how locally run ict services can support national development policies

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M-agriculture seminar

Case study: how locally run ICT services can support national development policies

Theresa StantonIICD Country Manager, Zambiatstanton@iicd.orgwww.iicd.org

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Connecting 15 million people Education, Health & Agriculture

Monitoring & evaluation, Burkna Faso Focus group meeting, Ecuador

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Zambia – the sleeping giantSome facts and figures

• 12 million people; 68% below the poverty line (less than 2 USD/day)

• Life expectancy: 45 years (14% HIV positive)• 7 main languages (75 languages in total)• 58% of Zambia’s total land area (75 million hectares) is

classed as medium to high potential for farming use• Agriculture provides livelihoods for most of the population• 1000 large-scale farms/1.5 million subsistence farmers• Zambia aims to be a prosperous middle-income country by

2030. Until 2015, the government will focus primarily on improving the infrastructure and enhancing human and rural development

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1. A chronic lack of information 2. Farmer Associations lack resources to

regularly inform farmers3. Few mechanisms to share existing

information4. Research findings are unavailable or

hard to understand5. One Extension Officer for 1000

farmers6. Weak links between researchers,

extension workers and farmers

Challenges for Zambia’s farmers

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ZAMBIA: where our local partners work

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National Agricultural Information Service (NAIS)

Mobile Phones

NAIS and other organisations we work with are using the mobile phone both as a learning tool and to gather data in rural farming communities

Scaling up initiatives

Our partner organisations provide locally relevant content to an expanding user base

Sustainable business models

Partnerships enable IICD and the local organisations it works with to make our work sustainable so that it can continue past the pilot phase after the initial funding ends

Camari, Ecuador

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What does the National Agriculture Information Service (NAIS) do?

1. NAIS is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO) and supports its extension services by disseminating information to all players in the sector

2. NAIS ‘links’ research to farming practice 3. HQ in Lusaka / Research Centres throughout Zambia4. Organizes Radio Farm Forums (RFFs)5. IICD began working with NAIS in 2002 to Strengthen the

Agricultural Information Flow and Dissemination System of the National Agricultural Information Services in Zambia (SAIFADIS project)

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• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eOz7v9Hnqjg

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NAIS Project: Phase 1 (the goals)

1. Improve the internal flow of information within NAIS

2. Strengthen links between agricultural research (organizations), extension officers and farmers

3. Increase NAIS’s capacity to collect, process and share information with the farming community in more suitable formats

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NAIS project: Phase 2NAIS SMS-messaging platform

• Quick answers to farmers’ questions

• Added value for NAIS radio programmes

• Sharing scientific research findings

• Track patterns (to inform agriculture policy-makers)

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So how does it work?

Farmers:- Type ‘NAIS’ on message pad - Type language code: EN = English; BE = Bemba…- Ask question- SEND 3009

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What are the challenges?

• Price: one SMS message costs around 18 USD cents• Availability: only via Airtel • 180 characters

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What are the benefits?

• Timeliness• Feedback loop• Traceability – are their patterns? Do farmers from

the same region ask the same question?• Improved farming practices

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Sustainable business models Recommendations

1.Involve end-users in the design process and aim to integrate the activity at institutional level

2.Obtain buy-in from key players, eg. Government, private sector players

3.Include regular training and renew equipment

4. Set up ongoing learning and knowledge sharing mechanisms

5. Combine different types of ICT

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"Success is not how much you have, but how many people you have helped achieve success”

Thank You

Theresa Stantontstanton@iicd.org

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