Assessing the Adoption and Impact of Radio Frequency Identification Technology for Livestock Management Among Small-Scale Farmers in Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

RFID has been used in the livestock sector to track the location and identify farm animals. The RFID technology is first rated in identifying and tracking livestock inventory. Essential health data is recorded for each animal, managing animal diseases and combating livestock theft. Despite RFID technology's importance in livestock farm management, many small-scale farmers are unaware of its benefits. Financial consequences, operational management of RFID items, environmental concerns, and database administration issues have also hindered livestock management's widespread adoption of RFID technology. The study explored the adoption and impact of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the context of livestock management in Nyeri, Kenya. The specific objectives were to; evaluate the Radio Frequency Identification Technology’s benefits in the management of livestock among small-scale farmers in Nyeri County, identify the factors that influence the adoption of a Radio Frequency Identification Technology for livestock management among small-scale farmers in Nyeri County, and develop a Radio Frequency Identification framework for the management of livestock in Nyeri County Kenya. Innovation Diffusion Theory and Technology Acceptance Model guided the investigation. The researcher collected quantitative data via questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were used to collect data from livestock questionnaires and interviews with industry experts in agriculture and the use of RFID. The target population was 147,374 livestock farmers in Nyeri County. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics. Most of the livestock farmers agreed that the use of RFID technology had brought significant benefits. The benefits enabled them to improve livestock production and reduce the cost, enhance the livestock’s security and traceability, generate timely, accurate, and granular data helpful in livestock management, and enhance the livestock feeding schedule and rationing monitoring. Other benefits included improved automated livestock monitoring resulting in few labourers, and enhanced ability to correctly trace and identify the livestock and adequately manage the cattle feeding programme. Factors such as technology, cost, environment, facilities, and data management were sufficient explanations for 51.2% of the use of RFID technology for livestock management among small-scale farmers in Nyeri County. The development of the RFID model for livestock management in Nyeri County, Kenya, is based on the benefits of RFID in livestock management and factors that influence the adoption of RFID for livestock management. The study concluded that the development of RFID for livestock management should base on the benefits and challenges of RFID in livestock management and factors that influence the adoption of RFID for livestock management. Since the cost of implementing RFID technology is generally high for an individual, livestock farmers in Nyeri County should consider rolling out the program from a cooperative perspective. The farmers can form groups, and because they have community land, they can start by pulling resources together, which will help alleviate financial challenges and ease negotiations with technology providers. Given that technology may be complicated for some, Nyeri County, through the county government, should collaborate with institutions that provide training to farmers to offer free training on the benefits and use of RFID technology for farmers. Kenya Agriculture and livestock research organization’s primary mandates are to develop disease control technologies and an effective traceability system; RFID is one technology that can solve disease control through identification and tracking. Therefore, the Organisation should ensure they take primary responsibility for managing the data.