Assessing the impact of the use of information and communication technologies in the agricultural sector in Africa : the case of mobile telephony.

Summary This thesis aims to highlight the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and specifically cell phones, in sub-Saharan Africa to improve household livelihoods through information dissemination, rent redistribution and financial inclusion. Africa is the least developed continent, which suffers from poverty, lack of essential infrastructure, famine problems, the highest rates of illiteracy and limited access to financial services. Furthermore, international organizations such as the World Bank believe that the expansion of cell phone adoption represents an opportunity to overcome some of these barriers through innovative uses in the rural world which suffers more from these physical barriers. Through this thesis we evaluate the impact of the use of its services via cell phone in the agricultural sector, in order to draw conclusions on their benefits and quantify them, to enlighten the public authorities, private and non-governmental organizations on their real contributions and direct them towards services adapted to the needs of the population.