USAID representatives yesterday at a panel discussion hosted by the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa came out strongly in support of Food Security through Agricultural Development.  Rob Bertram, a biotechnology Team Leader in EGAT’s office of Environment and Science Policy, spoke about the need to increase productivity and to facilitate regional trade, noting that 90% of potential gains from agricultural trade in Africa are in regional markets. He made the point that the 2008 food price crisis illustrated that African countries cannot depend on imports for food security – they must work together to meet their own food security needs.

His point was made as part of a discussion on USAID’s Feed the Future program and how it reflects the principles of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) put forward by the African Union.  He noted that Feed the Future takes CAADP as a model and therefore includes a focus on things such as smallholder growth, science and technology, and natural resource management.

Ms. Rhoda Tumuslime, an elected commissioner of the African Union, spoke of Feed the Future as a “great hope” for Africa, and expressed her grave concern that “ongoing discussions” on capital hill could adversely impact the program.

Photo Credit: AED

Within the context of USAID, most often rural connectivity initiatives are undertaken within the context of a sector-specific program/project.  This was the case case with Macedonia Connects, or what is more frequently referred to as MK Connects.  This project may well be one of the more successful Last Mile Initiative (LMI) project undertaken by USAID.

In fact MK Connects is much, much more.  The LMI project was undertaken as but one component of a unique national commitment to improve education, as well as a unique partnering of a significant number of both public and private sector partners.

The foundation for the success of MK Connects was the government of Macedonia’s commitment to a program for delivering a computer for every child.  The result was a nationwide broadband network providing broadband into every primary and secondary school—many of which were in remote rural locations.  Further, the project incorporated native language education content being delivered over this network to over 460 primary and secondary schools nationwide.

The journey started in 2002 when China donated 5,000 personal computers to support what soon became the e-Schools Project of the Ministry of Education and Science–a project that ran between 2003-2008.  The MK Connects project was a piece of this larger initiative, which in 2006 was augmented by the Primary Education Project (PEP).  Both MC Connects and PEP were USAID supported initiatives executed through the Academy for Educational Development (AED).

While focused on supporting Macedonia’s commitment to improve and modernize their education system top to bottom, MK Connects went well beyond connecting the 460 primary and secondary schools along with university campuses.

Photo Credit: AED

As the project got started in 2003, it was estimated that only 4 percent of the Macedonia’s population had access to the Internet.  As the project concluded in 2007, Macedonia was the first country on the planet to achieve universal nation-wide wireless broadband coverage.  Not only were all the nation’s schools connected, but the project design also provided coverage for access by private sector businesses, the government, individuals, etc.

This connectivity was undertaken through a competitive process where a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) was able to build this nation wide network in just 4 years.  Motorola provided the wireless technology solution set, Canopy, a pre-WiMAX solution.

MK Connects, along with a number of important partners, was a unique experience with regards to modernizing Macedonia’s entire education system.  However, the fundamental approach taken in Macedonia holds promise for  application to countries around the world. The MK Connects model has been applied in neighboring Montenegro to bring more than seventy percent of the country on-line.  A similar project has been constructed in Georgia.  And  Senegal is the first African country seeking to replicate this model.

For more information, refer to the information on Macedonia contained in the GBI project database and MK Connects case study in the document library.

Or more precisely, swarming micro air vehicles, to create a communications cloud where infrastructure is destroyed during an emergency like an earthquake.  SciDev reports on a Swiss  innovation that hovers at the extreme end of ICT4D – at least for now.  Flying robots could help in disaster rescue – SciDev.Net.

But the same team also produced the awesome SenseFly drone, which costs around 9K and fits in a briefcase.  The possibilities for monitoring and mapping for biodiversity and agriculture appear to be endless. Check out the video.

Lest you think I’m a shill for the Lausanne techies, let me take the opportunity to draw your attention to some homebrew options.  These won’t create the swarming communications cloud suitable for a major disaster, but a lot can happen.

Grassroots Mapping is a network of technology hackers that use balloon and kite mounted digital cameras in mapping, to serve as “community satellites” – a low cost remote sensing alternative to satellite imagery that can get surprisingly good results.  Significantly, the technology is affordable and can be put in the hands of communities for participatory planning, independent monitoring, and access to information – key aspects of our quest for good governance.  The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science is a sister initiative working to develop new technologies for grassroots mappers.

I’ve mentioned Participatory GIS – the use of GIS in community mapping – in earlier posts.  PPGIS is a virtual network online consisting of resources and a very active email list to support a peer-to-peer learning network spanning the globe.

So there you have it – we started with a drone swarm and ended up with a kite. The needs of tomorrow (and today) will be well served by one or the other.

As the wise one said, knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

Apps for Development.

Voting is open for the World Bank’s apps for development competition.

“The Apps for Development Competition aims to bring together the best ideas from both the software developer and the development practitioner communities to create innovative apps using World Bank data.”

I like the idea.  But many of the apps appear to be solutions looking for a problem, probably due to the requirements that entries use World Bank data and address the Millennium Development Goals.  Many entries were not meant to address field-level development needs, which is disappointing. But it is a great initiative, which can be adjusted in future efforts.

The Microsoft sponsored ImagineCup 2011 student IT competition is under way too. Its theme is imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems, also based on the Millennium Development Goals. Deadlines loom so pass the word to interested students.

It will be very interesting to see what comes out of these contests, and if someone can analyze them, see what we can learn about ramping up efforts to develop technologies to solve real-world problems.

Personally, I would like to see the GBI portal become a clearinghouse for practical apps for development – an app store for development, if you will.

The EU sponsored Technical Center for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation’s ICT update newsletter has a special issue on mobile apps featuring case studies from Africa.

Home – ICT Update, a current awareness bulletin for ACP agriculture.