MOBILE PHONE TECHNOLOGY FOR ENHANCING SMALL-SCALE FISHING IN TANZANIA. A CASE OF NYASA DISTRICT

Information and communications technology is a catalyst to the development of socio-economic sectors in Tanzania including the fishing sector. However, despite the contribution made by mobile phone technologies as one of the ICT modern gears in the development of fishing industry, most small-scale fishers are poor, and their working environment is of great risks due to various challenges. This being the case, the current study investigated the extent to which small-scale fishermen use mobile phone technology for enhancing safety and increase of fishery production through the access to reliable market information. The study employed interviews, focus group discussion, documents review, and observation in collecting data. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to obtain 70 respondents from Nyasa District Council which is found in Ruvuma Region, Tanzania. Content analysis technique was employed in data analysis.