Delivering ICT for Farmers in Nigeria(ICT For Farmers Project)

November 2012

Presented by

Abdullahi MaikanoSecretary, Universal Service Provision Fund

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ContentIntroduction

Concepts

What we have done to date

Findings from what we have done

Next steps

Appendix - Clusters

Introduction

The innovative project, dubbed ‘ICT for Farmers’, is an initiative of the Federal Ministry

of Agriculture in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology,

aims to provide farmers with access to pertinent agriculture-related information, advice

and research that will help them make better decisions about their crops, increasing the

productivity of their yield, as well as their potential income through the use of ICT.

It will also help create a farmer community within which peers can share experiences

and exchange information about social gatherings, events, and opportunities. The

initiative aims to facilitate the rapid scaling of the use of mobile phone to provide

farmers across the country with agricultural information.

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Project ConceptObjectives:The project is focused on projects/services that provide agricultural related information to farmers directly, through the use of ICTs. The project is aimed to achieve the following:•Extension mobile network coverage and ICT services through mobile phone to farmers across the country•Provision of mobile phone to registered farmers•Establishment of CUG (Closed User Group) for the registered farmers in order to provide them with lower calling tariffs •Building of information centres in each state of the federation

Strategy:•To partner with the FMARD and GSM/CDMA operators to achieve the project objectives•To provide subsidies to the GSM/CDMA operators to extend their network to farmer locations and provide the necessary ICT tools

Project Phases: The project is proposed to be implemented in two phases:•Pilot Phase I: 37 LGAs in 13 states and FCT across the six geo-political zones in the country are to be selected for the pilot phase•Phase II: Other LGAs not covered in the pilot phase

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418,744 farmers have been targeted for the pilot phase

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S/No. Zone State No. of Registered Farmers

No. of Registered Farmers with

Phones

No. of Registered Farmers without

Phones1

North EastAdamawa 42543 11207 31336

2 Gombe 49270 16243 330273

North WestSokoto 17183 3708 13475

4 Kaduna 42936 29528 134085

North CentralBenue 71032 2972 68060

6 Kwara 36751 7145 296067

South EastAnambra 80471 11097 69374

8 Ebonyi 31302 8408 115989

South WestOgun 7566 5417 2149

10 Ondo 16347 10003 634411

South SouthBayelsa X X X

12 Delta 12460 6252 629813 FCT Kuje 10883 5426 5457

TOTAL 418,744 121,319 297,424NOTE:

1.Source of data – Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

2.No data for Bayelsa state as of the time of this report was compiled

3.Registered farmers with phones will be migrated to the new platform/CUG

What we have done to date…

In order to deliver ICT service to farmers across the country the following tasks were

done to date:

A Committee was established and met with the representatives of the FMARD &

their Consultants

All LGAs of the federation with registered farmers have been grouped into

clusters.

Cluster maps were generated for all the un-served states

Preliminary responsibility matrix has been drawn for the contributions of the

USPF, FMARD & LGA.- See Appendix I

Pilot LGA sites have been identified in all the geographical zones of the

federation.

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Outcome: Verify the status of telecom service in the Pilot LGAs, which were selected based on high number of farmers registered by the Fed. Ministry of Agriculture with low number of farmers with phones.

… to achieve the goal of extending ICT to farmers, 37 pilot sites were selected across 13 states and the FCT

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Outcome: It was noted that most of the LGA headquarters are served by two or more operators; however the surroundings are un-served or under-served.

Sokoto (Kebbe, Wurno & Sokoto South)

Adamawa (Fufore, Jada, Mayo Belwa & Demsa)

Gombe(Balanga, Dukku & Yamaltu Deba)

Kaduna(Giwa, Lere & Birnin Gwari)

Kwara(Asa, Pategi & Illorin East)

Ogun(Remo North, Obafemi Owode, &

Ewekoro)

Ondo(Akure North, Ondo West, Ondo East

& Ile Oluji/Okeigo)

Delta(Burutu, Patani & Ethiope West)

FCT(Kuje)

Bayelsa(Burutu, Patani & Southern Ijaw)

Benue(Oturkpo, Gwer West & Ado Igumule)

Ebonyi(Ikwo, Abakaliki, Izzi & Ohaukwu)

Anambra(Ayamelum, Aguata, Anambra West, Anambra East, Onyi, Njikoka & Anaocha)

Findings from the verification of the 37 locations

The teams identified 1 un-served LGA, 5 under-served LGAs and 31 served LGA

Headquarters.

The adjoining towns and villages of most LGA headquarters were under-served

because of low signal strength emanating from the BTSs that are located in the LGA

headquarters.

The LGA headquarters are covered by at least two (2) Operators, however the

coverage in fringes are poor.

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Recommendation: All the operators identified in those areas and others are to be invited to bring their proposal of extending their services to the adjoining villages and communities, which will include the provision of Closed User Group (CUG), mobile broadband internet facilities and other value added services for registered farmers and others in the LGAs.

Typical Findings: Most LGA headquarters proposed in the pilot sites were found to be fully covered but the fringes were either unserved or under-served

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Indicates area with mobile network service

Nigeria

Kaduna State

Birnin Gwari LGA

Note:

Indicates area without mobile network service

Typical Findings…continued

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Our findings typically indicate that

Most of the LGA headquarters. are fully covered.

The fringes are either unserved or under-served.

Significant number of farmers reside in the surroundings

and not LGA headquarters.

Only 2 CDMA operators are present in 3 LGA headquarters.

98% of the Operators with coverage at the LGA

headquarters are GSM operators like MTN, Glo, Airtel and

Etisalat.

Next steps

1. Invite the GSM operators for discussion on the findings (see slide 10)

2. Operators to verify the findings

3. Operators to survey and design BTS coverage/extension to cover the

extend LGAs in the pilot sites

4. Operators to upgrade network in areas with coverage

5. Operates to create CUG, and Special SIMS & locked Phones

6. Migrate farmers already possessing GSM phones to the new platform.

7. Conclude on RFPs, Tenders and Contracts

8. Negotiate with Network Operators on Subsidy/Services

9. Estimate a realistic time frame for project execution

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Next steps

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Nov. 2012 May 2013

Meet with Operators to explain the concept of the project and their contributions vis-à-vis USPFs intervention and other stakeholders.

Deadline for operators to submit proposals.

Jan. 2013

Evaluated proposals and implementers selected by this day

Issue letter of award to successful implementers

Implementation and rollout of services/phones commences

Outcome: All pilot sites and targeted farmers completed by May 2013

31st

19th

Operators carryout survey or pilot areas119th

28th

14th

Dec. 2012

Public announcement of implementation is made to the Nigerian public18th

March 2013

1st

USPF – Responsibility Matrix To facilitate the deployment of Infrastructure that is interoperable for the

extension of wireless telecommunication services to un-served and under served locations

- The Infrastructure will be opened to all group of people (irrespective of their professions). All groups will have access to the Infrastructure and services that will be rendered by the telecom operators

Provision of Subsidy to Operators (To deploy BTS & other Services) Provision of ICT tools at Help Desk/Data Centers Facilitate the creation of CUG Connectivity to Data CenterFMARD – Policy facilitation Provide support for Farmers already possessing GSM phones to migrate to

the new platform Facilitate the provision of mobile phones to farmers Provision of Staff for Help Desk/Data Centers Facilitate the installation of Software , E-wallet, Information and other

extension services Ensure Farmers registration, Fertilizer distribution etc Provide accommodation for Data Centers

Major financial contributions

USPF – Provision of Subsidy to Operators Provision of ICT tools at Help Desk/Data Centers Subsidies for CUG Connectivity to Data Center & Farmers

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FMARD – Policy facilitation Provide support for farmers already possessing GSM phones

to migrate to the new platform Provision of Locked mobile phones to farmers Provision of Staff for Help Desk/Data Centers FRMIS Software , e-wallet, Information and extension

services Farmers registration, Fertilizers etc.

FARMERS – Partial cost of Handsets Partial cost of CUG & data services Note -50% cost of handsets may be subsidized by FMARD to

enable sustenance of project.

Appendix - Clusters

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Adamawa State clusters

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Anambra State clusters

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Benue State clusters

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Bayelsa State clusters

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Delta State clusters

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Ebonyi State clusters

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Gombe State clusters

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Kaduna State clusters

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Kwara State clusters

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Ogun State clusters

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Ondo State clusters

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Sokoto State clusters

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