Innovative Farmer Advisory Systems

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Preparedfor:TheForumforAgriculturalResearchinAfrica

Preparedby:

Mucemi

Gakuru,

Kristen

Winters

&

Francois

Stepman

February2009

Inventory of

Innovative Farmer Advisory

Services using ICTs


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TableofContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................................................4

LISTOFACRONYMS...............................................................................................................................5

FOREWORD.........................................................................................................................................10

PART1:

DISCUSSION

1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................11

2. OBJECTIVES................................................................................................................................12

3. METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................................................12

3.1VOICEINFORMATIONDELIVERYSERVICES..................................................................................................133.2RADIO:DIALUP(AGRICULTURALINFORMATIONONDEMAND)ANDREGULARRADIOBROADCASTS.........................133.3EXTENSIONSERVICESBASEDONMOBILEPHONEANDDATABASEMONITORING...................................................133.4ELEARNINGFORBASICSKILLS,AGRICULTURALEDUCATIONANDVIDEOBASEDAPPROACHES.................................14

4. DEVELOPMENTS.........................................................................................................................14

4.1MEASURINGTHESOCIALIMPACT

.............................................................................................................

14

4.2MEASURINGTHEECONOMICIMPACT........................................................................................................16

5. RESULTS.....................................................................................................................................18

5.1THECAPACITYTOUSEINFORMATION.......................................................................................................185.2CHALLENGESTOUPSCALING....................................................................................................................19

6. BUSINESSBENEFITS....................................................................................................................20

7. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................21

PARTII:PROJECTSUMMARIES

1. VOICEINFORMATIONDELIVERYSERVICES..................................................................................23

ALLOINGENIER

....................................................................................................................................23

BANANAINFORMATIONLINE..........................................................................................................................23NATIONALFARMERSINFORMATIONSERVICE(NAFIS)........................................................................................24T2M(TIMETOMARKET)...............................................................................................................................24

2. RADIO:DIALUP(AGRICULTURALINFORMATIONONDEMAND)ANDREGULARRADIO

BROADCASTS......................................................................................................................................25

AFRICANFARMRADIORESEARCHINITIATIVE(AFRRI).........................................................................................25FAMILYALLIANCEFORDEVELOPMENTANDCOOPERATION(FADECO)...................................................................25FREEDOMFONE ....................................................................................................................................25RURALRADIORESOURCEPACKS(RRRPS).........................................................................................................26THEORGANICFARMER..................................................................................................................................26

3.

EXTENSION

SERVICES

BASED

ON

MOBILE

PHONE

AND

DATABASE

MONITORING

........................

28

AGRICULTURALMARKETINGANDINFORMATIONSYSTEMFORMALAWI(MISMALAWI)............................................28AGRICULTURALMARKETINGSYSTEMSDEVELOPMENTPROGRAMME(AMSDP).......................................................29AGRICULTURALRESEARCHEXTENSIONNETWORK(ARENET)................................................................................29ESOKO(FORMERLYTRADENET)........................................................................................................................30FARMERSINFORMATIONCOMMUNICATIONMANAGEMENT(FICOM)...................................................................31INFOPRIXBENIN:MARKETPRICESVIASMS.......................................................................................................31KENYAAGRICULTURALCOMMODITIESEXCHANGE(KACE)MISPROJECT................................................................32LIVESTOCKINFORMATIONNETWORKANDKNOWLEDGESYSTEM(LINKS)................................................................33


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THEMAKULEKEPROJECT...............................................................................................................................34NETWORKOFMARKETINFORMATIONSYSTEMSANDTRADERS.............................................................................34ORGANIZATIONSOFWESTAFRICA(MISTOWA)...............................................................................................34REGIONALAGRICULTURALTRADEINFORMATIONNETWORK(RATIN).....................................................................35RSEAUDESSYSTMESD'INFORMATIONDESMARCHSENAFRIQUEDEL'OUEST/WESTAFRICANAGRICULTURALMARKETINFORMATIONSYSTEM NETWORK(RESIMAO/WAMISNET)............................................................................35

SMSINFORMATIONSERVICE..........................................................................................................................

36

SYSTEMEDINFORMATIONDESMARCHESAGRICOLES(SIMA)..............................................................................36TRADEATHAND ....................................................................................................................................36XAMMARS ....................................................................................................................................37

4. ELEARNINGFORBASICSKILLS,AGRICULTURALEDUCATIONANDVIDEOBASEDAPPROACHES...38

AGRICULTURERESEARCHANDRURALINFORMATIONNETWORK(ARRIN)NDERETROUPE.........................................38AGROVISION ....................................................................................................................................38AGRICULTURALSECTORDEVELOPMENTPROGRAMME(ASDP)..............................................................................39COLLECTINGANDEXCHANGINGOFLOCALAGRICULTURALCONTENT(CELAC)..........................................................39CROMABU(CROPSMARKETINGBUREAU)PROJECT..........................................................................................40DRUMNET ....................................................................................................................................40EASTERNCORRIDORAGROMARKETINFORMATIONCENTRE(ECAMIC)..................................................................41

ECOMMERCEFORNON

TRADITIONALEXPORTS

.................................................................................................

41

ECOMMERCEFORWOMEN............................................................................................................................42ENHANCINGACCESSTOAGRICULTURALINFORMATIONUSINGINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONTECHNOLOGIESINAPACDISTRICT(EAAI)..................................................................................................................................42FARMERSINTERNETCAF..............................................................................................................................43FIRSTMILEPROJECT ....................................................................................................................................43FRUILMA ....................................................................................................................................44GHANAAGRICULTURALINFORMATIONNETWORKSYSTEM(GAINS).......................................................................44ICTSUPPORTFORRURALAGRICULTURALLITERACY.............................................................................................45ICTFORSHEABUTTERPRODUCERS..................................................................................................................45ICT4DRESEARCHANDRESOURCECENTRE........................................................................................................46IMPROVINGAGRICULTURALPRODUCTIVITYANDMARKETSUCCESSOFETHIOPIANFARMERS(IMPS)............................46

INFONETBIOVISIONFARMERINFORMATIONPLATFORM

......................................................................................

47

INFORMATIONNETWORKINMAND................................................................................................................48INTEGRATINGICTFORQUALITYASSURANCEANDMARKETING..............................................................................48JKAFOGULKAN:RURALINFORMATIONSYSTEMFORFARMERSINTHESIKASSOREGION.........................................49LINKINGLOCALLEARNERS(LLL)......................................................................................................................49MARKETINFORMATIONSERVICEFACILITYANDTRAINING.....................................................................................50MIPROKA(MAISOND'INFORMATIONETDEPROMOTIONDUKARITE).....................................................................50QUESTIONANDANSWERSERVICE....................................................................................................................51RURALINFORMATIONSYSTEM(RIS)................................................................................................................51RURALUNIVERSENETWORK(RUNETWORK).....................................................................................................52SENEKUNAFONIBULON.................................................................................................................................52SISSILIVALAKORI:IMPROVEMENTOFAGRICULTURERELATEDINFORMATIONCHANNELSTOFARMERSINTHERURALAREASISSILI ................................................................................................................................53

STRENGTHENINGTHEAGRICULTUREINFORMATIONFLOWANDDISSEMINATIONSYSTEM............................................

53

SUSTAINET(SUSTAINABLEAGRICULTUREINFORMATIONNETWORK)EASTAFRICA.....................................................54TVKOODO:MARKETPRICEINFORMATIONSYSTEMUSINGWEBANDNATIONALTELEVISION.........................................55VIRTUALEXTENSIONANDRESEARCHCOMMUNICATIONNETWORK(VERCON)........................................................56

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................57

APPENDIX1:PROJECTWEBSITES.........................................................................................................62

APPENDIX2:OTHERSOURCESONMOBILESANDSOCIALMEDIA.........................................................64


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APPENDIX3:FARAVIDEOINTERVIEWSONINNOVATIVEFARMERADVISORYSERVICES........................65


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Acknowledgements

The compilation of this inventory involved participation from many individuals andorganizations.

FARAwould

like

to

acknowledge

the

input

from

the

RAILS

ediscussion

groups

[Regional

Agricultural Information and Learning Systems] and the KnowledgeManagement forDevelopment [KM4Dev] ediscussion groupwho alerted us to projects that could beusedintheinventory.

FARA attempted to contact each organization to receive the most uptodateinformationon theproject.Wearegrateful toeveryorganization thatrespondedandprovided current information on the status of their project. Invaluable contributionscamefromtheInternationalInstituteforCommunicationsandDevelopment(IICD)andThe Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CTA) who provided

information

about

the

many

ICT

projects

they

are

involved

in.

Special

thanks

to

the

International Development Research Centre (IDRC), who are working on a studyentitled, ICTs and smallscale agriculture inAfrica: a scoping study andwere able toprovide a lot of valuable information about a number of ICT projects in Africa andsharedtheirdatabasewithFARA.

The information for some projectswas obtained solely online and not confirmed byanyonewithintheorganization. Therefore,someofthefollowingentriesmaycontainoutdateddataorproject information:KACE,SIMA,VERCON,MakulekeMobilePhoneProject,GAINS, InfoPrixBenin,Agrovision, ICT4DResearchandResourceCentre,EAAI,CELAC,RESIMAO/WAMISNet,andprojects implementedbyor inpartnershipwiththe

ZambianNational

Farmers

Union.


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ListofAcronyms

AAAG Associationdaideetdappuiauxgroupements[AssociationofAidandSupportGroups](Mali)

ABIP

AgribusinessInformation

Point

ACT AfricanConservationTillageNetworkAFRRI AfricanFarmRadioResearchInitiativeAgSSIP AgriculturalServiceSectorInvestmentProgrammeAIC AgricultureInformationandResourceCentreAOPP Associationdesorganisationspaysannesprofessionnelles

[TheAssociationofFarmersOrganizations]APC AssociationforProgressiveCommunicationsARC AgriculturalResearchCouncilARENET AgriculturalResearchandExtensionNetwork

ARIS

AgriculturalResearch

Information

Service

ARRIN AgricultureResearchandRuralInformationNetworkASARECA AssociationforStrengtheningAgriculturalResearchinEasternand

CentralAfricaASDI AgencyforthePromotionofSustainableInitiativesASDP AgriculturalSectorDevelopmentProgrammeATCOM AssociationofTelecommunicationsCompaniesinNigeriaATP AgribusinessandTradePromotionBLE BundesanstaltfrLandwirtschaftundErnhrung

[FederalAgencyforAgricultureandFood](Germany)BMBF BundesministeriumfrBildungundForschung

[MinistryofEducationandScience](Germany)BROSDI BusogaRuralOpenSourceDevelopmentInitiative(Uganda)CABI CentreforBiosciencesandAgricultureInternationalCARDI CaribbeanAgriculturalResearchandDevelopmentInstituteCELAC CollectingandExchangingofLocalAgriculturalContent(Uganda)CIAT InternationalCentreforTropicAgricultureCIDA CanadianInternationalDevelopmentAgencyCILC CommunityInformationLearningCentreCLCOP LocalCommitteesforCoordinationofFarmersOrganisations

(Mali)

CMS

ContentManagement

System

CNOP Coordinationnationaledesorganisationspaysannes[NationalCoordinatingbodyofFarmersOrganizations](Mali)

CNRIT CentreforNaturalResourceInformationTechnologyCONAFED LeComitnationalFemmeetDveloppement

[NationalCommitteeforWomeninDevelopment]


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COPROKAZAN CooprativedesProductricesdebeurredeKaritdeZantibougou[ZantibougouWomenSheaButterProducersCooperative](Mali)

CORAID CatholicOrganizationforReliefandDevelopmentAidCRCR TheRegionalCommitteeforCoordinationofRuralPeople(Mali)

CROMABU

CropsMarketing

Bureau

(Tanzania)

CSIRINSTI TheInstituteforScientificandTechnologicalInformationoftheCouncilforScientificandIndustrialResearch(Ghana)

CTA TechnicalCentreforAgriculturalandRuralCooperation(theNetherlands)

DATIC DistrictAgriculturalTrainingandInformationCentre(Uganda)DFID UKDepartmentforInternationalDevelopmentECAMIC EasternCorridorAgromarketInformationCentre(Ghana)ECOWAS EconomicCommunityofWestAfricanStatesEDDI EducationDevelopmentandDemocracyInitiativeFABEMA FdrationdesOrganisationsdeBaseduMandn

[FederationofCommunitybasedOrganizationsofMandn](Mali)FADECO FamilyAllianceforDevelopmentandCooperation(Tanzania)FARA ForumforAgriculturalResearchinAfricaFEPPASI FdrationProvincialedesProducteursAgricolesdelaSissili

[FarmersFederationFeppasi](BurkinaFaso)FIAB FederationNationaledesIndustriesdel'AgroAlimentairedu

BurkinaFaso[TheFederationofAgroIndustrialEnterprisesofBurkinaFaso]

FiBL ForschungsinstitutfrbiologischenLandbau[ResearchInstituteofOrganicAgriculture](Switzerland)

FOSS

FreeOpen

Source

Software

GAINS GhanaAgriculturalInformationNetworkSystemGAP GoodAgriculturalPracticeGPS GlobalPositioningSystemGTZ DeutscheGesellschaftfrTechnischeZusammenarbeit

[GermanCentreforTechnicalCooperation]HIVOS HumanistInstituteforCooperationwithDevelopingCountriesIABER InstitutAfricaindeBioEconomieRurale

[AfricanInstituteofRuralBioEconomy](BurkinaFaso)ICT InformationCommunicationsTechnology

ICTARD

Information

and

Communication

and

Technologies

for

African

RuralDevelopmentzICT4D InformationCommunicationsTechnologyforDevelopmentIDEAA InitiativeforDevelopmentandEquityinAfricanAgriculture

(Malawi)IDRC InternationalDevelopmentResearchCentre(Canada)IER InstituteforAgriculturalResearch(Mali)IFAD InternationalFundforAgriculturalDevelopment


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IFDC InternationalCentreforSoilFertilityandAgriculturalDevelopment

IMARK InformationManagementResourceKitIMPS ImprovingAgriculturalProductivityandMarketSuccessof

EthiopianFarmers

IICD

InternationalInstitute

for

Communications

and

Development

IITA InternationalInstituteforTropicalAgricultureILRI InternationalLivestockResearchInstituteINRAB l'InstitutNationaldesRecherchesAgricolesduBnin

[NationalAgriculturalResearchInstituteofBenin]ISFH InsectScienceforFoodandHealthISG InternationalSupportGroupIVR InteractiveVoiceResponseJAS JamaicaAgriculturalSocietyKACE KenyaAgriculturalCommoditiesExchangeKARI KenyaAgricultureResearchInstituteKENDAT KenyaNetworkforDisseminationofAgriculturalTechnologiesKENFAP KenyaNationalFederationofAgriculturalProducersKHDP KenyaHorticulturalDevelopmentProjectLAN LocalAreaNetworkLED LiechetensteinDevelopmentServiceLEWS LivestockEarlyWarningSystemLINKS LivestockInformationNetworkandKnowledgeSystemLLL LinkingLocalLearnersLLSTI LocalSpeechTechnologyInitiativeLMIS LivestockMarketingInformationSystem

MACE

MalawiAgriculture

Commodity

Exchange

MAPRONET MarketAccessPromotionNetwork(Ghana)MCSP MultiChannelServicePlatformMIC MarketInformationCentreMIP MarketInformationPointMIPROKA Maisond'InformationetdePromotionduKarit

[InformationCentreforthePromotionofShea](BurkinaFaso)MIS MarketInformationServiceMISTOWA NetworkofMarketInformationSystemsandTraders

OrganizationsofWestAfrica

MOA

Ministry

of

Agriculture

MoARD EthiopianMinistryofAgricultureandRuralDevelopmentNAADS NationalAgriculturalAdvisoryServices(Uganda)NAFIRRI NationalFisheriesResourcesResearchInstituteNAFIS NationalFarmersInformationService(Kenya)NAIS NationalAgriculturalInformationServices(Zambia)NALEP NationalAgricultureandLivestockExtensionProgramme(Kenya)NARO NationalAgriculturalResearchOrganization(Uganda)


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NGO NongovernmentalOrganizationNICT NewInformationCommunicationTechnologyONSA NationalBureauforFoodSecurity(Benin)OPPAZ OrganicProducersandProcessorsAssociationofZambiaPDA PersonalDigitalAssistant

PELUMTZ

Participatory

Ecological

Land

Use

Management

Tanzania

PU PastoralUnitQASVS QuestionandAnswerVoucherSystemRAILS RegionalAgriculturalInformationandLearningSystemsRATES RegionalAgriculturalTradeExpansionSupportProgramRATIN RegionalAgriculturalTradeInformationNetworkRECOTIS RegionalCommodityTradeandInformationSystem(Kenya)RESIMAO/WAMIS RseaudesSystmesd'InformationdesMarchsenAfriquede

l'Ouest/WestAfricanAgriculturalMarketInformationSystemsNetwork

RNE GermanCouncilforSustainableDevelopmentRRRP RuralRadioResourcePackRUNetwork RuralUniverseNetworkSAILD ServicedAppuiauxInitiativesLocalesdeDveloppement

[SupportOfficeforLocalDevelopmentInitiatives](Cameroon)SATNET SustainableAgriculturalTrainersNetworkSEND SocialEnterpriseDevelopmentFoundationofWestAfricaSFSA SyngentaFoundationforSustainableAgricultureSHEMP SmallholderEnterpriseandMarketingProgrammeSIDA SwedishInternationalDevelopmentAgencySIMA SystmedInformationdesMarchsAgricoles

[AgricultureMarket

Information

System]

(Niger)

SIMB SystmedInformationdesMarchsduBtail[LivestockMarketInformationSystem](Niger)

SMS ShortMessagingServiceSNV TheNetherlandsDevelopmentOrganizationSTCP SustainableTreeCropProgrammeTCP TechnicalCooperationProgrammeTTS TexttoSpeechUCE UgandanCommodityExchangeUNCTAD UnitedNationsConferenceonTradeandDevelopment

UNDP

United

National

Development

Programme

UNESCO UnitedNationalEconomicandSocialCommunityUNFFE UgandaNationalFarmersFederationUSAID UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopmentVEDCO VolunteerEffortsforDevelopmentConcernsVERCON VirtualExtensionandResearchCommunicationNetwork(Egypt)VoIP VoiceoverInternetProtocolVSAT VerySmallApertureTechnology


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WADEP WomenandDevelopmentProject(Uganda)WAN WideAreaNetworkWOCAT WorldOverviewofConservationApproachesandTechnologiesWOUGNET WomenofUgandaNetworkWUSC WorldUniversityServiceofCanada

ZADI

TheGerman

Centre

for

Documentation

and

Information

for

AgricultureZARDI ZonalAgriculturalResearchandDevelopmentInstituteZARI ZambiaAgriculturalResearchInstituteZNBC ZambiaNationalBroadcastingCorporationZNFU ZambiaNationalFarmersUnion


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Foreword

Agriculturalinformaticsisanewconceptthathasarisenfollowingtherapiddevelopmentininformationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICTs),andofthe

internet.Referred

to

as

eagriculture,

agricultural

informatics

is

an

emerging

field

which

combinestheadvancesinagriculturalinformatics,agriculturaldevelopmentandentrepreneurshiptoprovidebetteragriculturalservices,enhancedtechnologydissemination,andinformationdeliverythroughtheadvancesinICTandtheinternet.TheeAgricultureconcept,however,goesbeyondtechnology,totheintegrationofknowledgeandculture,aimedatimprovingcommunicationandlearningprocessesamongrelevantactorsinagricultureatdifferentlevelsi.e.locally,regionallyandglobally.

Forthepast10years,therehasbeenaremarkableprogressintheuseofICTinAfrican

agriculture,

especially

in

the

area

of

farmers

access

to

market

information.

Various

projectshavebeendevelopedthatintegrateICTsintothedisseminationofagriculturalinformationtofarmers.FarmersInformationServicesatboththenationalandregionallevelareapromisingnewfieldofresearchandapplicationintheemergingfieldofeagriculture.

This Inventory of Innovative Farmer Advisory Services (66 pages) is the result of anonlineconsultationwiththeFARARegionalAgriculturalInformation&LearningSystem(RAILS) held during the month of October 2008 + desk study. It is an attempt todocumentallknowninnovativefarmeradvisoryservicesorsystems,currentlyindesign,inexistenceorrecentlycompletedinAfrica.


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1. IntroductionTherearenocrosscuttinginitiativestolearnaboutthisnewmasstechnologywhichisonly

adventitiouslybeing

incorporated

into

development

projectsor

to

identify

its

transformativepossibilities.WhereisthenecessaryMOTForceaMobileOpportunitiesTaskForcetomatchtheearlierDOTForcewithoutwhichmobilescontributiontodevelopmentwillbelefttothemarket,tochance,orjustplainleftbehind? RichardHeeks,professorandchairoftheDevelopmentInformaticsDepartmentattheUniversityofManchester,UK.

ThroughoutAfrica, ICTshavebecome increasingly integrated intothedisseminationofinformation to farmers. For decades traditional forms of ICTs have become moreprevalent inadvisoryserviceprovision.RadioandTVprogrammes featureagriculturalinformation.Ruraltelecentresprovideinformationoneducation,agriculturalandhealthissuesandequip ruralcitizenswith skillsonhow tousecomputersandprovidebasic

literacy.

National

ministries

of

agriculture

have

attempted

to

integrate

ICTs

into

the

delivery of information and have established district information centres providingagriculturalinformation.ManyNGOsandresearchorganizationshavealsoattemptedtofacilitatetechnologytransferintheagriculturalsector.

Currently,most farmers information isprovidedeitherbyextensionworkers,throughlibrariesorviawebsites.Thenumberofextensionworkershasbeengoingdownwhilethatoffarmershasbeengrowing,hencetheneedforinnovativeinformationsystemstoaddressthisgap.ThedevelopmentoftheNationalFarmersInformationServiceNAFIS[www.nafis.go.ke],avoicebasedservicewasonesuch initiative.Mostother initiativesare webbased such as INFONET [www.infonetbiovision.org], a webbased service

promotingorganic

farming

which

is

supplemented

by

The

Organic

Farmer

publication.

Seeking information fromtheseandotherplatformsbecomesanoneroustask forthefarmersas itentailsploughingthroughmanypublicationsorsurfinga largenumberofwebpages. Furthermore, for the illiterate farmer thisbecomes impossible right fromtheonset.WebbasedsolutionsalsobringchallengesbecauseinternetinfrastructureinAfrica is stillvery sparse.Nevertheless, theseareveryuseful resourcesandall that isneededistoprovideaneasywayforthefarmerstonavigatethem.

Withthewidespreaduseofmobilephones,voiceandSMSsolutionsshouldfindmoreuseastheyoffereasyaccessibility.However,theyalsofacethefollowingchallenges:the

SMScarries

only

alimited

amount

of

information

and

requires

abasic

level

of

literacy.

Voicebasedsolutionsarecomplicatedtodevelopfortheyrequiremachinestoproducenatural speech, or in technical terms, good speech synthesis. They also do not offerdetailedinformationsuchaspictorialillustrationsasinwebsolutions.Nonetheless,thevoice solution is still by far themostpromising platform for the farmer as it canbecustomised for language, is readilyaccessibleandverynatural,as itentailsusing themobilephonethroughdirectresponsestospecificquestions.


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toagricultureororganizationsorprojectsthatfocusexclusivelyonthedevelopmentoflinkageswithinputagencies,creditorganizationsandmarketsthroughtheuseofICTs.

Entries include projects using ICT solutions or implementing ICTbased activities,institutions/groups providing services using ICTs as well as ICT solutions software

providers,both

at

the

national

and

regional

level.

While many of the entries are projects with a definitive beginning and end dateproviding one or two services, others are national or regional information systemsproviding many agricultural services using ICTs. Some projects are therefore mostdifficult to categorize but for the purposes of this research, the projects have beendividedintofourcategories:

3.1 VoiceInformationDeliveryServices

This includes a telephonebased informationdelivery service thatprovides advice onfarmingmethodsandmarketaccesstoimprovethelivesofruralfarmingcommunities.Answerstomanyoftheseproblemsmaywellbeontheinternetbutwithconnectivity,literacy and language barriers, this is way beyond the reach of the vast majority offarmers. Some use callin centres for agricultural extension support. More complexvoicetechnologyusesasimpletelephonecommunityfixedphoneormobileasthemediumof information exchangewhile sophisticated communication technology andcomputingapplicationshavebeenconfiguredatthebackendplatformfortheprovisionof the requisite information service.Thesolution iscomprisedofaunifiedmessagingplatformincorporatingInteractiveVoiceResponse(IVR)functionality,integratedwithaCustomerRelationshipManagementapplicationtosupportintegratedcallhandlingand

managementof

avery

large

audio

database.

3.2 Radio:dialup(agriculturalinformationondemand)andregularradiobroadcasts

This includes regular radiobroadcasts thatprovidemarketpricesorotheragriculturalinformation anddialup radio that feature a seriesof short segment audioprogramsthatprovide smallscale farmers telephoneaccess to relevant information throughanautomatedvoicesystem.Thisradiosystem isan informationhubfeaturingaregularlyupdated, diversemenu of prerecorded agricultural content. For the purpose of thisinventorywehaveonlykeptthoseprojectswhichwethinkareinnovativeinsomeway

such

as

allowing

farmers

to

ask

questions

through

SMS,

or

broadcasting

information

gatheredthroughquestionandanswervouchersorotherinnovativemeans.

3.3 Extensionservicesbasedonmobilephoneanddatabasemonitoring

This is a media channel that allows anyone anywhere to affordably share marketinformationviamobilesorthroughthe internet.Bytrackingactivitiesandprofiles,theservice becomes a crucial profiling and business monitoring tool, as well as an


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advertising medium. By focussing on profiling, this service can minimize risk intransactions, offer some brokerage services, and provide a revenue stream bypermitting advertising and data mining. To date, most licensees have been donorprojects.

3.4elearning

for

basic

skills,

agricultural

education

and

video

based

approaches

Thiscategorycoverstheprovisionof informationand learningmaterialforagriculturalskills.Thespecificvideobasedapproachhasseveralimportantadvantagestotraditionalformsofagriculturalcontent,whicharetypicallynotinthelocallanguage,areintendedfora literateaudience,useexpertterminology, lackgrassroots levelpracticalities,andremaininaccessibleinaseaofscatteredmedia.

The inventory lists [4] projects under category 1; [5] projects under category 2; [16]projectsundercategory3;and[35]projectsundercategory4.ThecountrieswhicharerepresentedareBenin[1];BurkinaFaso[3];Cameroon[1];Egypt[1];Ethiopia[2];Ghana[6];Kenya[9];Malawi[1];Mali[5];Niger[1];Nigeria[1];Senegal[2];SouthAfrica[1];Tanzania[7];Uganda[9];Zambia[4];Zimbabwe[1]andprojectsoperatinginmorethan3countries[10].

ToidentifyinnovativeFarmerAdvisoryServicesusingICTwefinetunedtheconceptualunderstandingofthesocialimpactofthoseservicesandtheirpossibleeconomicimpact.TheresultinginventoryindicatesthatthemajorityoftheinitiativesaroundruralICTandtheuseofmobile telephony inagricultureneedaspecificcapacity touse informationandhighlightsthechallengestoupscalethoseinitiatives.

4. Developments4.1 MeasuringtheSocialImpact

Monitoring the impactof ruralmobile telephony in the agricultural sector requires abetter understanding of the farmers context for the adoption and adaptation of aninnovativeinformationtool.Therearemany initiativesonICTsandsmallscalefarmersinAfrica.However,thesetend tobeuncoordinated,and informationonthedifferentinitiativesisnoteasilyaccessible,letaloneinformationontheirimpacts.

Thenatureofmobile technologydevelopment for farmers is itselfhighly contentiousand requires careful research anddevelopment tomake it right, especiallywhen itcomestolivelihoodsimprovementandpovertyreductioninSubSaharaAfrica.Althoughit is recognized that the uptake of promising information technologies like ruraltelephony can be influenced greatly by the availability and/or functioning of inputsupply, credit systems, landtenure arrangements, organization of marketing,distributionofbenefits,etc., such socialorganizationalphenomenahavemostlybeenconsideredasconditionsthathamperorenhanceadaptationofruraltelephony.


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Whentryingtomeasurethe impactofruraltelephonythequestion isthusnotjusttoseektodevelopanappropriate informationdisseminationtechnologybutalsotoaltertheboundariesandconditionsthataffectthespaceforchange.Resourcepoorfarmersinhighriskanddiverse,rainfedenvironmentsfaceverysmallwindowsofopportunity

forinnovation.

The

mobile

phone

projects

as

listed

in

the

FARA

inventory

often

create

special conditions to enable and stimulate farmers to utilize the recommendedtechnologies(f.i.QuestionsandAnswerServicesQASbasedon textmessages).Suchspecialconditionsmight includeaccess to subsidized inputs,guaranteedmarketingofthesurplusgenerated,thecreationofspecialcreditschemes, theavailabilityofhighlyqualifiedstafforinthecaseofQAS,accurateandtimelyinformation.

But,equallyinvariably,suchprojects leavefewtracesafterthespecialconditionshavebeen withdrawn. Replicability of the development gains is a key issue. The bestguaranteeforsuchreplicabilityistoensurethatnewcommunicationtechnologiesworkwithintheprevailingphysical,socioeconomic,culturalandinstitutionalconditionsand,ifnecessary,tobroadenthoseconditions.Thisapproachrequiresspecialprocedurestoadoptanewcommunicationtoolonthebasisofdecisionmakingthatisinformedbyanunderstandingofthefarmerscontext.

A good example is the adoption of mobile phone conferencing. Mary Nyakira ofBROSDI/CELAC Uganda explained during the MobileActive 2008 conference how themobile phone conferencing works and how farmers are enjoying it. It not onlycontributestoaparticularformofdemocracyandtransparencybutfarmerslikehavinggroup discussions around a mobile phone with the loudspeaker facility on. Theextensionworker isbeepedwhenthegroupoffarmers isreadytostartthetraining

session.The

discussions

are

afollow

up

on

aprevious

field

visit.

But

this

time

the

extensionworkergivesadviceoutofhis/heroffice.Takingintoaccounttheconsiderabledistancesandthefactthatextensionworkerscannotaffordvisitingonaweeklybasisaparticulargroupoffarmers,mobilephoneconferencingishavingatremendousimpact.

Themajorityoffarmersarenotthatwellorganized,havenopoliticalcloutandcannotexert effective demand on agricultural information services. Despite the number ofMarket Information Prices Services using mobile phone for price informationdissemination themarketprices information remainoftennot freelyavailableso thatpricesaresetlocallyandratherarbitrarilygiventheactualrelativescarcity.Moreoften

than

not,

market

prices

are

determined

by

the

vagaries

of

weather,

transport,

monopolistictraders,andsoforth.

Rural telephony technologies can only work if they fit within the small windows ofopportunity thatAfrican smallscale family farmers face.Even if the farmer isusingaspecificserviceforthefirsttime,oftenduetocuriosity,nexttimehewillnotsubscribetoitiftheserviceofferedisnotvaluable.


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4.2 MeasuringtheEconomicImpact

The principal challenge confronting governments and the international developmentcommunity is to ensure that smallholder farmers benefit from commercialization inagriculture by participating in the market. Increased commercialization shifts farm

householdsaway

from

traditional

self

sufficiency

goals

and

toward

profit

and

income

orienteddecisionmaking.

Interventions aimed at reducing transaction costswould encourage increased farmerparticipationincompetitivemarketstomeetthebroaderpovertyreductionobjectives.In economic terms, the role of agricultural informatics is to reduce the informationsearchcostsintheagriculturevaluechainandtolinkthedecisiontogrowwiththatoftosell.Thefinalobjective isreducingtotaltransactioncoststo increasethe incentivesfor smallholder farmers toparticipate in commercial agriculture asopposed tobeingstuckinsubsistencefarming.

The logical starting point in understanding the total informationrelated transactioncostsfacedbythefarmeristounderstandthedemandforinformationateachpointofexchange by disaggregating the agricultural value chain to a series of activities. Asimplifyingassumption is that therelevant information isavailable insome format,asopposedtotheextremecaseofmissinginformation.

Whenwedisaggregatestagesofinformationneedsandsearchesthebreakdownlooksasfollows.Thefarmerhasinformationneedsandsearchesforinformationrelatedto6stages:(1)Deciding,(2)Seeding,(3)PreparingandPlanting,(4)Growing,(5)Harvesting,packingandstoring,and(6)Selling[deSilvaandRatnadiwakara,2008].

The first stage is Deciding.This is the stagewhere farmersdecideonwhat crop togrow, how much land to allocate for each crop and also arrange working capitalfinancing.ThesecondstageisSeeding.Thisiswhenfarmerseitherpurchaseseedsorprepare theirown seedsbasedon the crop theyhave earlierdecided to grow. Theymight also prepare a seed bed during this stage. The third stage is Preparing andplanting.Duringthisstage,farmerspreparethelandusingownorhiredlabourorlandpreparationmachineryandsubsequentlyplanttheseeds.Theforthstage isGrowingwhere application of water, fertilizer and pesticides take place. The fifth stage isHarvesting, packing and storing.During this stage, farmers have to find labour for

harvesting

and

locations

for

storage,

if

at

all.

Packing,

if

at

all,

takes

place

during

this

stage.ThefinalandsixthstageisSelling.Inthisstage[some]farmerscheckpricesatthe various markets and find a method of transporting the packed produce to theselectedmarkettosell.

An analysisof the information searchofagroupof smallholder farmers inSri Lanka,growing tomatoes, onions, brinjals and chilies, demonstrated that the information


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searchcostsamountto11.0percentofthetotalcostsincurredbythefarmersinthesixstageprocess.

Whenthetotalinformationsearchcostsindifferentstagesoftheagriculturalvalue chainare considered,we find that thehighestpercentageofcostof

informationis

incurred

during

the

growth

stage,

followed

by

the

decision

stageandsellingstage.Intermsofproportionofcostofinformationineachstage intheagriculturalvaluechain,thedecisionstagecomesfirstwiththecostofinformationsearchtototalcostratiobeing3:1,followedbygrowingstagewitharatioof1:4andthesellingstagewitharatioof1:5.Thereasonfor the unusually high percentage of information search costs during thegrowing stage [53%] we found is caused by the idiosyncratic governmentprocedure on fertilizer subsidy to farmers in that area. We expect thegrowing stage to be less pertinent in countries without such inefficientfertilizer subsidypoliciesandhence it isnotanalyzed further [deSilvaandRatnadiwakara,2008].

TheabsenceofeffectivemarketingchainsplaguesAfrica.Itaffectsthepossibleimpactinformationandtheuseofmobilephonescanhave.Amarketingchaincanbeseenasamultistakeholdernetworkthatishighlyintegratedandsharesacommonperspectiveorgoal: to deliver a product as cheaply and efficiently as possible to the consumer.Increasing the efficiency of the whole chain the purpose of providing agriculturalinformationisintheinterestofallstakeholders,whethertheyarefarmers,processorstransporters,retailersorothers.Threatofcompetitionleadschainpartnerstobehighlyawareofthecompetitivepositionoftheirchainvisvisothers.Thisawarenessleadsto chain thinking.Creating such chainawareness isabig challenge inAfrica.Three

examplessuffice.

InBenin,alargenumberofunproductivepeople eatfromtheexportearningsof the cotton produced by small farmers. Benin refuses to sell effective butcheaperpesticides thatare available and that could reduce farmerspesticidecostssubstantially,simplybecausethatwouldcutthesalesmensprofit.

InGhana,theCocoaMarketingBoardisdirectlyinvolvedinpesticideproduction.They have so far not cooperated in the certification of organic cocoa whichwouldunderminetherationaleformasssprayingofsyntheticchemicals.

AwomanfarmerinUgandarefusedtotelltheotherfarmerswhatshelearnedatacheese

making

workshop

in

Italy

(!).

The

extension

worker

found

the

information on the internet and gave some technical cheesemaking trainingwithmobilephoneconferencing followup.The chainawareness:Only largequantitiesofcheesejustifyatruckofcheesetoKampalamadethewomanjointherestofthegroup.


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5. ResultsThe many initiatives that provide farmers with information are largely institutionalbased,productspecificaswellasplatformspecific.Informationisprovidedbydifferentorganisations,eachofferinga specificproduct, forexample forbananagrowers,ona

givenplatform,

has

only

web

access

and

often

is

in

the

English

language.

Coupled

with

thesechallenges,theAfricanfarmer isfacedwithpoor infrastructure, low literacyandlimited language use. Such amodel of informationdelivery has proved tobe largelyineffective. A comprehensive model is needed to address the limitations of existingmethods, by offering a holistic, onestopshop information service on a variety ofcarefully integrated platforms. Furthermore, a model is needed that implementsfarmersfeedback,aresourcethatisusedtofurtherenhanceinformationdelivery.

In agriculture and rural development, the prevalence of uneven distribution ofknowledge isbeing increasingly recognized.Mere information in the form of flowof

messages

may

not

be

able

to

address

the

problem.

Knowledge

as

the

creative

result

of

a

flowofmessagesanchoredonthecommitmentandbeliefsoftheactorsinvolvedintheprocessandresultinginhumanactionisneeded.Theenvironmentinwhichknowledgeis built capacity building and empowerment processes, social mobilization andorganization areimportantfactorswhicharetobetakenintoconsideration.

5.1 TheCapacitytoUseInformation

The Brazilian pedagogue Paolo Freire argued some 35 years ago for the need fordialogues and discourses among learners to understand the world instead of mereunderstandingofwords.Similarly,intheprocessofknowledgemanagement,dialogues

anddiscourses

among

the

rural

community

are

essential.

Modern

ICT,

if

properly

defined,canhelptobroadenthecanvassfordialoguesanddiscoursesamongtheruralcommunity.

TheinventoryshowshowthemajorityoftheinitiativesaroundruralICTandtheuseofmobile telephony in agriculture isdonoror at leastexternaldriven.As long as theseinitiativesareconsideredaspilotorsubmittedtoaproofofconceptinceptionphase,their impact is limited.Theupscaleof these initiativeswillcreatenewchallenges.Themore farmersare targeted, themore the contentwillbequestionedby the researchcommunity and other stakeholders in the field of agriculture. Every agricultural

informationprovider

will

want

to

have

its

content

set

the

standard

for

anational

service.Butdifferentrolescanbeplayedbydifferentactors.

Providing weather forecasts on a daily basis is information. The generic data isgenerated fromelsewhereand isgiventotheruralcommunitythroughvariousmediasuch as radio, television,newspaper, rural telecentres, andmobilephone alerts. Therural community does not get involved in the generation, validation, evaluation,


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19

understanding and appreciation of this information. In such a take it or leave itapproach,theruralcommunityremainsamerepassiveobserver.

Thehorizontaltransferofknowledgehasablendedlearningprocess.Learningbydoing,learning through participatory research, evaluation and knowledge management, CD

andintranet

based

learning,

face

to

face

interactions,

etc.

are

playing

acrucial

role

in

thecapacitybuildingprocess.

Therewillneverbeonefitforallsystem.Differentplatformsareneededdependingonthecontent,thelevelofliteracy,andthespecificinformationneeds.

Thebasicinformationneedsforfarmersaremarketinformationprices,weatherforecasts,transportfacilitiesandinformationonstoragefacilities.Thisfirsttypeofdata is,althoughvitalandofdirectconcern to the farmer,quicklyoutdatedandchangesconstantly.

The

second

level

of

information

needs

is

about

crop

and

cattle

diseases,

fertilizers, etc. The inventory indicates that several such information serviceshave been developed in order to provide information in a standard way i.e.questionandanswersservices.Themostattractive formsofquestionandanswers serviceareprobably thoseserviceswhichareaudioorvoicebasedbecausetheyovercomethe limitationsof textbased platforms. In some cases, audio files are made accessible tofarmersthroughtheuseofmobilephones(Kenya,UgandaandZimbabwe).Buttheseinitiativeshavejuststarted(NAFIS,Kenya)orhaveyettobegin(Kubatana,Zimbabwe). The CELAC/BROSDI project of Uganda includes information andinnovativetechniquesdirectlygeneratedbythefarmersthemselves.

Thethirdlevelismorecontextandlocalspecificandrequiresthedirectinterfacebetweentheextensionworkerandthefarmer.

The evolution of an active utilizer constituency is the basic premise for a strongextension framework.Thecoreofextension is inhelpingpeoplemakebetterchoicesthroughthesupplyofinformationandinenhancementofpeoplescapacitiestoprocesssuch information and act on it, thereby reducing the transaction costs involved inpursinglivelihoodoptions.

5.2 ChallengestoUpscaling

Thedevelopmentof activeutilizer constituency andhorizontal transferof knowledgehavebecomecrucialparticularlywhenviewed in thecontextofdecliningresources informalgovernmentalextensionagencies,increasingdemandfromtheruralsectorsandnew challenges like climate adaptation, biotechnology and farmer innovationtechniques. Formalextensionwouldbecomefruitfulifitbecomesafacilitatingprocessforactiveutilizerconstituencyandcommunityknowledgemanagement,ratherthanifitattempts direct interventions and implementations. Such a framework requires a


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capacity building process among the officials of the formal extension system ininnovative farmer information systems,building the structures, shaping the functionsandrefiningtheprocessthroughmobilization,organization,technologyincubationandsystemsmanagement.

Innovativeinformation

initiatives

invite

farmers

to

use

and

share

their

traditional

knowledgeusingmodern ICT.Ruralcommunityandscientistshavecome together forweather forecasting, blending frontier science and traditional knowledge whichinfluence the decisionmaking process. When plenty of farmers are reached by aparticular farmer information provider the service may become controversial if noconsensuswasreachedpriortotheupscaleaboutthecontentwithalargecommunityofagriculturalandruralactors.

Asecondchallengefortheupscaleof(thepresentlymainlypilot)ICTandmobilephoneprojectswillbe thenecessaryalliancewithamobilephone company.Severalmobilephoneproviderscompeteforthislastfrontiermarket.Also,politicianschallengethemajor mobile phone providers: Your competitor reaches the rural population withmobilecreditservices,howdoyouintendtoservicethefarmers?

Athirdchallengeistomakesuretheinformationplatformsareinteroperational.Inanupscaleeachof theplatformsonwhich farmers information isdeliveredhasvariousadvantagesandlimitations,andisoftenaninadequatesolutionwhenusedonitsown.Itis observed here that to provide an effective solution many platforms need to becarefully integrated in such away as to harness the benefits of individual platformswhileavoiding their limitations. Inotherwords,aneffective solutionmustcontainalltheseindividualplatformsorganisedcarefullysothateachfallsinitsplacetofulfillaset

objective.The

solution

then

becomes

an

information

matrix

whose

elements

are

the

individualplatformsandwhosecomposition isdoneonthebasisofthesetobjectives.Forthefarmersinformationservicetheelementsoftheinformationmatrixincludethefollowing:(a)SMS(text)Platform;(b)Voiceplatform;(c)Webportal;(d)Callcentre;(e)Extensionworkers;(f)Libraries;(g)Researchers.

Alastchallengeisthatitistypicallydifficulttoattracttheprivatesectortoinvestinsuchventures in Africa for the longterm because these entrepreneurs are primarily riskaverseandthereforelacktheincentivestocontinuetoinvestinanunprofitableproject,thereby ensuring that projects are often of short duration. This is where the public

sector

and

NGOs

can

play

a

huge

role

by

fast

tracking

these

private

enterprise

initiatives

andpartneringwithlocalbusinesssothatthesolutioncanbesustainableafterthetimeframeofanygivenproject.

6. BusinessBenefitsIfinnovativefarmerinformationsystemsrespondtospecificfarmersrequirementsandbenefitfarmers,mobileproviders,researchersand input/marketprovidersalike,there


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isabetterchancefor increasedsustainability.For instance,when thebackendof thefarmer information system contains a call centre, the farmer information system canimplement farmers feedback to be used for localization and respond to specificfarmersrequirementssuchaslanguageandspecificproducts.TheSMSplatformcanbeusedforalerts,targetedtoprovidefarmerswithspecific information,therebycreating

demand.

When farmers call, they are automatically connected to an IVR (Interactive VoiceRecording)whichwillpromptthemtogetcritical information ineitherEnglishortheirindigenouslanguage.Iftheyaresatisfied,theywillhangupatthispoint.Ifthefarmersrequire further information they canbeeither referred toamanned callcentre, toawebsite, or to extension workers. In cases where the farmers may wish to getinformation intheir local languagestheycanautomaticallybereferredtothemannedcall centre.The call centre canalso in some cases refer farmers to thewebsiteor toextensionofficersforfurtherinformation.Thecontenttobeusedbythesystemcanbeharnessedfromlibrariesandresearchinstitutions.

The IVR, the manned call centre and the website can monitor farmers questions,locationsandpreferences,thenfeedthisinformationintothefeedbackanalysiscentre.The feedbackcanpinpoint therequired information forvarious locationsandalso thelanguage preferences. This feedback can be fed into research institutes for furtherimprovement of the content. It can also be useful as input for advertisers and forfarmerseducationthatcanbeundertakenthroughsendingbulkSMSontopicalissues.

Such innovative farmer information systems benefit farmers, mobile providers,researchers and input/market providers, among others. The farmers can have a

comprehensivesolution

from

which

they

can

get

critical

information

in

the

language

of

theirpreference.Thetelecomproviderisabletopenetratetheruralareasasthebulkofthe population is a farming populationwho can be attracted to a network so as toaccess the information resource. Researchers have massive data from hundreds ofthousands of farmers using the feedback resource. Input and market providers canadvertise their products: fertilisers, market bids, etc, through a carefully targetedsystem based on feedback information. Such advertisement guarantees the systemssustainability.

7. ConclusionsItisimportanttorealizethatfarmersandagriculturallabourersshouldnotbetreatedasmereconsumersofgenericinformationandknowledge.Theagriculturalsectorrequiresawellorganizedlearningcommunityintheformoffarmersassociations,cooperatives,womensgroups,etc.

Innovativefarmerinformationsystemsareablendedlearningprocessinwhichfacetoface interaction, learning by doing, learning through evaluation and experience,


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participatory research, etc. convert the generic information into location specificknowledgeandthenempoweritsmembersthroughhorizontaltransferofknowledge.Itshouldenhancetheselfdirectedlearningamongtheruralcommunity.

Therewillneverbea one fit forall system.But the inventory suggests that systems

whichuse

avoice

platform

or

audio

files

provide

an

innovative

and

promising

entry

pointtofarmer informationwhiletheotherplatforms(SMSandwebbasedplatforms)remainessentialtoprovideabackendofferingmoredetailedinformation.

Theinventoryentriesindicatethatmanyprojectsarestillinthepilotphaseandare,orhavebeenof short duration and typicallymanaged or implementedby internationalorganizations, thereby revealing theneed to critically reviewupscaling scenarios andmovefrompilottomainstream.

Theabsenceofcomprehensiveinformationontheprojectssuggeststhatprojectsneedstobemorecarefullydocumented,informationontheprojectsneedstobemorereadilyavailable and project evaluations need to be shared or projects will continue to beimplementedinisolationfromoneanother,oftenrepeatingthesamemistakesthatledtothecollapseofsimilarinitiatives.

InordertoanswerthequestionHowcanwemonitortheimpact?weneedtolookintothebroaderinnovationopportunitiesoffarmers.Tomonitortheimpactofthetoolweneedtolookinto: themosteffectivewaysofreachingfarmerswithtimelyagriculturalinformationandknowledge (indigenousandexternal);mechanisms forharnessing thepotentialofFMradiostationsanddigitaltelephonyastechnologiesforcommunicatingagricultural information; options for repackaging agricultural information and

knowledgefor

small

scale

farmers;

and

the

potential

role

of

an

erepository

(of

local

agriculturalcontent)inAfricaforthepurposeofdisseminatinglocalagriculturalcontent.


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1. VOICEINFORMATIONDELIVERYSERVICES

ProjectTitle

Allo

Ingenier

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78408ProjectOwner CentredeDocumentationpourleDveloppementRural(The

DocumentationCentreforRuralDevelopment)ProjectPartner CTAProjectStatus ActiveCountry Cameroon

TheCentredeDocumentationpourleDveloppementRuralinYaound,whichispartoftheagriculturalNGOServicedAppuiauxInitiativesLocalesdeDveloppement(SupportOffice forLocalDevelopment Initiatives),providesaservice for farmers tocall inwithquestions. If the agriculturalexpertonhanddoesnotknow thequestion rightaway,he/she calls a specialist and getsback to the farmer.Allo Ingeniernotonlyprovidesanswers for farmersbut helps agricultural experts understand the important gaps intheir knowledge. The documentation centre gets approximately 300 requests forinformationayear.

ProjectTitle BananaInformationLinehttp://www.comminit.com/en/node/267102/306

ProjectOwner

Local

Language

Speech

Technology

Initiative

(LLSTI)

ProjectPartners NationalAgricultureandLivestockExtensionProgramme(NALEP);KenyanMinistryofAgriculture

ProjectStatus CompletedCountry Kenya

Thistexttospeech(TTS)telephoneserviceprovidedfarmersinKenyawithinformationrelated to how to plant, grow, and harvest bananas, in either English or Kiswahili.According to the organisers, because anyone with a land line or mobile phone canaccessthe informationline,communitiesthataremoredifficulttoreachbytraditional

means

can

more

easily

access

agricultural

information.

A

TTS

service

bypasses

the

need

forliteracy,aswellastheproblemofreachingfarmerslivinginveryremoteareas,andcaneasilybekeptuptodatebyextensionworkers.Farmerscouldcallthelineanytimeofday,everyday.Thisproject ranasapilot for severalmonths in2006,buthasnowbeen superseded by the recentlylaunched National Farmers Information Service(NAFIS)informationline(seewww.nafis.go.ke)whichcoversawiderrangeofcropsandlivestock.


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ProjectTitle NationalFarmersInformationService(NAFIS)http://www.nafis.go.ke/termcond

ProjectOwner

Government

of

Kenya

ProjectStatus BeingImplementedCountry Kenya

Kenya launched, in May 2008, a farmers information service where the countrysfarming community will receive and exchange timely news and information onagriculture,weatherpatternsandotherrelatedissuesthroughtheirmobilephones.Theservice will allow 4.5 million farmers access to agricultural extension informationthroughthewebandtelephony.Thesystemwillbeupdatedthroughthewebbyfieldextension officers and the same informationwill be updated on the IVR (interactivevoiceresponse)tobeaccessiblebyanykindofphone.

ProjectTitle T2M(TimetoMarket)http://t2m.manobi.sn/

ProjectPartners ManobiProjectStatus ActiveCountry Senegal

ManobidevelopedtheT2M,asystemthatenablesproducers,exportersandthepublic

regulatoryagency

to

use

amobile

telephone,

aPDA

(personal

digital

assistant)

or

the

internetinordertoknowinrealtimeboththepriceandarrivalstatusoftheirproductsat themarkets,and theavailabilityof the sameproducts in theproduction sites.Theprice and arrival changes of the products on the markets are collected by Manobimarket researchers twiceadayonaPDAapplication.Thedata,which is sentvia themobilenetworktotheManobiMultiChannelServicePlatform(MCSP)andstockedatacentralizeddatabase,isanalyzedinrealtimebeforeitisbroadcasttotheusersthroughamultichannelplatform speciallydevelopedbyManobi toprovidevalueaddeddataservices at lower costwith themobile telephony operators first generation classicalvocalnetworks.


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2. RADIO:DIALUP(AGRICULTURALINFORMATIONONDEMAND)ANDREGULARRADIOBROADCASTS

ProjectTitle

African

Farm

Radio

Research

Initiative

(AFRRI)

http://www.farmradio.org/english/partners/afrri/ProjectPartners WorldUniversityServiceofCanada(WUSC);FarmRadio

InternationalProjectFunders BillandMelindaGatesFoundationProjectStatus ActiveCountries Ghana;Malawi;Mali;Tanzania;Uganda

AFRRI is a 42 month action research project launched in April 2007. AFRRI gathers,implements,evaluates,andsharesbestpracticesforusingradiobasedcommunicationstrategies to enhance food security in rural Africa. It also offers radio broadcasterscapacitybuildingandtrainingservicesthataimtoimprovetheirprogrammingforrurallisteners.

ProjectTitle FamilyAllianceforDevelopmentandCooperation(FADECO)http://www.hedon.info/FADECOTanzania

ProjectOwner FADECOProjectPartner CTAProjectStatus Active

Country

Tanzania

AlocalNGOinKaragwedistrictofTanzania,FADECOspecializesinagriculturalextensionandparticipatory technologydevelopmentwith rural farmers.FADECO startedwitharurallibrarywhichprovidedinformationresources(books,CDROMlibraries,magazines,newsletters, etc) and then started its own newsletter called WAZA) and establishedinformationnoticeboards.Computer training startedand in2004,with support fromRAIN (thenanASARECAProject),FADECOwentonlinewithVSATand implementedaQuestionandAnswerService (withCTA). In2007 theradioprojectwas launched.Theradiosignalcoversover1millionlistenersspreadacrossthewholeofKageraregionand

neighbouring

countries

districts

of

Kyotera,

Masaka,

Mbarara

(in

Uganda),

Kibungo

in

Rwanda and Kobero (Burundi). FADECO mainly uses the radio for disseminatinginformationandSMStextmessagingtoreceivefeedbackandquestions.

ProjectTitle FreedomFonehttp://www.kubatana.net/html/ff/ff_cont.asp


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TheOrganic Farmer (TOF) is an independent and sustainablepublicationof relevant,reliable and ecologically sound information for farmers in Africa. As an informationserviceforfarmersinAfrica,TOFhasamonthlymagazine,weeklyradioprogramandawebsite.Themagazinedistributes18000copies inKenyaandneighbouringcountriesand reaches around 150 000 readerswho include the farming community aswell as

decisionmakers

who

are

interested

in

learning

more

about

sustainable

agriculture

and

ecologicallysounddevelopment.TheelectronicversionofTOFcanbeaccessedfreeofchargeontheInternetandhasbeenusedsofarbyfarmersandresearchersinover20tropical countries. The radio program gives tips on organic farming and answersfarmersquestions.TOFRadioisonaironthenationalbroadcasterKBCKiswahiliserviceeveryThursdayfrom8.15to8.45pm.


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3. EXTENSIONSERVICESBASEDONMOBILEPHONEANDDATABASEMONITORINGProjectTitle AgriculturalMarketingandInformationSystemforMalawi(MIS

Malawi)

http://www.ideaamis.com/SMS/index.php

ProjectOwner MalawiAgriculturalCommodityExchange(MACE)Ltdhttp://www.ideaamis.com/

ProjectPartners TelekomNetworksMalawi;RockefellerFoundation;UniversityofMalawiBundaCollegeIDEAA

ProjectStatus ActivesinceSeptember2004Country Malawi

TheAgriculturalMarketingandInformationSystemforMalawi(MISMalawi)isa5yearproject implemented throughMACEwithin theoverall frameworkof the Initiative forDevelopmentandEquityinAfricanAgriculture(IDEAA).ItusesvarioustoolstointegrateICTs into the provision of relevant and timely market information and intelligencetargeted at smallholder farmers and serves other market intermediaries in thecommodity value chains that represent market outlets for the farmers. There areseveralsystemcomponents:

1. CentralHub:basedinLilongwe.2. MarketingInformationCentres(MICs):3centreslocatedinLimbe,Lilongwe,and

Mzuzu.3. Marketing Information Points (MIPs): 4 centres located in Lobi, Kasungu,

RumphiandLizulu.4. Market resource centres: 6 centres located in Muloza, Mwanza, Liwonde,

Mitundu,Jenda

and

Karonga.

5. ShortMessaging Service (SMS): using the cell phone number 08200777, theservice allows users to access wholesale prices from 13 markets, sell or buyagriculturalcommoditiesandaccessretailpricesfrom45markets,buypricesofagricultural commodities and access hybrid maize variety yields and fertilizerrecommendations.Therewereapproximately30000usersoftheSMSservicesin2007.

6. Email:[email protected] awebsite:www.ideaamis.com7. Radioprogram: InJanuary2008,MACEcommissionedthevirtualtradingfloor

through the radio.Theprogram,calledMisikayapawailesiorSupermarketon

the

Air,

is

an

interactive

radio

program

that

allows

farmers

in

Malawi

to

trade

various agricultural commodities in a timely and effectivemanner, by placingtheirofferstosellandbidstobuyliveontheradio.MACEstaffinteractdirectlywith the farmers who call in to sell and buy commodities. From January toSeptember 2008 the total volume traded through the radioprogramwasMK(MalawiKwacha)32,733,845.10,equivalentto$US233,813.00.


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ProjectTitle AgriculturalMarketingSystemsDevelopmentProgramme(AMSDP)http://www.ifad.org/english/operations/pf/tza/i575tz/index.htm

ProjectOwner GovernmentofTanzania

ProjectPartner

IFAD;

ADB;

the

Government

of

the

Republic

of

Ireland;

Vodacom

ProjectStatus Activesince2002Country Tanzania

VodacomisworkingwiththeMinistryofIndustry,TradeandMarketingtoimplementitsAMSDP,asevenyearprogramme.Information isprovidedbytheministrytoVodacomwhere farmersand traderscanaccess thedata, including the latestcommoditypricesthroughSMSsentfromtheirmobilephones.Thisserviceenablesfarmersandtraderstonegotiatemoreeffectivelyonthesaleofagriculturalproduce.

ProjectTitle AgriculturalResearchExtensionNetwork(ARENET)http://www.arenet.or.ug/question2.php

ProjectPartners National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO); NationalAgricultural Advisory Services (NAADS); Agricultural ResearchInformation Service (ARIS); Bulindi, Ngetta and Mbarara ZonalAgriculturalResearchandDevelopment Institutes(ZARDIs);LocalGovernmentAgricultureDepartmentsofLira,HoimaandMbararadistricts;WougNetKubere InformationCentre inApac;FoodNetLira; IITA/FoodNet; Agency for the Promotion of Sustainable

Initiatives(ASDI)

in

Apac;

Volunteer

Efforts

for

Development

Concerns (VEDCO); DATICs in Rakai; Action AID International inMasindi;UgandaNational Farmers Federation (UNFFE);MinistryofAgriculture;Animal Industry and Fisheries;National FisheriesResourcesResearchInstitute(NAFIRRI)

ProjectStatus ActivesinceNovember2004Country Uganda

ARENETwasdevelopedthroughaTechnicalCooperationProgramme(TCP)betweentheUgandangovernmentandtheFAO.TheprojectthatdevelopedARENETendedin2007

and

was

entitled:

Strengthening

Information

and

Communication

Linkages

between

Agricultural Research and Extension in Uganda. The project pilot site is in ZonalAgricultural Research and Development Institutes (ZARDIs) of Bulindi, Ngetta andMbarara, Agricultural Research Information Service (ARIS), NAADS, AgriculturalProductionDepartmentsandNGOsinthedistrictsofMbarara,Lira,andHoima.


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ARENETprovides3basicservices:1. Agricultural documents system: an internet tool for documenting, storing,

sharinganddisseminatingsimpletechnicalagriculturalinformationapplicabletofarmersandextensionagents.

2. TheQuestionandAnswer service (Q&A):an internet tool for solving technicalproblems

related

to

agriculture

and

rural

development.

It

was

developed

with

the aim of helping farmers to get answers to different questions. Farmers,extensionworkers and service providers post the questions online under theappropriatecategory.Thequestionsareansweredby thebestexperts ineachfield and then posted for all to access. The questions and their appropriateanswersarethenstoredinadatarepository.

3. Newsandevents:asystemtoenabledistrictsandresearchsitestopostnewsoreventsannouncements.

ProjectTitle Esoko(formerlyTradenet)http://www.esoko.com

ProjectOwner EsokoNetworksProjectStatus ActiveCountries Benin;BurkinaFaso;Cted'Ivoire;Ghana;Madagascar;Mali;

Mozambique;Nigeria;Tanzania;Uganda;Cameroon;Afghanistan

Esoko is a rural communication platform that seeks to improve incomes by buildinghealthymarkets.Anyindividual,businessorproducergroupcansetupEsokotobettermanage theirmarketing, distribution and procurement networks. There are four key

servicesprovided

by

the

platform:

1. Livemarketfeeds: realtime SMS alerts on market prices and offers that areautomaticallydeliveredtosubscribers.Userscansubmitoffers intothesystemdirectlyusingSMS.

2. DirectSMSmarketing:businessescantargetspecificgroupsofusersandtargetprocurementorextensionmessages to reduce their travelandcommunicationcosts.

3. Scoutpolling:enterprisescansetupautomaticSMSpollingforfieldactivitiestotrack inventories,cropactivitiesetc. tomonitorand reportoncropcyclesandyields.

4. Onlineprofilingandmarketing:anyuserorbusinessgetsacustomizablewebspace that can advertise their goods and services. This space canbeupdatedusingEsokosmobile2webcontentmanagementservice.

EsokowasbegunasTradeNet in2005asaprivate initiative. ItpartneredwithUSAIDsMISTOWAprograminWestAfricaandCIATsFoodNetprograminUganda.Itworkswithbothwebandmobiledevicesandhasateamof20inGhanadevelopingthetechnology.Itiscurrentlylicensedbypartnersin10countriesthroughoutAfrica.Anyonecanlicense


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the platform for use in their own country. Esoko provides a complementary partnersupportprogramwhichisfocusedoncapacitybuildingandfinancialsustainability,withanemphasisonmarketdataenumerationandbusinessdevelopmentservices.

ProjectTitle FarmersInformationCommunicationManagement(FICOM)http://www.syngentafoundation.org/projects_programs_ficom_overview.htmhttp://www.ictard.org/ictard_projects_pilot.htm

ProjectOwner UgandaNationalFarmersFederation(UNFFE)ProjectFunder SyngentaFoundationforSustainableAgriculture(SFSA)ProjectPartners InformationandCommunicationTechnologiesforAfricanRural

Development(ICTARD);MeteorologicalDepartmentoftheMinistryofLandsWaterandEnvironment;NARO;UgandaMicrofinanceUnion;FoodnetUganda;BusogaRuralOpenSourceDevelopmentInitiative(BROSDI);MTNVillagephoneproject;UgandaMicrofinanceUnion

ProjectStatus Complete(20052007)Country Uganda

FICOMwasapilotstudyto testsustainable ICT toolswhichcanbeused toeffectivelydisseminate agronomic information, advisory information, microfinance information,market information and agro enterprise development, and related businessdevelopmentsupportservicetoruralfarmersintheJinja,KayungaandLuwerodistrictsofUganda. Important tipson growing cropswere relayed from theUgandaNational

FarmersFederation

(UFFE)

headquarters

to

district

level

offices,

and

then

to

24

village

phonecentres, inwhicheachfarmersgroupownedamobilephone.Thefarmersalsosent and received SMS messages with updates on market prices. The project redeveloped theUNFFE Website and established awireless network andWorld Spaceradiousing the radioand internetSystems (RANET)whichenabledaccess toadvisoryinformation(UNFFEwebsite)withoutinternetconnection.

ProjectTitle InfoPrixBenin:MarketpricesviaSMS

http://www.onasa.org/

ProjectOwner NationalBureauforFoodSecurity(ONSA)ProjectPartners GermanCentreforDocumentationandInformationfor

Agriculture(ZADI);GermanCentreforTechnicalCooperation(GTZ)

ProjectStatus UnknownCountry Benin


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SurveyorsofthefoodsecurityofficeinBenin(ONASA)monitor64ruralmarketsonthepricesofthe25most importantstaplefoods.Afterbusinesshours,pricesaresuppliedtoanInternetcafwherethedataisprocessedandsenttoONASAheadquarters.Aftera quality check, subscribers receive an SMS message with the prices of the mainproductsfromthesixmostimportantmarkets.Otherinformationcanberequestedvia

SMS,and

information

is

forwarded

to

radio

stations

to

be

communicated

in

local

languages.

ProjectTitle KenyaAgriculturalCommoditiesExchange(KACE)MISProjecthttp://www.kacekenya.com/

ProjectOwner KACEProjectPartners CTA;SafaricomLtd;RockefellerFoundation;USAID;HansSeidal

FoundationProjectStatus Activesince2002Country Kenya

The KACE MIS pilot project was initiated by KACE, in collaboration with CTA. KACEcollects,processes,updatesanddisseminatesmarket informationdailytofarmersandother market intermediaries through theMIS. Market information includes prices ofcommoditiesindifferentmarkets,andcommodityofferstosellandbidstobuy,aswellasshortextensionmessages.Throughtheoffersandbidsfunction,farmersareabletoadvertise theirstocks (offers) for saleor theirdemands (bids) for farm inputs suchasfertilizers and improved seeds. KACE monitors the usage of the MIS, and receivesfeedbackwhichitusestocontinuouslyrefineandimprovethesystem.Thereareseveral

componentsto

the

project:

1. RuralbasedMarketInformationPoints(MIPs):informationkiosks.2. Market InformationCentres(MICs):centreswhichprovide internetconnectivity

andliaisonpoints.3. Mobile phone Short Messaging Service (SMS Sokoni): a partnership with

SafaricomLtd,a leadingmobilephone serviceprovider.A farmeranywhere inthe country where the Safaricom mobile phone network exists can accessmarketinformationlikecommoditypricesindifferentmarkets,whoisbuyingorselling what commodity, at what prices, where and when, as well as accessextensionmessagesusingtheirSafaricommobilephones.Theuserreceivesand

pays

for

the

SMS

messages,

about

KSh

7

per

message,

to

Safaricom.

4. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service: an IVR network that KACE uploadsmarketinformationintoregularly.Usersaccesstheinformationinvoicemailbydialing the number 0900552055 with any mobile or digital phone through asimplemenu.

5. SOKOHewani:avirtual trading floorcreated forsmallscaleproducers toofferforsalevariousagriculturalcommoditiesandbidstobuyavailablecommoditiesusingmobilephonesbycallingintotheradiostation(indesign).


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6. AnInternetbasedRegionalCommodityTradeandInformationSystem(RECOTIS):an electronic database of clients interested in buying, selling, importing,exportingordistributing agricultural commodities fordisseminationofmarketinformation(notfullyoperational).

7. Awebsite:http://www.kacekenya.com/.

ProjectTitle LivestockInformationNetworkandKnowledgeSystem(LINKS)ProjectOwner GlobalLivestockCollaborativeResearchSupportProgram(GL

CRSP)ProjectPartners US:USAID;TexasA&MUniversity;CentreforNaturalResource

InformationTechnology(CNRIT)Kenya:KenyaLivestockMarketingCouncil;MinistryofLivestockDevelopment;SNV(NetherlandsDevelopmentOrganization)Ethiopia:MinistryofAgricultureandRuralDevelopment;LivestockMarketingAuthorityTanzania:MinistryofIndustry;TradeandMarketing;TanzaniaLivestockMarketingAgency

ProjectStatus Activesince2003Countries Kenya,Ethiopia,andTanzania

LINKS is an ongoing and expandingregional linked livestock marketing informationsystem that is geared towards addressing theneeds for timely and reliable livestockmarketing information forproducers, traders and policymakers in the livestock subsector.TheLINKSsystemsupplementstheLivestockEarlyWarningSystem(LEWS).

Theservice

covers

18

markets

in

Kenya,

32

in

Ethiopia

and

30

in

Tanzania.

It

provides

informationonvarioustopics:

Trendsinlivestockpricesforthemajorlivestock(cattle,camel,sheep,goats). Salesvolumes,includingproportionsofeachkindofanimalbymarket. Costsoftransportinganimalsbytruckfromonemarkettoanother. Numberofhourstakentotransportanimalsfromonemarkettoanother. Pricesoflivestockproductsmilk(camel,cow,goat),meat(camel,cow,

goat,sheep),hides,skins,honey.

The informationonprices and volumesmaybedownloaded from thewebusing the

individualcountry

URLs:

Kenya

(www.lmiske.net),

Ethiopia

(www.lmiset.net),

and

Tanzania (www.lmistz.net)oraccessed throughSMS.Pastoralareas in the3countriescarryabout30%ofthetotalpopulationestimatedat160millionpeoplewhichamountsto48millionpeople. It isestimated thatoutof the48million,about5% (2.4million)haveaccesstothe informationthroughthenetworkofmajorprojectpartnerswithanestimated3%(720,000)usingpersonalmobilephones.


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ProjectTitle TheMakulekeProjecthttp://www1.alcatellucent.com/sustainable/DigitalBridge/?_requestid=38780

ProjectPartners Alcatel;Manobi;Vodacom

ProjectStatus

Unknown

Country SouthAfrica

Thispilotprojectallowsaround100farmersinMakuleketotestcellphonetechnologythatgivessmallruralfarmersaccesstonationalmarketsviatheinternet.Usingavirtualtradingfacilityinstalledonmobilephonesprovidedbytheprojectsponsors,farmerscanselltheirproducedirectlyfromtheirsmallfarms.BycheckingpricesintheJohannesburgmarkets, farmers can avoid paying commissions to intermediaries and are able tonegotiateforapricefullyawareofmarketandpriceconditions.

ProjectTitle NetworkofMarketInformationSystemsandTradersOrganizationsofWestAfrica(MISTOWA)www.mistowa.orgwww.waagritrade.net

ProjectPartners USAID;Agriterra;IFCDProjectStatus CompletedCountries ECOWAScountries

Beginning in 2004, MISTOWA was funded by the USAID until September 2007 and

implementedby

the

IFCD.

With

the

overall

objective

of

increasing

intra

regional

trade

of agricultural commodities within West Africa, the project focused on removingobstaclestotradesuchasalackofaccesstotimely information on prices andmarketopportunities, inadequate ability of producersand traders to respond toproductionandmarketopportunitiesand anunfavorabletradingenvironment,includingtariffandnontariff barriers. MISTOWAworked with national affiliates ofMarket InformationSystems (MIS),TradersOrganizations (TOs) and ProducersOrganizations (POs) andregionalpublicMISnetworks suchasRESIMAO/WAMISNETandprivateones suchasTradeNet (aka Esoko) which provide, to all stakeholders, uptodate and accurateinformation on 400 rural and urban agricultural commodity markets via the

internet,

radio,

print,

email

and

SMS.

Other

partners

were

inter

governmental

economic, monetary and policy organizations, ICT providers, media and privatecompanies in the agroprocessing subsector. The project targeted all 15 ECOWASmembercountriesbutactivitieswerecarried out most intensively in Ghana, Nigeria,Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal,Benin, Togo, Cote dIvoire and Niger, with significantthough lesser involvementofkeypartners inGuinea,TheGambia,andSierraLeone.MISTOWA developed a very successful privatepublic partnership with "Busylab", aprivate software company in Ghana to create the electronic agribusiness


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informationexchangeplatform,www.tradenet.biz.ToassistusersinaccessingTradeNetandavarietyofothermarket informationandbusinessservices, MISTOWA assistedpartners in establishing over 100 Agribusiness Information Points (ABIPs) in 13countries throughout West Africa. ABIPmanagers are now highly trained in theuse of Tradenet and are abletofacilitateproducersandtradersdevelopingprofitable

marketlinkages.

A

new

USAID

funded

project,

Agribusiness

and

Trade

Promotion

(ATP),

has since taken over most of the activities of MISTOWA. ATP will focus on maize,onion/shallot,andlivecattlevaluechains.

ProjectTitle RegionalAgriculturalTradeInformationNetwork(RATIN)www.ratin.net

ProjectPartners RegionalAgriculturalTradeExpansionSupportProgram(RATES);SwedishInternationalDevelopmentAgency(SIDA);FewsNet;USAID

ProjectStatus Activesince2003

RATINisafiveyearprojectwhichisacollaborativeeffortcomprisingtheUSAIDprojectsFamine Early Warning SystemNetwork Project (FEWS NET), focussing on bringing incrop production and trade information, and the Regional Agricultural TradeEnhancementSupportProgram(RATES)dealingwithchangingtradepolicytoenhanceregional trade inmaize.Theprojectobjective is tosupply traderswith improvedearlywarning marketing and trade information in East Africa. To easily distribute RATINinformationtohundredsofsmallandmediumsizedcrossbordertradersofcerealsandpulsesinEastAfrica,thetradershavebeenorganizedinto30looseassociations,eachof

whichreceive

RATINs

monthly

bulletin

and

disseminate

it

to

all

members.

RATIN

also

disseminates traderelated information through TV and radio, telephone, newspaperandthroughitswebsite.

ProjectTitle RseaudesSystmesd'InformationdesMarchsenAfriquedel'Ouest/WestAfricanAgriculturalMarketInformationSystemNetwork(RESIMAO/WAMISNet)http://www.resimao.org/html/en

Project

Owner

RESIMAO/WAMIS

Net

ProjectStatus ActiveCountries Benin;BurkinaFaso;Cted'Ivoire;Guinea;Niger;Mali;Senegal;

Togo;Nigeria

RESIMAO/WAMISNET is aNetworkofMarket Information Systems from itsmembercountriesthatprovides,toallstakeholders,uptodateandaccurateinformationon400rural and urban agricultural commodity markets via different media. The network


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monitors the development of the agricultural sector through the collection andpublicationof related statistics and analytical reports. Itprovidesmarket informationthroughtheinternet,radio,print,emailandSMS.

ProjectTitle SMSInformationServicehttp://www.farmprices.co.zm/

ProjectOwner ZambiaNationalFarmersUnion(ZNFU)ProjectPartners IFAD;VodacomDRC;AfriConnect/CelTelProjectStatus Activesince2007Country Zambia;DemocraticRepublicofCongo

The IFADsupported Smallholder Enterprise and Marketing Programme (SHEMP) inZambiacreatedacrossborderSMSmarket information service thatprovides farmersandtradersinZambiaandtheKatangaprovinceoftheCongowithdailyinformationonstockavailability,marketpricesandsalestrendsthatisalsosupportedbyitswebsite.Toobtain thebestprices foracommodity, farmerssendanSMSmessagecontaining thefirst four letters of the commodity name to 4455. Traders access the information inFrenchviaVodacomDRCintheCongoandinEnglishviaAfriConnect/CeltelinZambia.

ProjectTitle SystmedInformationdesMarchsAgricoles(SIMA)http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/FeatureArticles/Dakorocalling

ProjectPartner FamineEarlyWarningSystemNetwork(FEWSNET)

ProjectStatus

Unknown

Country Niger

Local government staff gathers information in collaborationwith the agricultural andlivestock markets SIMA (Systme dInformation des Marchs Agricole AgriculturalMarketInformationSystem)andSIMB(SystmedInformationdesMarchsduBtailLivestockMarketing InformationSystem).Theydirectlycollect information in the localmarketsallaroundthecountry.Eachtelecomcentrecoversacertainnumberofvillages,andmarkets.Ateachsatelliteterminal,there isacomputerconnectedtoasmalldatatransmitterthatthensendstheagriculturalinformationtothecapital.

ProjectTitle TradeatHandhttp://www.intracen.org/tradeathand/

ProjectOwner UnitedNationsInternationalTradeCentreProjectStatus ActiveCountry BurkinaFaso;Mali;Senegal;Mozambique;Liberia(starting)


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In the agricultural sector, the serviceprovidesdaily commodityprice information forfruitandvegetableexporters. "MarketPrices", consists in sending,viaSMS,productpriceson internationalmarkets, inreal time.Usersofmarketpricesare registeredby

thelocal

Trade

at

Hand

Focal

Point.

Upon

subscription,

the

exporter

chooses

the

products for which he/she wants to receive price quotations. Real time prices forwholesalemarketswillbesenttotheexporterthroughtheShortMessageService(SMS)inhis/hermobilephone. "MarketAlerts" isaWebtoSMS tool thatenablesBusinessSupportOrganisationstotransmitbusinessopportunities,contactsandmarketnewstobusinesspeople.Trade atHandwas designed to be selfsustainable in countrieswhere the service islaunched.Theservicescostsarenegotiatedonacasebycasebasis,foreachcountry,inordertosetupanaffordableinformationservice.ThemanagementofTradeatHandisgiventolocalorganizations(calledT@HFocalPoints).Over90%offruitsandvegetablesexporters(toEurope)fromSenegal,MaliandBurkinaFasohavesubscribedtoTradeatHandMarketPrices.TheITCiscurrentlyimplementingaprojectwhichcollects,bySMS,agriculturalfoodpricesonnationalmarketsinSenegal,MaliandBurkinaFaso.Itisdoneinpartnershipwiththreenationalpricecollectinginstitutions.

ProjectTitle XamMarshttp://www.manobi.sn/sites/za/index.php?M=9&SM=20&Cle=54

ProjectOwner ManobiProjectPartners SenegaleseAgriculturalCreditFund;Sonatel;SwissAgencyfor

Developmentand

Cooperation;

Senegalese

Ministry

of

Commerce;Alcatel;Sontel;IDRCProjectStatus Activesince2001Country Senegal

XamMarsprovidesmarketinformationaboutvariousproductstoSenegalesefarmers,traders,hoteliersandothersviainternetandfreedailySMS.XamMarsprovidesSMSwithrealtime informationonthepricesandavailabilityoffruit,vegetables,meatandpoultry,onanyofSenegalsmarkets.


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4. ELEARNINGFORBASICSKILLS,AGRICULTURALEDUCATIONANDVIDEOBASEDAPPROACHES

ProjectTitle

Agriculture

Research

and

Rural

Information

Network

(ARRIN)

NdereTroupehttp://www.iicd.org/projects/ugandaarrin

ProjectOwner ARRINProjectPartner IICDProjectStatus ActivesinceMarch2003Country Uganda

TheAgriculturalResearchandRuralInformationNetworksetup5informationcentres,calledInfoPops,throughoutUganda.Theprojectstaffcollectsagriculturalquestionsandproblemsfromfarmersinruralcommunitiesandusestheinformationcentrestoconveythesetoascientific institute.Agriculturalresearchersfromtheinstituteusearangeofresources, including the internet, to find solutions to these problems. A script isdevelopedbasedon the informationacquiredby the researchersand then theNdereTroupetheatregroupdevelopsaplayusingtheanswerstothequestionsanddistributesthetranscripts(generally,textandvideo)electronicallytotheInfoPops(onCDROMvianormalpostal services).The InfoPops then channel the informationvia this theatricalperformance to rural communities in local languages. The ICT facilities in the ruralInfoPopsarealsousedbythecommunityforotherpurposessuchasaccessingmarketinformationandprovidingfarmerswithinformationonnewcrops.Thepilotproject,inpartnershipwiththeIICD,hasendedbuttheprojecthascontinuedindependentlysince

January2007

and

has

an

estimated

15,000

beneficiaries.

ProjectTitle Agrovisionhttp://www.eagriculture.org/19.html?&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=473&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=96&cHash=50cab57bc8

ProjectOwner NationalInformationTechnologyDevelopmentAgency(NITDA)ProjectPartner AssociationofTelecommunicationsCompaniesinNigeria

(ATCOM)

ProjectStatus InDesignCountry Nigeria

AgrovisionisaprogrammethatwasdevelopedatATCOMincollaborationwithrelevantgovernmentagencies inorder tohelp farmersboostagriculturaland foodproduction.Itsobjective is toprovide farmerswith theagroecologicalmappingsof thecropsandsoil types inNigeria. Itwillalsoprovide themwithother information suchasplanting


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andharvestingdatesfordifferenttypesofcrops,storageconditions(dependingonthepartofthecountrywherethefarmislocated),andthebestmeansoftransportationforeverytypeofcrop.

ProjectTitle AgriculturalSectorDevelopmentProgramme(ASDP)http://www.ifad.org/operations/pipeline/pf/tan.htm

ProjectOwner IFADProjectStatus BeingimplementedCountry Tanzania

TheprojectwasformerlyknownastheAgriculturalServicesSupportProgramme(ASSP),the project objective of which was to enable stakeholders in the agricultural sectorincluding ministries, local government authorities, processors, marketers, serviceproviders and far

Documents

Innovative Farmer Advisory Systems