Effect of information and communication technology on cashew nut export in Benin

Abstract

The introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) has altered the way society operates things. ICT is used in various sectors, including agriculture. It can be used in the agricultural sector to distribute pricing and encourage agricultural commodity exports. The study aims to investigate the effect of ICT on cashew nut export in Benin using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Data were collected over the period of 31 years (1990–2020) in Benin. The estimated results showed that mobile cellular telephone subscription is negatively and significantly correlated with cashew nut export in the short-run. However, in the long-run, it exhibits a positive and significant correlation. On the other hand, internet usage had no significant effect on cashew nut export in the short-run, but negatively influenced cashew nut export in the long-run. These results suggest that to increase its cashew nut export, the Beninese government should invest in technological infrastructure to improve internet access by reducing the cost of internet and increasing education that will allow farmers to better understand and use ICT.