Tag Archive for: MDGs

Photo Credit: AMIS-Cameroon

AMIS-Cameroon is bridging information gap in the African country of Cameroon by connecting farmers with vital information through SMS thereby boosting sustainable agricultural activities that promote the UN’s Millennium Development Goals 1 (Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger), 3 (Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women), 7 (Ensure environmental Sustainability), and 8 (Develop a Global Partnership for Development).

AMIS-Cameroon uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) to create connections between farmers and agricultural technicians to encourage them to support each other through mutual advice and knowledge sharing. Through information hubs that are located in the rural farming communities, AMIS-Cameroon gathers product information and send via SMS to consumer groups who buy at farmers’ prices.

The project is using a fully coded, fully automated 24/7 information feedback loop which farmers and consumers can consult for their different needs. The concept has undergone a thorough field investigation sponsored by SPIDER.ORG and currently seeking financial support to carry out a massive outreach that would enable scaling to serve the over 12 million Cameroonian farmers. The model is simple and is replicable.

GBI followed up with AMIS-Cameroon to understand how such a simple SMS innovation can help address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 1, 3, 7 and 8. Below is the response from Tambe Harry Agbor, the Executive Director of Amis-Cameroon.

Photo Credit: UN MDGs

AMIS-Cameroon and MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
The problem of Cameroonian farmers is  a small reflection of what African farmers in general suffer from – acute lack of information. This lack of information means that from planting, to harvesting through location of markets to sell their products, farmers are not expose to information that predisposes them to carry out informed investment decisions to create wealth for them and their families. Given that the shelf-life of most of these agricultural products is very short, any unsold products end up as waste within the immediate vicinity of the farming population, since they do not have information about far flung markets where their products are in demand for a better price. Thus both farmers and consumers remain confined to a vicious cycle of poverty (for the farmers-since they cannot sell their products to create wealth) and hunger (for the consumers-who do not get these products which the farmers dump or give to animals)

At AMIS-Cameroon, we use SMS technology to target these alienated groups with information that brings them together in a mutually beneficial relationship  where farmers can sell their products profitably and use the money to take care of life’s basic necessities such as the health and education of their children on the one  hand, and on the other hand the consumers get information about where to locate nutritive products which can keep starvation and hunger at bay.

AMIS-Cameroon and MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

AMIS-Cameroon democratizes the process of information dissemination. Most of our cultural values in Africa relegate women to the role of passive observer even if it is “she” who has the ideas that would take her family out of the stigma of poverty. Thus when we send the same information to both men and women, informing them how to plant crops formerly reserved for males, we are in effect giving both groups the impartial possibility to make use of the information at their disposal to best advantage. Some women farmers have till date not been able to carry out the production of certain food crops which are considered crops for men.

Furthermore, the possibility to earn stable incomes from agriculture has caused some parents to rethink their position on girl child education. When the family is poor, everything is done to make sure that the girl child stays at home and work so that her brother can get an education. But when we send out information which has the ability to connect farmers to markets, and increase the revenue streams of the family, parents then tend to feel more comfortable to invest also in the education of their girl child. Hence educated women can also vie  for public office based on the possibility of their families to crawl out of the $2 per day curse to earning higher income returns that prioritizes girls’ education on the same level with boys’ education.

AMIS-Cameroon and MDG 7: Ensure environmental Sustainability

For the past decades, farmers have essentially been farming in the dark. Through ignorance, they have continued to deplete irreplaceable ecosystems and damaging the essential web of life so central to our very existence. It is not uncommon in most Cameroonian villages today for families to walk for very long distances before getting wood to cook their food, or even fauna to spice their delicacies. The fast encroaching desertification in most of our Sub-Saharan countries is a testimony of the extensive damage done to the environment through irresponsible farming practices where whole forests are destroyed, soil-enriching microorganisms killed, and loosed sub soils washed away by erosion.

In collaboration with sustainability experts and agronomists, we deliver timely advice via SMS to new entrants into the farming profession so that they can carry out responsible practices that preserve the fragile ecosystems which have been stretched to their limits by centuries of uncontrolled practices that harm none other than the farmers themselves.

AMIS-Cameroon and MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

When we started the AMIS-Cameroon Project, one of the most recurrent complaints we encountered in the field was that experienced farmers have always refused to share their know-how with younger inexperienced farmers. We instituted an information exchange forum for farmers whereby farmers in region A tell us what must be done for a particular crop in order to enhance its productivity. When we visit Region B we shared this information with them, and those in Region B in turn become more willing to share their own experiences which we take back to farmers in region A. Through this practice we got farmers to understand that they are winners when they share agricultural technologies with one another, and that they stand to lose everything if they hide their knowledge. By encouraging them to ‘Think Development locally’ we let them see just how possible it is for them to ‘Develop Globally’.

Through our portal at www.amis-cameroon.org, we receive product requests for farmers in Cameroon from consumers from abroad. We then blast such SMS locally and farmers are rallied at short notice to supply their nearest product depot where our chain of organized transporters pick them up and deliver for onward delivery to clients.

Impacts of AMIS-Cameroon

In conclusion, AMIS-Cameroon has developed 10 business models which if sponsored shall generate direct employment and create sure revenue streams for all actors involved along the value chain. Some of the significant achievements of the project so far include increased in subscriber base from an initial 200 farmers in 2009 to well over 1500 by 2010 by providing 4 SMS per week to these users. In 2011, bee farmers in Kumbo village in Cameroon were connected to new markets enabling them to increase their sales by over 50% in markets that knew nothing about their natural honey. The project has also created a very important partnership with KIP Solutions, a firm based in the USA that is helping to define better strategies to further the vision of the project.

For more information and to support this vision of bridging information gap for African farmers, visit AMIS-Cameroon.

Broadband Logo from FTC

Credit: FTC

The 11th annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) ended in Armenia City, Colombia on Friday September 23rd with the adoption of innovative regulatory measures labeled as “smart regulation for a broadband world” to promote the roll out of Internet broadband globally.

In light of the enormous potential benefits of broadband, ‘access’ has become a determining factor for individuals, communities, nations and regions. But what makes the outcome of the Colombia symposium more interesting is the agreement on a range of policy issues that must be addressed as broadband expands. These are summarized in the ‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’ idea of the symposium, which brought up some best practice guidelines aimed at advancing the deployment of broadband connectivity worldwide. This includes:

a)     M-banking services and the role of regulators

b)    Wireless broadband spectrum pricing

c)     Satellite regulation

d)    Open access regulation

e)     Setting national broadband policies, strategies and plans

f)     Financing universal access/service

g)    E-waste and recycling and the role of regulators

h)    Protecting rights, such as intellectual property, of all stakeholders in a digital ecosystem

i)      Regional initiatives to foster broadband connectivity

The successful implementation of each of the above nine policy issues in any country depends on the national telecommunication regulatory apparatus of the country. The symposium pointed out clearly how years of regulatory reforms play an essential role in creating an environment where new technologies can flourish. The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou stated “the development of robust and flexible regulatory frameworks can help developing countries leapfrog technologies and make the best use of new developments in ICTs”. The ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré also explained that, increased access to the Internet – and broadband in particular – will allow for more effective delivery of services to meet the Millennium Development Goals as e-applications such as e-health, e-education, and e-governance that are able to reach even the remotest corners of the world. The statement concluded that this would only change when broadband becomes more affordable and the GSR can facilitate this by advocating a combination of increased capacity and competition.

Broadband – high speed Internet continues to play a pivotal role as an enabler of change in the global economy by affecting virtually every sector, especially the services sector that rely on the provision of data and information. Countries participating in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have set the ambitious goal of connecting all villages of the world to ICTs by 2015, including establishing community access points, and connecting universities, schools, libraries, post offices, health centers, and local governments. Considered as the right of every citizen, Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen, beginning July 1st 2010. Every Finn will have the right to access at least 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection and to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Internet broadband has the potential to spur rapid economic growth and facilitate job creation. According to a recent UN report, broadband plays an essential role in the creation of ‘Knowledge Societies’, which are based on the principles of freedom of expression; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, and high quality education for all. Access to broadband ensures full participation of all in the Information Society, a major policy goal, and the implementation of which brings all the benefits and transformational opportunities of ICTs.

The Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) is an annual event held in different regions worldwide that is aimed at fostering constructive exchange of information among national regulatory authorities. It is a unique forum to share regulatory best practices at the global level. Held for the first time in Latin America, the eleventh GSR focused on innovative regulatory measures to promote the roll out of broadband globally. This years’ symposium saw as many as 504 participants attending, including 243 representatives from 72 countries and Palestine. In addition, 261 representatives from 42 public and private sector companies as well as regional and international organizations participated.

In a nutshell, Internet broadband in itself is not an end: it is an important means of meeting a wide variety of goals in highly diverse sectors. For the ICT4D dreams to be realized, governments must ensure sound development and implementation of national broadband plans or risk losing the benefits of the global high-speed digital communications. The potential for using high speed Internet technology to help expand access and quality of health care through telemedicine – the delivery of quality health care services through ICTs are valuable than ever. High speed Internet is enhancing every level of education from kindergarten through high school to college to graduate school. It is empowering people with disabilities to become more independent, and the utility of community and public libraries that serve the majority is increased. It has become a catalyst for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the UN.

Digital Health 4 Digital Development was the theme of choice for the 2011 South-South awards that took place earlier this week. The United Nations-supported awards ceremony, held September 19th, honors governments, organizations and individuals accelerating progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and this year awards were given for utilizing ICTs for the advancement of the MDG health goals.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh receives South South award from

Photo Credit: thefinancialexpress-bd.com

The awards were organized by South South News, a digital media platform launched by the United Nations General Assembly High-level Committee in 2010. The platform disseminates development news and allows countries in the global South to share best practices in advancing implementation of the MDGs. As health remains a high priority within the international development field, with three of the eight MDGs calling for health improvements by 2015, this year South South chose the “catalytic and unifying force of ‘digital health’” as its focus.

Awardees were recognized for policies, programs and projects that address global health using ICTs as a mechanism for “scalability and replicability of the broad development agenda.” Awards were given on health categories such as Women and Children’s Health and HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria with special consideration given to achievements in the fields of mobile, broadband, Internet, medical, and pharmaceutical applications.

Among the winners was Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina who received recognition for the use of ICTs in addressing women and children’s healthcare. The government of Bangladesh has made increasing the use and availability of ICTs a priority over the past decade, declaring IT a “thrust” sector and implementing a national ICT policy in 2002. The prime minister has been a catalyst for ICT development in Bangladesh, launching the Digital Bangladesh 2021 program, reducing taxes to make computers and other electronics more affordable, and giving free internet services to schools. This is not the first time she has been recognized for her ICT work in the country. The PM noted during the ceremony that most of Bangladesh’s 11,000 community health clinics have been digitized, allowing for free treatment of diseases like malaria and AIDS and reducing maternal and infant mortality rates.

Use of PDA by the nurses at ICDDRB hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Photo credit: Bytesforall "ICT4Health" Network

Other development agencies and UN-affiliated organizations are also choosing to give awards to those using ICTs to advance public health initiatives. The Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation, rising from the work of UNAIDS High Level Commission on HIV Prevention, has launched a competition to find innovative start up projects that use social media and mobile phones for HIV prevention. The competition is taking applications until October 1st and the winners will receive up to $10,000 to implement one-year projects.

As global health becomes a pressing priority, it is essential to utilize, innovate, and increase access to ICTs within the healthcare sector. The South South awards have set a precedent by recognizing the success of ICT4Health in accelerating the Millennium Development Goals and could encourage Global South countries to follow in the footsteps of nations like Bangladesh.

 

Copyright © 2020 Integra Government Services International LLC