IoT appropriation for crop management and productivity enhancement in South Africa

Abstract

Background: While the Internet of things (IoT) has been praised for its potential to improve food security and combat climate change, it is unclear how agricultural entrepreneurs (especially farmers) in emerging contexts are harnessing this technology to leverage agricultural productivity.

Objectives: Given the lack of documentation of novel-technology-supported farming approaches in relevant extant literature in emerging economies, this study sought to explore how South African farmers are harnessing the strength of IoT to leverage productivity in crop farming.

Method: To address this research gap, a systematic literature review was conducted to establish how IoT was implemented in crop farming in resource-constrained contexts of South Africa. These databases, namely Google Scholar, Scopus, MDPI, IEEE Xplore, and Science Direct, were utilised to gather the relevant information.

Results: The findings highlighted that IoT technology presented multiple opportunities for improving operational efficiency and connectivity and facilitating remote management of agricultural activities. Conversely, the findings suggested that the utilisation of IoT in crop farming poses serious challenges arising from software complexity, data security, lack of supporting infrastructure and technical skills.

Conclusion: This article demonstrates how institutional voids, human capital and technological gaps in the South African farming industry undermine crop farming, food security in the communities and government efforts at promoting the latest technologies for leveraging agricultural productivity and the farming industry in general.

Contribution: The study has contributed to filling the gap in the IoT literature in South Africa and worldwide. This study also contributed by aligning the theory to the study.