Getting to the root cause of mobile telephony’s success

Roxanna SamiiInternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)CTA Observatory: Mobile services2-4 November 2009

Mobile phone: Catalyst for social inclusion

• Point of contact• Predominant mode of communication• Reduces the digital divide• Accessible technology for previously marginalized

groups• Relatively affordable and easy to use• Brings families together• Provides wide range of services (agriculture, health) • Social networking and knowledge transfer tool

Mobile phone: Catalyst for economic growth

• Small businesses participate in the economic system

• Access to price information• Communication with buyers• New and innovative businesses• Increased job opportunity• Annual increase of 0.6% in

GDP growth • Minimize travel cost

“When you get a mobile phone it is almost like having a card to get out of poverty in a couple of years”Muhammad Yunus

Mobile phone: catalyst for forging public-private partnership

• Infrastructure• Wide range of services• Capacity building• Risk taking and innovation• Challenge donors

What I am not seeing?

• A new killer tool • A drop in interest in mobile telephony• All donor organizations involved in

ICT-related activities• Private sector becoming an

implementation arm of development

How may the future have an impact?

• Too much focus on technology• Many competing applications• Investment only in profitable and sexy

areas• Too many pilots with little or no

documented results• Financial institutions putting restriction

on m-banking• Strategic partnership with content

providers

What is on the other side?

• Equitable and timely access to information• Sense of belonging, communities, networks• High quality local and relevant content• Many more local entrepreneurs and grassroots

services/applications• Building local capacity to ensure sustainability• Communities becoming centre of infomediation• More public-private partnerships• Sustainability through ownership and appropriation of

local communities

What type of ICTs can be at the service of small-scale farmers?

• Affordable

• Scalable

• Self-sustaining

• Sensible

• Appropriate

• Participatory

The availability and use of ICT is no longer optionalA. Sen

ICT4D mantra

• FOCUS on PEOPLE, not technology

• Ensure ownership and appropriation

• Develop local content• Ensure language and

cultural pertinence• Ensure participation

What is holding up adoption of ICTs in agriculture?

• Lack of systematic inclusion of ICTs in national poverty reduction strategy

• Building the capacity of communities and local organizations to lead and own the process of appropriation

• Fragmented coordination among donors

• Convergence of old and new technology to create a three-tier system: public, commercial and community

Thank you

• www.ifad.org• www.ruralpovertyportal.org

• r.samii@ifad.org• Twitter: rsamii• Skype: roxanna_samii