Agriculture – Page 14

Agriculture, Agriculture Markets, Extension Service, Farmer to Farmer, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

App for Ag. User-Generated Content Sharing?

Photo Credit: Next2.us

Next2 is a “geosocial” network that allows people to automatically connect around location and by common topics of interest or concern. By sending a text message, a Next2 subscriber can signal what they have, want or would like to learn or talk about and Next2 automatically matches and then exchanges text messages between users based on similar location and overlap of sharing “circle” without revealing a user’s mobile phone number.

I believe the Ag. Sector is interested in seeing new ICT solutions (apps) that reduce or remove some of the existing bottlenecks in the process of sharing agricultural content between and among rural farmers, extension service providers, and researchers in the developing world.

So what is unique about the Next2 app? One prospect I noticed about the Next2 solution is its professed capability of connecting people with common interest. In the context of rural agriculture, I foresee the improvement in sharing of local knowledge and innovations among farmers – a kind of horizontal/intra communication among the farmers. Next2 app may contribute to the production and sharing of user-generated agricultural content among farmers. It could also increase the density of communication network between farmers and other stakeholders.

Next2 also professes to take simple feature phones without data connection and through use of SMS puts those phones on the Internet. I wonder if this could be an alternative solution to the use of smartphones in share agricultural data between and among farmers, extension service providers and researchers. By going to a Next2 subscribers web page and clicking on a link you can send the subscriber a message, the message appears on the subscribers mobile phone as a new text message, the subscriber can reply by text message, and the Next2 software routes it back to the sender as SMS or email. Of course, access to the minimum Internet service will be required.

The aims of the Next2 solution are:

Making the lives of people at the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) significantly better by enabling them to discover, connect, communicate and thereby mobilize local solutions to local problems,
Giving under-served and over-looked populations an Internet presence and messaging identity that creates a bridge between them and Internet users,
Empowering local channel marketing partners to introduce Next2 to the communities they serve to quickly and aggressively drive content creation, content distribution and grow significant value to end-users,
Building SMS, access phone number(s) across the African continent so subscribers can conduct cross border communication and trade to foster regional markets and economic development in agricultural and other industries,
Enabling brands, entrepreneurs, businesses, NGOs, government agencies and researchers to reach Next2 users and/or incorporate Next2′s communication platform, features and/or data in their own applications.

The use of the innovation is being considered in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana for agricultural partners who can create a Nokia App for farmers. The solutions is similar to how FrontlineSMS works but instead of plugging a SIM card into a personal computer, SIM card is rather plugged into a in-country hosting provider that then connects the SIM card to the cloud solution of Next2 on Amazon server. Through that, Next2 is able to use a long-code to provide Next2 solution to all farmers in a given country.

Will be monitoring and looking forward to more analysis on the use of the app from the field as it is piloted.

More information here.

December 5, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Democracy & Governance, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

7 Apps to Combat Modern-Day Slavery

The United Nations recognizes December 2 as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, which marks the date of the adoption of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. According to the agency:

“The focus of this day is on eradicating contemporary forms of slavery, such as trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation, the worst forms of child labour, forced marriage, and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.”

Though the problem of modern-day slavery is vast (with some estimates as high as 27 million people in slavery today), ICTs have a critical role to play in ending slavery practices. They can be used to monitor and report cases, raise awareness, and help grassroots groups implement anti-slavery activities.

Here is a sampling of some cutting edge ways that groups are using ICTs to fight slavery.

Slavery Footprint

How many slaves work for you? Find out by taking this website and app’s lifestyle survey, which averages how many forced laborers have contributed to making the products you consume, from shoes to electronics. The questionnaire asks about what food you eat, clothes you wear, and your hobbies after investigating what goes into producing around 400 everyday items.

Phone Story

This game for smartphone devices attempts to provoke a critical reflection on its own technological platform. It brings to light that behind many consumer electronics hides the product of a troubling supply chain that stretches across the globe. Phone Story represents this process with four educational games that make the player symbolically complicit in mineral extraction in the DRC, outsourced labor in China, e-waste in Pakistan and gadget consumerism in the West. The controversial app was banned from Apple stores in September, but is available on Android.

Slaveryfootprint.org

Knowmore.org

This website empowers consumers to purchase products and support companies that promote fair trade, human rights, and democracy. The site makes it easy to determine which corporations use unethical (or ethical) practices through its Firefox browser extension that alerts consumers on where companies stand on particular issues as they browse the company websites.

Change.org Human Trafficking Campaigns

The site that helps individuals or groups run online social change campaigns has a special section dedicated to anti-human trafficking efforts. There have been hundreds of campaigns started, though the one with the most signatures (103,155 and counting) is the International Labor Rights Forum’s “Tell Walmart: Intervene Before Labor Activists Are Sentenced to Death.”

SMS: SOS Survivor Line

Survivors Connect empowers survivors and grassroots movements against slavery, trafficking and violence by leveraging the power of ICTs. The SMS: SOS system is a basic text-message based crisis and response referral hotline. The system can support any texter to receive immediate emotional support, non-emergency transportation, risk assessment, referrals to community agencies, short-term counseling, self-help information and the like. There are several variations to this model, such child-specific helplines, women’s violence/DV hotlines, trafficking and others. Survivors Connect will help any organization design its own system as needed.

Knowmore.org

Organizations are continuing to develop new ways to leverage ICTs for anti-trafficking and slavery efforts. Below are several apps to look out for.

GBI Stop Human Trafficking App

The winner of GBI’s own Stop Human Trafficking App Challenge is a smartphone app with a device that helps prevent people from becoming victims of human trafficking. It will provide users with a means to verify potential employers that offer them jobs outside of Russia and eastern Europe and help them to mitigate situations where they are subject to being preyed upon. Implementing NGOs on the ground, such as World Vision, are working to make sure the data on the app is valid and up-to-date.

SMS Helpline Network

Enslavement Alliance of West Africa (EPAWA) and Internews began working on a project in August to build an SMS Helpline Network using mobile phones, a laptop and easy‐to‐use desktop software to combat human trafficking. The technology will connect a network of professionals who can respond in a crisis and facilitate timely exchange of information to parents and communities. EPAWA will train community members to report on human trafficking activity in their own communities and EPAWA will investigate the veracity of employment offers.

survivorsconnect.org

Fortunately, this list is just the tip of the iceberg for innovations in anti-slavery initiatives. Has your organization developed or is in the stages of developing an ICT project that fights slavery? Be sure to post a comment here or join the GBI Portal to tell us about it!

December 2, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Agriculture Markets, Extension Service, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Be Part of the Discussion on the World Bank’s “ICT in Agriculture” Sourcebook

Photo Credit: infoDev

The first in series of online forums to further develop resources for the recently launched “ICT in Agriculture” Sourcebook by the World Bank takes off on the 5th through the 16th of December at the e-Agriculture site.

These discussion forums, available to all e-Agriculture community members, will be vehicles to inform the World Bank of other projects/programs that e-Agriculture members are carrying out and that could complement the research of the World Bank.

With the profound potential of information and communication technologies in developing country agriculture, the Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) of the World Bank in collaboration with infoDev (part of the World Bank Group) embarked in an effort to explore and capture the expanding knowledge and use of ICT tools in agrarian livelihoods. “ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions”, an electronic Sourcebook (e-Sourcebook) is the product of this effort which was released in November 2011.

The Sourcebook offers practical examples and case studies from around the world. A compilation of modules related to 14 agricultural subsectors, each module covers the challenges, lessons learned, and enabling factors associated with using ICT to improve smallholder livelihoods. Its aim is to support development practitioners in exploring the use of or designing, implementing, and investing in ICT enabled agriculture interventions.

The first of these forums will look at Strengthening Agricultural Marketing with ICT.

Sourcebook module 9 begins with an overview of the need for and impact of ICTs in agricultural marketing, especially from the perspectives of producers, consumers, and traders. Specifically, the forum will look at mobile phones as a marketing tool; evidence that ICT is changing logistics and transaction costs; the use of ICTs for market research (both for acquiring immediate market information and acquiring market intelligence over time); and the use of ICTs to make input supply and use more effective.

Participating Subject Matter experts include:

Grahame Dixie, World Bank
Shaun Ferris, Catholic Relief Services
Judy Payne, USAID
Eija Pehu, World Bank
Rantej Singh, Reuters Market Light, Thompson Reuters

To participate in the forum, you must be registered on the e-Agriculture community website. All e-Agriculture forums are asynchronous conversations, and run non-stop for their two week duration. It is possible to log on at any time from anywhere to participate.

December 2, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Ripfumelo: “Getting to Zero” with ICTs

Photo Credit: Ripfumelo

Initiated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Regional Office for Southern Africa and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2009, the Ripfumelo (“believe” in xiTsonga language) program is designed to reduce HIV vulnerability among farm workers in South Africa’s Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. The project works to develop a network of stakeholders working specifically on HIV-related issues to reduce the high incidence and impact of HIV on farm workers, their families, and communities. It aims to address individual and contextual factors that increase vulnerability to HIV amongst commercial agricultural workers. These include the mobility and migratory factors associated with the nature of the work, such as limited access to services, gender dynamics and lack of healthier recreational activities. But little is known about innovative use of information and communication technologies to help achieve the strategic goal of Ripfumelo. As the world celebrates AIDS Day, it is important to reflect on issues like this and look at ways by which ICTs can be effectively integrated into such a project to help achieve the 2015 target of “Getting to Zero” with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS and Its Impact on Agriculture The adverse effects of HIV/AIDS on agriculture and rural development are manifested primarily as loss of labor supply, of on- and off-farm income and of assets. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for example noted that, the consequences of HIV/AIDS – poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, reduced labor force and loss of knowledge – contribute to making the rural poor more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. Other studieshave identified the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on farmers in specific and agriculture in general as;

Reduced staff productivity through loss in human resources, absenteeism due to morbidity and funeral attendance, morbidity-related on-the-job fatigue, and staff demoralization.
Increase in Ministerial expenditures through costs related to HIV/AIDS absenteeism, medical costs, burial costs, recruitment and replacement costs/productivity loss after training, terminal benefits, and costs incurred to protect the rights of staff members living with HIV/AIDS at the workplace.
Increase in staff turnover
Increase in the workload of the staff of ministries of agriculture
Loss of knowledge, skills and experience

Using ICTs and Social Media to fight HIV/AIDS Among FarmersBy their nature, ICTs have the potential to help reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture through effective communication strategies. ICTs are helping through treatment and prevention programs, changing attitudes and practices, and making it possible to share success and best practices.

Access to information on HIV/AIDS by these farm workers is key to the fight against the pandemic among them. Radio and television are basic communication tools that could help disseminate information on the danger of contracting HIV/AIDS to these farm workers.
Access to data on these individuals and their settings is also key in designing effective program for them. Information and communication technologies such as mobile phones and other hand-held devices could be used to gather instant and accurate data for the organizations involved in the project.
ICTs and social media could be used in training and educating both the migrant workers and their hosts on HIV/AIDS.
Information communication technologies could also be used through diagnosis and treatment support services for these migrant farm workers who have limited access to basic health services. Mobile health services and other e-medicine programs are being used for other diseases.
Affected farm workers could be supported and encouraged through sharing of experiences and challenges by others through the use of videos and photographs.
The Internet as a global public medium could be used to win the victims support from their governments, NGOs and other well wishers.
Testimonies of People Living with HIV/AIDS could be documented and shared with these migrant communities during training and workshops.
Internet websites, and social networking sites like Facebook could also be used as secondary medium in reaching out to these people.

ICTs are collaborating tools and with the goal of the Ripfumelo program to network stakeholders working on the issue, there should not be any delay in integrating these tools to reach their target. Remember “Getting to Zero” is 2015.

December 1, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Forestry, Land Management, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Social Media, HIV/AIDS and Natural Resource Management

Photo Credit: RBCT

One of the leading programs with interest in the way HIV/AIDS is affecting the environment and natural resource management (NRM) activities is the USAID’s Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG).

ABCG, as a result, has initiated a number of communication strategies to combat the negative impact of HIV/AIDS on the environment. On this 2011 World’s AIDS Day, I find it appropriate to reflect on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in increasing the effectiveness of communication strategies for combating negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on the environment.

Impacts of HIV/AIDS on the Environment and Natural Resource Management Activities

According to ABCG, HIV/AIDS has impacted the conservation workforce, conservation activities, and finances of conservation government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and communities. The pandemic has caused accelerated rates of illnesses and deaths among park wardens, rangers, community game guards, senior officials and other conservation personnel; accelerated rates of payment of terminal benefits by conservation government agencies; created competition for scarce financial resources between HIV/AIDS demands and conservation activities; led to accelerated and unsustainable rates of harvesting of medicinal plants and wildlife; is destroying communal social structures on which community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is based; and has led to land use changes in some places.

The program has identified the following key impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on natural resource management:

Changes in land use as agricultural practices change with falling capacity for heavy labor,
Changes in access to resources and land especially when widows and AIDS orphans cannot inherit land,
Loss of traditional knowledge of sustainable land and resource management practices,
Increased vulnerability of community-based natural resource management programs as communities lose leadership and capacity, and HIV/AIDS issues take priority, and
Diversion of conservation funds for HIV/AIDS related costs.

ABCG’s Communication Strategies and the Role of ICTs

With the above recognized negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on the environment and natural resource management, ABCG has agreed that ICTs are uniquely positioned to help increase the impacts of their communication strategies. Some of the current approaches being used include:

The use of its website with updated materials including PowerPoint presentations, papers, and web links on case studies conducted on HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation.
Networking among the regional partners to share useful information on the issue.
Workshops
International Conferences
AIDS and Conservation Posters by ABCG

So how can ICTs be integrated into these strategies for effective impact on HIV/AIDS?

Looking at the great potentials of ICTs for knowledge and information sharing, the current communication approaches by ABCG may have limited use of ICTs for sharing knowledge on best practices about HIV/AIDS and the environment. A host of the emerging social media tools and platforms are excellent avenues for partners to share information on HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation activities thereby facilitating the work of ABCG in its fight for environmental conservation.

a) Blogs taking the form of a diary, journal, and links to other websites could be great tools for sharing and creating awareness of HIV/AIDS on the environment.

b) Twitter accounts can be used to share instant updates from friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and others of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the environment, the prevention strategies, and what’s happening around the world with specific focus on natural resource management and HIV/AIDS.

c) Social networking applications like Facebook with pages specifically created on the issue could help bring like-minded individuals and organizations together to discuss the issue online.

d) Events such as Meetup.com and free Wibinar applications such as WebEx channels may be used to connect partners and advocates together to share information and knowledge on HIV/AIDS and the environment.

e) Wikis pages are great knowledge management and collaborative tools that could be used to capture, find, share, and use information on HIV/AIDS and environmental conservation. Wikis help keep knowledge current, dynamic, and safe for members.

f) Photo sharing applications like Flicker, Picasa, Fotki, Mobile Me, Windows Live SkyDrive could be used to share real-time updates on HIV/AIDS and environment through images.

g) Video sharing tools like YouTube could be used to create awareness of the danger of HIV/AIDS on the environment.

h) Professional networking tools like LinkedIn may bring together experts from the various fields – HIV/AIDS, NRM, Climate Change, among others to discuss the issue.

When the necessary ICT policies and infrastructure are put in place among the ABCG collaborating partners and the regional networks, the use of these applications should not be an obstacle to information sharing on HIV/AIDS and the environment.

December 1, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Health, HIV/AIDS, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

CrowdOutAIDS: Engaging Youth to Develop AIDS Policy

CrowdOutAIDS, the online crowdsourcing project that engages young people in developing a UNAIDS strategy on youth and HIV, has wrapped up its fifth week. The project launched in October 2011 and will run for two months, with the final crowdsourced strategy to be produced in January.

Crowdsourcing is a technique used to quickly engage large numbers of people to generate ideas and solve complex problems. CrowdOutAIDS’ target “crowd” is young people, 3,000 of whom become infected with HIV every day and 5 million of whom currently live with the virus.

The project’s approach is to follow a four-step model:

Connect young people online
Share knowledge and prioritize issues
Find solutions
Develop collective actions on HIV

Once the fourth step is completed, the UNAIDS Secretariat will put the youth strategy into action, and the strategy could become an advocacy platform in future UNAIDS work.

Currently the project is in the second stage of sharing knowledge. Youth from all over the world have been connected through eight regional Open Forums that are in Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese. The moderator of each forum starts each day with a question (such as “What is your description of a healthy relationship?”) and participants respond and interact with one another.

The first week of the project revealed some of the major problems, in the eyes of youth participants, with UN agencies’ current approaches to working with youth. Participants expressed concerns that UN initiatives of working with youth in HIV response lack strategic vision and have no clear plan, and hinder young people from participating in decision-making.

It will be interesting to see what solutions are developed after the knowledge sharing step is completed, as well as what direction the UN youth and HIV strategy takes over the next six weeks. Be sure to check out the CrowdOutAIDS website and Twitter @CrowdOutAIDS for continuous updates.

November 28, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Agriculture Markets, Extension Service, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

12 Opportunities for Mobile Telecommunications in Agriculture

Photo Credit: Vodafone

In their recent report “Connected Agriculture,” Vodafone and Accenture with support from Oxfam outlined 12 opportunities that mobile telecommunication has for farmers.

The opportunities were identified as ‘the most important’ through stakeholder consultations and are grouped into four categories.

Category I: Improving Access to Financial Services through increasing access and affordability to these services tailored for agricultural purposes. The opportunities under this category include:

1. Mobile Payment Systems which offer people without access to financial services an affordable and secure way to transfer and save money using their mobile phones.

2. Micro-Insurance System that protects farmers against losses when bad weather harms their harvest, encouraging them to buy higher-quality seeds and invest in fertilizer and other inputs.

3. Micro-Lending Platforms that connect smallholders in developing countries with individuals elsewhere willing to provide finance to help the farmers to buy much-needed agricultural inputs.

Category II: Provision of Agricultural Information i.e. delivering information relevant to farmers, such as agricultural techniques, commodity prices and weather forecasts, where traditional methods of communication are limited. The opportunities under this category are:

4. Mobile Information Platforms that link farmers to receive texts with news and information that help to improve the productivity of their land and increase their incomes.

5. Farmer Helplines that connect farmers to agricultural experts who can provide quick and accurate answers to agricultural queries

Category III: Improving Data Visibility for Supply Chain Efficiency. This is done through optimizing supply chain management across the sector, and delivering efficiency improvements for transportation logistics. The opportunities here include:

6. Smart Logistics that use mobile technology to help distribution companies manage their fleets more efficiently – reducing costs for farmers and distributors, cutting fuel use and related carbon emissions and potentially preventing food losses.

7. Traceability and Tracking Systems that are use to track individual food products through the supply chain from grower to retailer.

8. Mobile Management of Supplier Networks that could use mobile phones to manage their networks of small-scale growers and help field agents collect information.

9. Mobile Management of Distribution Networks such as agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer and crop protection products could use mobile to gather sales and stock data, improving availability for farmers and increasing sales.

Category IV: Enhancing Access to Markets i.e. by enhancing the link between commodity exchanges, traders, buyers and sellers of agricultural produce. The opportunities for mobile telecommunications are:

10. Agricultural Trading Platforms that use mobile technologies to link smallholder farmers directly with potential buyers thereby helping them to secure the best price for their produce, as well as promoting investment in agriculture and reducing food losses.

11. Agricultural Tendering Platforms that allow mobile technologies for submitting and bidding on tenders for food distribution, processing and exporting could make the agricultural supply chain more competitive and efficient.

12. Agricultural Bartering Platforms could use mobile technologies to help agricultural workers in rural communities exchange goods and services and improve communities’ livelihoods.

Some of the benefits that could be obtained from these opportunities are monitoring resources and tracking products; unlocking productivity potential while helping to manage the impacts of increased production, such as increased water use and greenhouse gas emissions; increasing agricultural income by around US$138 billion across 26 of Vodafone’s markets in 2020; helping to meet the challenge of feeding an estimated 9.2 billion people by 2050; helping to cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 5 mega tonnes (Mt) in these markets; and reducing freshwater withdrawals for agricultural irrigation by 6%, with significant savings in water-stressed regions. These benefits assume there will be around 549 million mobile connections to relevant services in 2020.

November 22, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Irrigation and Water, Land Management, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Nano Ganesh: A Mobile App for Remote Irrigation Control

Photo Credit: NanoGanesh

Nano Ganesh is an innovation that is helping smallholder farmers across two Indian states to remotely turn their irrigation pumps ‘on’ and ‘off’ using their mobile phones. In an industry dominated by ringtones and games, this is a welcome move towards technology that serves development, said Vineeta Dixit, a principal consultant at the e-Governance Division of the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT, India.

Nano Ganesh is a GSM Mobile based remote control system exclusively for the use with water pump sets in agricultural areas. A farmer can control the pumps from any distance; check an availability of power supply at the pump end; acknowledge the on/off status of the water pump; and in some models, get alerts through calls if there is a theft attempt of the cable or pump.

The need for Nano Ganesh arose from the routine problems faced by farmers in operating irrigation pumps. In India and other parts of the developing world, a farmer may have to travel miles to turn on a water pump, and stay on the farm until irrigation is complete before returning – at any hour of the day, often late at night or early in the morning. There are, fluctuations in power supply, difficult terrains, fear of wild and dangerous animals on the way to pumps, hazardous locations of the pumps along the river or water storage beds, shock hazards, rains etc.

The clip below summarizes information on the application:

The technology requires a mobile connection and phone, along with a mobile modem that attaches to the starter on the irrigation pump. Using the phone, an assigned code number switches the pump’s starter off and on, and a particular tone signals the off/on status of the pump and the electrical supply at the pump location.

The application which was developed by Ossian Agro Automation, has been selected for recognition as a laureate in the Economic Development category for 2011, by The Tech Awards, The Tech Museum at San Jose, CA, USA. Currently, there are over 10 000 installations across the operational states in India.

November 21, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

The Advent of Mobile Finanical Services in Agriculture

Close up of man in Africa looking at his cell phone As the global population continues to grow – it is expected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050. It will require a 70% increase in food production above current levels. Most of this increased yield will have to be achieved in less developed countries (LDCs), many of whose farmers operate on a small scale and are highly exposed to crop failure and adverse commodity price movements. This month, Vodafone, Accenture and Oxfam released a report on mAgriculture. The report titled “Connected Agriculture” assesses the potential benefits of new mobile data services such as mobile financial services, weather forecasts, and agriculture information and advice for smallholding farmers operating in marginal circumstances.

Additionally, in light of market saturation, MNOs face the task of growing average revenue per user (ARPU) and market share in rural areas. Agricultural Value Added Services (Agri VAS) present a considerable business opportunity due to the enormous potential user base in LDCs. The farming sector in these countries often suffers from chronically low productivity. Lack of information acts upon productivity and income levels like a glass ceiling. However, with increasing teledensity in the developing world – Africa is being tipped to pass one billion mobile subscriptions and become the world’s second largest mobile market by 2016, mobiles are uniquely positioned to address the information and financial needs of farmers – an intervention that can help increase their incomes, yields and economic wellbeing. Vodafone’s research indicates potential $138 billion addition to developing world farmers’ incomes by 2020

The financial and information opportunities at the base of the pyramid (BOP) in themselves hold significant untapped value for the private sector. The BOP has both intricate financial and information needs, which have the potential to be met through mobile money and information-based mobile services. Mobile Money can reduce the financial gap for farmers by giving them access to savings and insurance, which in itself reduces the impact of extreme weather and allows for greater investment in improving production.[1] Meanwhile, m-information services have the potential to open up significant markets opportunities, by relaying sales prices, GIS-based commodity demand information, as well as more basic yet essential information on agricultural best practices and reliable weather forecasts.

While there are existing agricultural information services provided via traditional channels such as radio and television, government extension services as they are usually referred to can be made much more efficient by leveraging the mobile channel. This can help improve their quality and trust amongst user communities increasing their potential for scale. In addition, by linking to them to mobile financial services, farmers will not only improve their productivity but will also be empowered to make better investment and risk management decisions (e.g. request credit for new fertilizers or other inputs they need to grow more and better crops). These benefits are also likely to extend to the wider community as increased agricultural income helps rural families afford education, healthcare and other services.

The GSMA mAgri Programme

The Development Fund’s mAgri Programme was set up in 2009 to accelerate the development, provision and adoption of mobile solutions to benefit the agriculture sector in emerging markets. In June 2011, the programme announced the second phase of their mobile agricultural programme, the introduction of the mFarmer Initiative, a partnership between GSMA, USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The scope of the mFarmer Initiative is to support mobile phone operators and agricultural partners in launching commercially viable mobile information services that bridge the information gap and increase the productivity and income of rural small-holders. It aims to attract 2 million of the worlds’ poorest farmers to become users of mFarmer Services by 2013. This compliments their previous work on mobile agricultural services in India and Kenya.

The team has recently launched the Agri VAS Market Entry Toolkit which explores the opportunities for Agricultural VAS and covers emerging best practice on marketing, service design and business modelling. It is primarily addressed to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), other service providers, and agricultural organisations that are looking to partner and launch Agri VAS.

Just as the successful provision of mobile financial services for the BOP requires innovative partnership models; Agri VAS will require similar efforts from the part of its stakeholders. While MNOs have a leading role to play, they will need the collective support and partnerships from key stakeholders in the agricultural supply chain in order to fully unlock the benefits for farmers in LDCs.

November 21, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Agriculture Markets, Extension Service, Food Security, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Sustainable Agriculture

The mFarmer Initiative: USAID joins hands with others for Ag. Devt.

Photo Credit: USAID

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and GSMA have launched a global initiative to facilitate the rapid scaling of the use of mobile phone networks to provide poor farmers with valued agricultural information.

The mFarmer Initiative aims at developing a global, shared database of digital agricultural information; a challenge fund to promote innovative partnerships between operators and public or private agriculture extension service providers; technical assistance; sharing of best practices; and impact evaluation.

At a recent webinar organized by USAID to introduce the mFarmer initiative, Judy Payne, the ICT Advisor for USAID’s EGAT and Africa Bureaus reiterated the interest of USAID in supporting agriculture in the developing nations through the Feed the Future (FTF) program. She explained that the selected countries for the mFarmer initiative in Africa are priority countries for the FTF program. According to Judy Payne, USAID is a partial funder together with BMGF. She strongly encouraged USAID missions and implementing partners working in Africa to take full advantage of the opportunity given the funding from the agency and the importance of the initiative to help increase productivity and income of smallholder farmers. She cited the involvement of one of USAID’s FTF implementing projects for Africa as a partner in submitting an application during the first round of the Challenge Fund.

The mFarmer initiative has an ambitious vision of success to help about 2.2 million poor farmers in developing countries increase their productivity and incomes by receiving actionable, high quality, relevant and timely information and advice through mobile phone service networks by 2015. These services are delivered via sustainable and scalable business models without on-going donor support and reflect significant private sector investment. They complement other delivery channels, reflect feedback from farmers, and are based on a growing body of shared digital agricultural content.

The introduction to the mFarmer initiative webinar, which was the first in series of webinars to focus on the initiative, was attended by over 40 participants across the globe. Other presenters at the session include Smith Fiona, mAgri Program Director, GSMA Development Fund, and Natalia Pshenichnaya, mAgri Business Development Manager, GSMA Development Fund. Access to the recorded presentation of this webinar could be found here.

Also, an upcoming online forum to initiate discussion around the types of partnerships that are conducive to creating sustainable and scalable mobile information and advisory services for farmers will be help between November 21st and December 1st at e-Agriculture website. Subject Matter Experts to help lead the discussion include:

Sharbendu Banerjee, Director of Business Development, CABI South Asia-India
Hillary Miller-Wise, Country Director, TechnoServe Tanzania
Collins Nweke, Project Manager, Tigo Tanzania
Judy Payne, ICT Advisor, USAID
Fiona Smith, Director, GSMA mAgri Program
S. Srinivasan, CEO, IKSL

GSMA, is an association of 800 mobile operators serving over 95 percent of the market in developing countries. It helps its members adopt new approaches to provide valued information and services to their customers. In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) made a grant to GSMA to catalyze mobile operators’ investment in these innovative mobile services, evaluate their impact, and facilitate experimentation with sustainable and scalable delivery models.

November 21, 2011/by actualize

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