Assessing the Mobile Money Value Creation in the Agriculture Value Chain: Evidence from a Developing Economy

Abstract

This study seeks to assess the value created in using mobile money services within the agriculture value chain in Ghana. A qualitative approach exploring the actor motivation costs in the use of mobile money was adopted. Research participants who were interviewed included input dealers, farmers, aggregators, and retailers from an agricultural company. The findings of this research suggest that mobile money is largely used for input supply, production, and aggregation. The value created from mobile money usage is mainly in reducing operational costs, strengthening business relationships, helping to expand businesses, and ensuring commitments in financial transactions. The factors affecting value creation from mobile money adoption included network coverage and reliability, regulations, service convenience, and limited availability of mobile money vendors. Implications for both theory and practice have been discussed. Target Audience Practitioners and students are the target audience of this study. The study demonstrates that the dominant activities for which mobile money is used are the supply of agricultural inputs, aggregation of agricultural produce from smallholder farmers, and payments for mechanization services. It also shows that value created from mobile money usage includes reducing operational costs (operational value), expansion of agribusinesses to reach wider customers (strategic value), and strengthening business relationships (relational value). This could encourage practitioners and other actors in agricultural value chain to adopt and use mobile money in their financial transactions to create similar value. They can also become knowledgeable of the enabling factors and the inhibiting factors before they use the service. Students in management and related disciplines can understand the impact of mobile money on the agricultural value chain in the context of a developing economy.