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Rural Youth in Kenya, and the Impact of ICTs

We would be missing the full significance of ICTs if we do not see them as an integral part in the efforts to improve the everyday life of rural folk in Kenya. Mobile technology being the key mode of communication in the country has contributed greatly to local youth livelihoods. Using mobile phones, the youth have able to access knowledge and information which are vital aspects for improving agricultural development by increasing agricultural yields and marketing.

With accessibility of mobile phone networks throughout the country, services such as Safaricom’s mobile money transfer (M-Pesa), mobile money banking (M Kesho) and information on agricultural produce markets have created job opportunities for the youth as the number of agents increase.

Kamau a young Kenyan in his late twenties from a farming community in Nakuru who approached Equity Bank in 2007 for a loan to set up an M-Pesa shop is an example. As well as farmers and traders were enabled to deposit or withdraw money using their mobile phones, Kamau was able to pay back his start-up loan in just six instalments. “This is to bring financial services to a place where people lack them” he explains.

By simplifying money access, members of the community have more money at their disposal and therefore are more likely to spend it locally. The service has also enabled farmers and traders to purchase inputs and make orders with their suppliers without having to travel into town. The savings made on transport costs enable them to acquire more stock, which means that the entire community benefits from more goods being available locally.

Kamau’s business has also benefitted from transactions made by the farm owners residing in a nearby Nakuru town, who do not have to commute to the village to pay their casual labourers. These farm owners are also able to pay their faming supervisors for land preparation and purchase of fertilisers and seeds.

In 2008, the entire region of Nakuru experienced a severe drought, which led to widespread crop failure, and Kamau noticed an increased flow of money through his business due to remittances from relatives in urban areas. “This service has strengthened friendships and social interactions in the community,” Kamau says. “Moreover, this has greatly contributed to the success of my business. This means that the entire community benefits from the goods available.”

With the revenue generated by his M-Pesa business, Kamau has diversified into farming, now leasing 20 acres of land. He also receives information about husbandry practices from the Organic Farmer e-bulletin, published by the International Centre for Insects, Pests and Ecology (ICIPE), through his data-enabled mobile phone, helping him to grow maize, beans and potatoes.

The subscribed SMS-based ‘411 Get It’ alerts service, a joint venture between Safaricom and the Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE), also provides Kamau with information on agricultural produce and market prices, enabling him to identify favourable markets and cut out middle men. With the profits from his farm, Kamau opened an M-Kesho business, allowing community members to make deposits from their M-Pesa accounts into an Equity Bank account where they earn interest. “This is an incentive for rural youths to engage in farming,” Kamau adds.

During the planting and weeding season, Kamau’s operating capital is reduced as his customers increase their M-Pesa withdrawals. To counter this problem, Kamau took out another loan from Equity Bank to purchase a motorcycle so that he could travel to Nakuru town quickly to top up his M-Pesa account. As a result, he has a steady flow of cash in order to facilitate local business transactions.

Regardless of an increasing range of information services available through the internet, literacy remains a stumbling block for many people because these services are only supplied in official languages. The technologies therefore need to be adapted in such a way as to be accessible in a variety of local dialects to help farmers have easy access to modern farming information and technologies, especially to battle hunger despite dry spells. Access to ICT services would also help to foster local skill building and knowledge sharing between rural communities.

Kamau’s experiences and business understanding clearly show the important linkages and synergies that exist between the development of ICTs and information sharing that can support the livelihoods of a large cross-section of youth and other members of communities for agricultural and rural development.

By Chris Mwangi – I am affiliated to Agriculture, Rural and Youth in the Information society (CTA-ARDYIS Project). Its function is to raise youth awareness and capacity on agricultural and rural development issues in ACP countries through ICTs

August 12, 2011/by actualize

Basic Education, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Its All About Radio in South Sudan

Photo: NDI

ICT4E projects are needed in South Sudan for two major reasons: (1) the majority of the population is illiterate, and (2) 83% reside in rural areas. Illiterate adults and rural populations can both be served via radio services. Adults can listen to the radio while completing other tasks and people in rural areas often do not have access to education among primary school, as the distance to secondary schools is too large. Some radio projects have already been conducted in South Sudan, but their success is unknown.

Map: Mohamed El Bashir Hiraika

The current status of education in South Sudan among the 8.26 million people in South Sudan is particular grim, as seen in the national survey collected in 2009.

52 students per teacher
129 students per classroom
37% of the population above the age of six has ever attended school
27% of those 15 years and above are literate.
The literacy rate for males is 40% compared to 16% for females
53% of the urban adult population is literate, compared to 22% of the rural adult population
40% of the population between 15-24 is literate. The literacy rate for males in this age group is 55% compared to 28% for females.

With support from UNESCO, UNDP, and UNICEF, a few preliminary ICT programs in the national education system of Sudan proper have been implemented. However, many of the projects were cut short as a result of conflict, funding, and a lack of communication among associated parties. Others focused primarily on built capital, such as bringing computers to as many schools as possible, while neglecting social capital, like training people to use the computers well. Internet connections in schools, as well as Internet literacy training courses, were extremely limited in these programs. A few of the projects, as documented in a 2007 InfoDev report, are listed below. However, there has been a lack of monitoring and evaluation of the projects. Subsequently, it is unclear whether and to what degree the projects were successful in South Sudan.

Civic Education via Radio for Southern Sudan: In partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Education Development Center Sudan Radio Service has developed a new civic education radio series that will increase listeners’ knowledge of political developments and also promote increased discussion of political developments, tolerance of diverse viewpoints, and non-violent solutions to complex problems.
Sudan Radio Service: As part of an effort to increase the participation of the southern Sudanese, the Sudan Radio Service provides access to balanced and useful information through radio-based education and entertainment programs presented by local presenters in several local languages.
dot-EDU Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction (SSIRI) Program: This program designs, develops, and pilot-tests appropriate and cost-effective technologies such as interactive radio instruction in an effort to provide learning opportunities for children, adults, and teachers in southern Sudan.

July 8, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Closing the Urban-Rural Digital Divide: Connectivity Success in Sri Lanka

One of the important considerations in extending connectivity, be it voice or data services, into small and rural communities, is the need to address scale into more remote locations. This includes the elements of local support, sustainability, as well as replication. While the technology elements have for the most part be successfully addressed, the business elements are often lacking–with the result being that once the donor funding comes to an end, all-to-often the initiatives come to an end.

In the summer of 2006, the Sri Lanka LMI project was initiated with the issuance of a Request for Proposal by USAID’s Mission in Colombo. The RFP sought proposals for establishing at a minimum of 20 telecenters in rural communities across Sri Lanka. The requirement was that these centers be fully installed and operational within one year of the contract award. The RFP also required that partners be bought into the proposal on a 2:1 match.

Man sitting at a computer, with a child looking over his shoulder at a conputer screen

Photo Credit: USAID

The winning award to granted to SSG-Advisors who put forward a comprehensive approach for establishing an EasySeva franchise that would rollout the required 20 telecenters. These EasySeva centers were to be individually owned and operated by local in-community entrepreneurs. This initial rollout would subsequently be expanded beyond the USAID contract requirements.

To meet the partnership requirement, SSG-Advisors partnered with several firms, including Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile operator and who provided broadband access to the centers, and Qualcomm, who provided broadband access through their GSM-HSDPA technologies. Other partners included Microsoft, the National Development Bank (NDB), Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC), and InfoShare.

The EasySeva franchise built several innovative approaches into its business model. These innovations included:

Scale—the EasySeva franchise was designed to scale well beyond the original 20 centers as reflected in the contract.

Replicable “Center in a Box”—a replicable configuration was adopted such that a new center with a full set of value-added services could be set up rapidly, with services immediately available to customers.

Locally Owned and Operated—each center is locally owned & operated by an entrepreneur vetted to ensure they are capable of managing the venture.

MicroLeasing—the NDB provided capital funding, with LOLC using these funds to buy PCs that were leased to the franchisees.

MicroLoans—LOLC also made MicroLoans available to the entrepreneurs where there was the need for start up capital and to cover initial operating costs.

Multiple Services & Revenue Streams—the EasySeva centers were constructed to derive revenue from access to content developed and placed on each PC, from local calling via community phones, from international calling via VoIP, from Internet access, copying, faxing, etc. The centers were also positioned such that they could provide local support to microLending and microLoans services into the communities.

Management & Technical Support—the EasySeva franchise operation also provides management training and technical support to the center owners.

The EasySeva franchise ultimately rolled 55 centers, well beyond the initial target. These centers are typically reaching profitability within 3-4 months after opening their doors to the local community. The model clearly proved successful in achieving scale, sustainability, and replicability. For Dialog, the telecom carrier providing the connectivity, these EasySeva centers provided community access for services not otherwise extended to those living in these more remote communities.

The EasySeva example reaches beyond Sri Lanka by providing a proof-of-concept for a scalable and replicable business, financial, and technical approach for extending connectivity and value-added services into smaller rural communities world wide.

March 9, 2011/by actualize

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