mobile technology for addressing mridul chowdhury ... technology for... · mobile technology for...
TRANSCRIPT
Mobile Technology for Addressing Agriculture Challenges
Mridul Chowdhury Founder & CEO
mPower Social Enterprises Ltd.
Jeremy Davis Senior Program Advisor
USAID Ag Extension Project
Project Name: USAID Agricultural Extension Support Activity
(Ag Extension Project)
Duration: 5 years (October 2012 – September 2017)
Implementer: Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM)
- First project awarded by USAID
Bangladesh to a national NGO under the
USAID Forward “Local Systems
Framework”
- Key part of Bangladesh Feed the Future
(FtF) initiative
Technical Partners: CARE Bangladesh and mPower
Core Approaches
Establish and Strengthen
Farmer Producer Groups
• Farmer Producer Group (FPG) formation to give small holder farmers (and women) a collective voice and provide a more attractive platform for extension agents
Improve Capacity of Ag Extension
Agents
• Capacity building of both public and private extension agents to improve technical knowledge and group facilitation skills; and enhance mobility and communications
Focus on Select Value Chains
• Farmer Producer Groups formed around select Value Chain: jute, chili, mung bean, fish, beef fattening, or dairy which represent fisheries, livestock, food and non-food crop; high % women participation
Focus on Information &
Communication Technologies
• Use of ICT as a core element for improving channels for farmers and extension agents to access ag production and technology information
Increased Farmer Access to Improved Extension Services
Access to extension agent is difficult
Farmer
Knowledge base of ag extension agent is
challenging to update
Extension Agent
GOB decision-makers have limited tools to get
information on-the-ground situation for timely actions
Decision-Maker
farmer’s Difficulty of access to Extension Agents
FARMER
EXTENSION AGENT SELF-EMPLOYED ENTREPRENEUR
PRIVATE EXTENSION AGENT (AICC, UISC)
AGRO EXPERT
No Linkage with Expert
Farmer Query
System
QUERIES ABOUT AGRI CHALLENGES
EXPERT RECOMMENDATION USING PHONE CALL, SMS, VOICE MESSEGE
FARMER AGRO EXPERT
REFERS TO EXPERT THROUGH FQS
EXTENSION AGENT
SELF-EMPLOYED ENTREPRENEUR
PRIVATE EXTENSION AGENT (AICC, UISC)
SMARTPHONE-BASED QUERY SYSTEM FOR FARMERS
Key Learnings ICT leaders are showing significant promise,
− ICT Leader: 15%
− AICC: 59%
− Input seller: 1%
1412 agro consultations
76% Farmers applied the recommendation
96.4% Farmers are satisfied with the responses
Current Status
Limitations Some issues cannot be solved through a remote
consultation.
Recognition Received mBillionth Award
2014, a regional award for
recognizing innovative
social intervention.
Centralized Web-Portal for Agricultural Knowledge base
INNOVATIVE
FARMER
EXTENSION
AGENT
SELF-EMPLOYED
ENTREPRENEUR
PRIVATE EXTENSION
AGENT (AICC, UISC)
Agro-Knowledge
Bank VIA MOBILE DEVICES
Access the portal
Increased Knowledge Base
Agro-Knowledge Centralized in a Web Portal
Agro-Knowledge Base
Constantly being updated
System Map
EXTENSION
AGENT
Crop Diagnostic
application
Agro-Knowledge Bank
TRIAGE BASED MOBILE APP MOBILE APP CONNECTS TO AGRO
KNOWLEDGE PORTAL
• Usable by a non-agriculture
expert
• Accessible through web &
mobile-phones
• Easily updatable by non-ICT
expert in the government
Insufficient Ground-Level Visibility
Govt. Extension Agent Manually Capturing Field Problems
Govt. Ag Decision-Maker Aggregate Report After 15 Days
• INFREQUENT INSTRUCTION
OFTEN > 2 MONTHS
• OFTEN NOT SPECIFIC AND
LOCALIZED ENOUGH
Mobile-Based Data Capturing
Real time Data Digitization & Reporting
Forward Instructions in Real-
Time