in the industry are cultural aspects as well as the technology capabilities and digital platform capabilities positively influenced digital organisational performance. Managerial implications of the research findings are discussed, and limitations and future research directions are indicated.
Keywords
Digitisation, digital disruption, African farmer, global markets, poverty alleviation, developing countries, organisational performance.
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