Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………. 13
1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………………………………….. 13
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE ……………………………………………………………………………………. 18
1.5 STRUCTURE OF THESIS …………………………………………………………………………………… 22
1.6 RESEARCH APPROACH …………………………………………………………………………………… 24
2 MOBILE SERVICE PLATFORMS FOR THE POOR …………………………………………………. 25
2.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
2.2 MOBILE SERVICES FOR THE POOR ……………………………………………………………………… 27
2.3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………………………………. 29
2.4 METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 36
2.5 RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
2.6 FINDINGS – MOBILE SERVICE PLATFORMS …………………………………………………………….. 44
2.7 DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 47
2.8 CONCLUSIONS …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 49
3 SMALLHOLDER FARMERS AND TRACEABILITY …………………………………………………. 51
3.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………… 51
3.2 FOOD SAFETY: A CHALLENGE OF GLOBAL PROPORTIONS …………………………………………… 54
3.3 OBJECTIVES OF FOOD TRACEABILITY SYSTEMS ……………………………………………………….. 56
3.4 FOOD TRACEABILITY SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ………………………………………… 58
3.5 LESSONS LEARNED FROM SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION ……………………………………………….. 62
3.6 INCENTIVES FOR INVESTMENT IN FOOD TRACEABILITY SYSTEMS …………………………………… 66
3.7 TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGIES, SOLUTIONS, AND APPLICATIONS …………………………………… 69
3.8 INNOVATIVE PRACTICE SUMMARIES …………………………………………………………………… 72
3.9 SMALLHOLDER COCOA FARMERS IN INDONESIA ……………………………………………………… 74
3.10 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 76
4 DESIGN RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………………. 77
4.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………… 77
4.2 DESIGN SCIENCE PRINCIPLES ……………………………………………………………………………. 77
4.3 DESIGN RESEARCH APPROACH …………………………………………………………………………. 82
4.4 RESEARCH METHODS IN DETAIL ……………………………………………………………………….. 85
5 BUSINESS MODELING AND DESIGN ……………………………………………………………….. 97
5.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………… 97
5.2 DESIGN CYCLE: REQUIREMENTS ……………………………………………………………………….. 97
5.3 DESIGN CYCLE: STRUCTURAL SPECIFICATIONS ………………………………………………………. 108
5.4 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS – STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDING FARMERS ………………………………. 114
6 PLATFORM PROTOTYPING AND EVALUATION ………………………………………………. 117
6.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………. 117
6.2 DESIGN CYCLE: PROTOTYPE …………………………………………………………………………… 117
6.3 EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE BASED ON QUESTIONNAIRE …………………………………………. 124
6.4 EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE BASED ON LOG DATA ………………………………………………… 130
6.5 OBSERVATIONS FROM EXPERIMENT ………………………………………………………………….. 131
6.6 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS: SMALLHOLDER FARMERS ………………………………………………. 136
7 CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………………………… 141
7.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………. 141
7.2 MAIN RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………………….. 143
7.3 CONTRIBUTION TO LITERATURE ………………………………………………………………………. 145
7.4 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS …………………………………………………………………………. 149
7.5 LIMITATIONS…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 153
7.6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ……………………………………………………… 154
REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 156
APPENDIX A ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 165
A1: PROFILE OF M4D RESPONDENTS (CHAPTER 2) ………………………………………………………… 165
A2: QUESTIONNAIRE TO M4D EXPERTS (CHAPTER 2) ……………………………………………………… 167
APPENDIX B ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 169
B1: STRATEGIC INTERESTS OF STAKEHOLDERS (CHAPTER 5) ……………………………………………….. 169
B2: STAKEHOLDER STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION (CHAPTER 5) ……………………………………….. 171
B3: RESULTS OF QUALITATIVE STUDY WITH SMALLHOLDER FARMERS, 2012 (CHAPTER 5) …………… 173
APPENDIX C ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 176
C1: PROTOTYPE OF MTANI ON GOOGLE ODK COLLECT (CHAPTER 6) ……………………………………. 176
C2: PRE-EXPERIMENT AND POST- EXPERIMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (CHAPTER 6) ………………………… 180
CURRICULUM VITAE ……………………………………………………………………………………. 186
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS ……………………………………………………………………………… 187
NEDERLANDSTALIGE SAMENVATTING ……………………………………………………………. 188

Abstract

The starting point for this research was the rapid proliferation of mobile devices, which had covered 95% of the world’s population by 2014. This research addresses the role of multi-sided mobile service platforms in improving the lives of smallholder farmers, who make up a large proportion of the world’s poor. The mobile phone has the potential to serve as a ‘two-sided market’ to intermediate between two or more groups of agents, smallholder farmers at the one hand and, providers of public and private services at the other hand, to offer each other network benefits, particularly in the application of traceability to connect smallholder farmers to global value chains. First, mobile service approaches for the rural poor in agriculture were reviewed, followed by semi-structured interviews with key informants to identify platform providers, stakeholders and business models. We then investigated the role of smallholders, use of mobile platforms to enable traceability from farms to consumers, and user context of smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Then we described the methodology for the design of requirements, structural specifications and a prototype mobile service platform. Through user and stakeholder interviews in Indonesia between 2011 and 2013, requirements for the platform were used to analyze both from a service provider and consumer aspect, where the service offers marginal benefits and serves strategic and operational interests. Through a field experiment, we investigated the technology acceptance model for smallholder farmers to deliver traceability data to global value chains, adding value to the market for premium cocoa and creating a better economic position for themselves. This research makes a strong case to focus on designing solutions using the principles of two-sided markets, service platforms, stakeholders and business models, to include the world’s poor in the global economy.

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