Urban Agriculture, Sustainability, and Internet-of-Things : Applying UTAUT to Determine the Behavioural Intention to Use IoT

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is approaching the maturity stage of the technology adoption lifecycle in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). By 2025, most of the world's population will be living in urban areas. In South Africa, 66.8% of the population currently resides in urban areas with nearly two-thirds of these households experiencing food insecurity. Urbanisation affects food security in South Africa as people and physical resources migrate from the rural areas where food production typically happens. As such, there is a need to localise Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to make them more relevant and context-specific to urban farmers to ensure participation in working towards achieving these goals. Along with localising SDGs, IoT advancements should be considered by urban farmers to not only increase efficiency but to assist in realising the goal of sustainability and sustainable development.

The study aims to adapt the unified theory of unified technology acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) by introducing sustainability as a construct to determine how it influences urban farmers in Johannesburg and their behavioural intention to adopt IoT. This will contribute to making the theory robust to the determinants that influence individuals’ use of IoT, which aligns with recommendations made by the originators of the theory that researchers should identify constructs that serve to edify the prediction of intention and behaviour beyond what has already been studied.

The results produced in the study are based on a pragmatist mixed methods approach. The quantitative approach was an online 25-question survey based on the existing UTAUT questionnaire items with the addition of the sustainability construct. This questionnaire was distributed to Gauteng-based urban farmers with active agribusinesses. The qualitative approach was a case study in the form of a semi-structured interview with three urban farmers in Gauteng with businesses currently in operation. The findings show significant relationships between behavioural intention and effort expectancy, as well as social influence, indicating that urban farmers’ behavioural intention to use IoT will be influenced by its ease of use and whether people they deem important, or look to for leadership, believe they should adopt IoT to be more sustainable. There was a non-significant relationship between behavioural intention and sustainability despite urban farmers’ belief that sustainability is important, with most being willing to explore any available means of ensuring the sustainability of their farms, including IoT. Based on the interviews and other data, this is due to constraints such as funding, accessibility, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses, the state of the economy and load-shedding.

The study focuses on urban farms operating in cities around the province of Gauteng. This sector can be considered a niche, and this limited our sample size.