Agricultural information system development for land use planning

Abstract

Agriculture and land use planning problems are multifaceted in nature and require information and data incorporation from different sources and disciplines. This dissertation gives an account for the development and implementation of an Agricultural Information System for Land use Planning in Kumi district of eastern Uganda. Stakeholder Analysis (SA) as an approach to gaining understanding of a system by means of identifying key stakeholders and assessing their respective interests has been explored. Structured System Development Methodology (SSDM) was used to elicit the data requirements, data availability, integration and model information processes and data for land use and resource planning. A prototype information system for land use planning and a relational database were designed towards the provision of land use and resource data required for land use and resource planning in Kumi. A user interface was designed for stakeholders to access and update the database. Hyper text Preprocessor (PHP) was used to design the front end of the system with MySQL at the back end. Three perception based variables (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and intension to use) were subjected for measurement and the experimental results of one t-test on the value of each construct found the values of all dependent variables significantly positive. This suggested that the system has a high likelihood of adoption in practice. Internet Explorer 4/7 can be used to browse the information. Users have rights to update the database information but the Database Administrator has rights to modify the database by adding or removing users.