Web portal design and implementation for livestock farmers in Mandera County

Abstract

Livestock farmers in Mandera County are faced with the devastating effects of climate change, lack of access to quality information services and absence of effective marketing means. An alternative marketing platform acting as an early warning system on critical information such as droughts, climate and diseases, and other issues affecting the farmers in the county, relevant to the donor community, the government and the farmers is therefore required. This study therefore aimed at assessing the information needs of livestock farmers in Mandera County in order to come up with a web portal that serves their needs. The study‘s specific objectives were to: investigate the information needs of livestock farmers in Mandera, establish existing channels of disseminating information to Mandera livestock farmers, survey existing livestock-based information systems and portals serving Mandera livestock farmers, model the collected data for system analysis and design and develop a web portal addressing the concerns of Mandera livestock farmers. This study was informed by Activity Theory, Wilson‘s information behavior theory and the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). A single case study made up of a structured interview and observation was used to collect data for the study. The target population was livestock farmers living in Mandera County with a current population of 1.2 million. A stratified sampling technique was used to draw a four- cluster sample comprising herders, traders and livestock officers and for every cluster, a purposive technique was used to select the respondents. The collected data was analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics, presented in the forms of tables, pie charts and texts. The findings of the study show that the respondents critically needed information on market, weather, veterinary and lost and found animals, and mainly used local FMs, friends, barazas, national dailies and social sites for information sharing. No information system specifically designed to serve livestock farmers in Mandera County was found. The study concludes that the modes of information dissemination currently available to the farmers are inadequate to serve their needs and therefore modernization in this area is required. Based on the findings the study recommends to the concerned actors the use of modern methods of information dissemination to reach the farmers, provision of biotech services to improve yields, timely availing of satellitic data on vegetation cover status to the farmers for early drought warning and development of an online information portal that can provide information services needed by the farmers. Further, findings were used to develop a web and mobile portal that can avail the needed information to improve livestock farming in Mandera County.