Microsoft
Microsoft started to offer special developing world
Windows version dubbed "Starter edition" since
Windows XP, which is cheaper than other editions, has limited application functions, network connectivity and is restricted to low-end hardware.
Microsoft sees sub-Saharan Africa as one of the last great computing frontiers and wants to make Windows a fixture there. The company has established a presence in 13 countries and has donated Windows for thousands of school computers and funded programs for entrepreneurs and the youth and has used aggressive business tactics aimed at
Linux, which is its biggest threat in the region.The company also makes a kind of ICT4D service with its "Unlimited Potential" program.
MIT
At the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the IMARA organization (from
Swahili word for "power") sponsors a variety of outreach programs which bridge the Global Digital Divide. Its aim is to find and implement long-term, sustainable solutions which will increase the availability of educational technology and resources to domestic and international communities. These projects are run under the aegis of the
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and staffed by MIT volunteers who give training, installed and donated computer setups in greater
Boston,
Massachusetts,
Kenya, Indian reservations the American Southwest such as the
Navajo Nation, the
Middle East, and
Fiji Islands. The CommuniTech project strives to empower underserved communities through sustainable technology and education.
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The institute also runs the
Entrepreneurial Programming and Research on Mobiles and
Africa Information Technology Initiative which focus on ICT4D.
The Berkman Institute at MIT is also strongly engaged in communication towards bridging the digital divide.
IRD
Institut de recherche pour le développement is a French public research institute working for the development of Southern countries, reporting to the Ministries responsible for research and overseas development. IRD is managing for more than sixty years research, consultancy and capacity building activities in Africa, the Mediterranean basin, Asia, Latin America and French overseas territories. The IT department of IRD has been in charge for years to bridge the digital divide between the Southern countries and the West.
Access to information enhances farmers' negotiation power and income. This has been demonstrated by initiatives in Mali and Burkina Faso, where farmers groups are working to find ways to improve their livelihood opportunities by allowing greater access to information for increasing production, developing new partnerships and enhancing commercialisation. For them, accessing updated and proper information is essential and vital.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) expand the possibilities in this field, providing new tools and facilitating the process of setting up and strengthening agriculture information networks in rural areas. ICTs are used in agriculture for various activities, from market price information and product visibility, to traceability and certification, production and processing techniques. In the case of Mali, with a rural population of about 75%, and of Burkina Faso with 85%, harnessing the potential of ICT has become an important aspect of farmers' associations work.
Based on the experience of working with farmer associations in these countries for several years, this article addresses some of the main aspects that characterise the rural farmer's information networks, the challenges they face, and the possible aspects to take into account to move forward.
The making of rural farmer information networks
The Regional Committee for Coordination of Rural People (CRCR) was founded in 1996 with the main objective of representing and defending the interests of producers in Mali's Sikasso area by taking their concerns into account in rural development policies at regional, national and international levels. CRCR is composed by seven Local Committees for Coordination of Farmers' Organisations (CLCOP) from the Sikasso area, counting 215 organisations (of which 115 are women's organisations).
In Burkina Faso, the Federation of Professional Agricultural Producers of Sissili (FEPPASI) was founded in 1998 in the Sissili province to increase producers' organisational capacities and improve their agricultural production and consequently, their income. This network has its headquarters in Léo (the province's administrative centre), includes five local unions and more than five thousand cereal, fruit and vegetable producers.
Both initiatives have something in common: they are working to strengthen the position of farmers in the market, as well as engaging in the policy processes that directly affect them. Both have been looking into the right mechanisms and tools that can help them achieve their objectives.
Based on concrete demands coming out of local round table processes, since 2005, IICD has been supporting the introduction of ICT in the organisations' work with the objective of improving agricultural information channels. Both projects included from the start, capacity building, local content development and equipment components, as well as organisational change management support. Trainings, development of educational and support materials, as well as equipment installation have been carried out with support from IICD staff working with local partners.
In the case of Mali, CRCR started a project called Jèkafo Gèlèkan, meaning "let's talk under the palaver tree." The project is using computers and the Internet to improve information streams to and from the CLCOPs, and local radio to disseminate specific information on a large scale. By using ICT, rural dwellers – both producers and processors – can learn about opportunities for improving their economic situation. Besides their advocacy and lobbying activities, CRCR also strengthens its members by offering training on marketing and production techniques and by encouraging them to share practical information and their experiences in farming. A regular broadcast is produced on issues related to the Agriculture legislation (Loi d'Orientation Agricole or 'LOA') and potential implications of changes in this legislation. All local radios in the Sikasso province are involved in this communication system.
FEPPASI in Burkina Faso set up the Sissili Vala Kori project to improve communication and information exchange between the farmers' federation and its members. To achieve this, two small telecentres were set up in the villages of Bieha and Boura and equipped with computers. At the end of 2006, 150 members of FEPPASI and 5 leaders were trained in the basic principles of cooperative work using multimedia materials. By 2009, according to the Federation's President Moussa Joseph Dagano, over 8,000 farmers had been trained in production and food-processing techniques, using video, photos and presentations. The organisation also started to build a regional and international network through the FEPPASI website.
Impact of ICT adoption in the information networks and lessons learned
According to the results of monitoring and evaluation surveys and focus groups carried out yearly, members of CRCR point out that the use of ICT has highly improved exchange of information, both between the Local Committees for Coordination of Farmers' Organisations and its members and with the different partners at regional and national levels. They now can register and find information, save and print documents at each CLCOP, and type and distribute data. e-mail facilitates information and documents exchange with regional and national partners.
According to FEPPASI, the development of general ICT skills to search for and distribute information, as well as to create their own digital resources with pictures, has considerably reduced the length of trainings and enhanced the impact. An impact study conducted in 2007 by INERA, a Burkinabe farmers' research institute, revealed that farmers who received training have been able to double and even triple their production levels. On average, agricultural production of maize was increased from 0.5 tonnes per hectare in 2003 to 4.5 tons in 2007. In the case of Jèkafo Gèlèkan, 40.3% of users indicated to have seen an economic impact of the project on their lives.
Both experiences mention how the use of ICT as means of communication (in particular the Internet and mobile phones) have reduced costs in travel. They can also access digital versions of training materials, instead of having to resort to printed, hard-copy versions. Also members mention that with ICT, they can find more information on the agricultural production chain, on the selection of seeds and fertilizers, as well as to make contact with clients for his products in other regions.
For reasons of trust and confidence, the integration of information centres in farmer organisations, like in the case of a CLCOP has been more successful than trying to attract farmers to a commercial telecentre or a community-based information centre (CBIC). This is now being taken into account when considering the platforms to be used by the rural farmer's information networks.
Results of questionnaires among farmers in Sissili revealed that more than 75 percent of the respondents indicated that as a result of the project they were more aware of ICT possibilities for the agricultural sector. In the Sikasso, results reveal an awareness level of 60 percent and empowerment level of 73 percent. Empowerment indicates what people have done as result of their awareness.
Both rural farmer's information networks have greatly benefited from mainstreaming ICT in their activities in terms of communication, knowledge transfer and commercialization. Farmers can now boost their crop yields and income by having quick access to information on market prices and production and food processing techniques. The networks are looking into expanding their access and usage of these technologies to reach more farmers and expand their role in the marketplace.
Challenges for rural farmer information networks and proposed solutions
The issue of long-term sustainability remains a main challenge to be tackled by the involved farmer's organisations. In the case of FEPPASI, by helping farmers to move from subsistence farming to commercial farming, they have been able to start requesting fees. Progressively, farmers are becoming more able and willing to pay fees for their training, partially responding to the sustainability problem. In Sikasso, the CLCOP were working on the promotion of useful materials to be sold at the centre, and solutions like taxing on overall sales are being studied. Developing services that have a direct influence on revenue increase, such as linking farmers to markets, may, in the long term be a more viable option for economic sustainability.
Both in Mali and Burkina Faso there is a general lack of capacity. Budgeting and providing for continuous training of centres' managers in the 'train the trainer' model has proved a successful one. To achieve success good and trustworthy enabling partners should be identified for continuing training at community level.
Energy, maintenance of the ICT equipment and connectivity remains a challenge. Shared energy and connectivity models are one solution to address this challenge; another model are hybrid solutions that consider several access options in the community, for connectivity would be through dial-up, mobile, DSL and satellite. In the case of FEPPASI, their dial-up connection was replaced by VSAT in 2009 and decided to share bandwidth with other organisations by charging a fee, becoming a service provider. While this helps in their sustainability and connectivity, measures need to be taken for the initiative to find balance serving both roles as service provider and association.
Another challenge is the concentration of equipment's use by the literate and male population. One of the reasons is that women speak the local languages and are not fluent in French. More content is being developed in local languages to address this problem but much more needs to be done. It has been suggested to provide a keyboard in the local language, adapt training to their practical level, and produce more materials based on testimonials and images. Another suggestion is aimed at involving youth in the processes as they have the interest and potential to learn fast and help their families in accessing the information they need.
A related aspect that comes out of interviews is that not all information reaches local farmers since they are dependent on those with higher education to pass the information that has been received via the internet. This makes clear how important it is to make information available by various means, from face-to-face interaction, notice boards and printed materials, to multimedia materials on CD/DVD, local radio and mobile phones. In the case of the mobile phone, however, the costs for the local farmers should be considered, as it is mentioned in some cases the new burden they can pose in a family.
A challenge exposed by CRCR's President, Bakary Diarra, in a Peer Assist session in 2009, was the lack of visibility for its base organisations and how to organise themselves to become more visible at the local level. The peer advice was to devise a wide-ranging communication strategy to give base organisations better visibility and to lobby with local authorities to obtain recognition for base organisations and involve them in events of an agricultural nature.
FEPASSI's President, Moussa Joseph Dagano, expressed they are facing two content management challenges: firstly, how to enter data regularly and easily into the database given the large number of producers; secondly, how to contribute to database mapping. The peer advice proposed solutions were to provide database's access to group leaders and training to enter the data, supply they with laptop computers and modems, and restrict data collection to three phases (beginning and end of the campaign, and survey per farm category). For the second challenge, he was advised to train group leaders in mapping software and make an assessment of the investment against added value. He was also advised to consolidate skills before beginning the mapping phase and develop an information management strategy.
Both networks face the challenge of consolidating and archiving all data and training materials. It is therefore important for them to develop a strategy for collecting and managing information, and to encourage and guide trainers and extension workers in the processing and sharing of content.
Final thoughts
The rural farmer information networks in Mali and Burkina Faso have gone through similar processes and face similar challenges. ICTs provide possibilities to enhance the way these networks address these challenges, as well as new avenues to develop farmers' capacities and knowledge to work for better farming and therefore, better livelihood opportunities. As Bakary Diarra mentions: "In five years time I hope that the improved communication between our members and the higher authorities will make a real difference to the farmers and that their living conditions will have improved considerably. I also hope that many more people will become computer-literate and that the local branches of CRCR at the community level will know how to best use of the new communication tools and take responsibility for informing their farmer cooperatives and other local branches of the CRCR." Moussa Joseph Dagano also says: "ICT are the basis for farmers development. We need to continue."
Both farmers believe in how ICT are part of a concrete strategy to promote local capacity development and ownership, and develop meaningful interactions and associative capacities of the participants involved. They believe and their members concur, that by continuing in this path the information networks they lead do have a future.
