Abstract:
Use of mobile phone has evolved in the recent years and has become a great economic tool for
households in rural areas. The mobile communication compensate for inadequate infrastructure by
allowing resources and information move free including efficient money transactions. The study was
motivated to assess the extent to which mobile phone communication is being used to generate
household income. The main units of study were the households in Kiagu locations of Abothuguchi SubCounty in Meru County. One member of every household who owned a mobile phone and used the Mpesa money transfer service was interviewed. A total of 50 households were interviewed including 4 key
informants. Data was collected through questionnaire and analyzed with aid of SPSS. The findings
indicated that The study concludes that the introduction of mobile phone technology especially with the
innovation of m-pesa service has impacted positively on the household income of the rural areas. The
study therefore recommends that government should also work together with non-governmental
organizations in training rural households on more various ways they can use mobile phone technology
for economic generating activities like marketing of their farm products and accessing information
which can be useful in their day to day lives
