Agricultural Innovation and Service Delivery through Mobile Phones : Analyses in Kenya

Mobile phones have become the most ubiquitous telecommunication technology in developing countries. To take advantage of this trend, businesses, government agencies and non-governmental organisations are increasingly turning their attention to the delivery of services through mobile phones (m-services) in areas such as health, education, agriculture and entertainment. In the agriculture sector, information services are most common while m-payments, virtual markets and supply chain management systems are also expanding. The use of mobile phones in agricultural service delivery is still at an early stage, however, and most of the services have yet to reach scale and long-term financial sustainability. The dissertation examines how m-services could facilitate the participation of farmers in agricultural innovation processes, including the development and adoption of agricultural technologies. Four types of services are identified: information and learning, financial services, access to inputs and access to output markets. Existing empirical evidence in this research area is still scarce. To date, most of the research has focused on mobile phones as such. Only a few studies have looked specifically at m-services and their findings are not clear-cut. Several of them highlight benefits for farmers, including improved management practices, higher productivity or higher prices, while others do not find positive impacts. Kenya is widely seen as frontrunner in the development of m-services in Sub-Saharan Africa. The growth of the vibrant technology scene was facilitated by a number of factors, including the improving network infrastructure, government regulations and a supportive innovation environment that offers access to innovation hubs, finance and human resources. The growing customer base provides a promising market for m-service developers and through the mobile payment service M-Pesa, many Kenyans are already familiar with the use of their mobile phone for non-call related activities. A range of m-services are available for Kenyan farmers. However, the reach and scale of these services is still limited despite the conducive environment and their impacts have not been assessed. The dissertation presents the case study of M-Farm, an m-service that offers price information and marketing services to Kenyan farmers. It examines how the service has impacted farmers' decision to adopt agricultural technologies and their ability to generate income from their use. Farmers were very enthusiastic about the positive impact of M-Farm on production decisions and income, but the study finds little other evidence to support this positive perception. Other constraints, such as risk of crop losses, lack of insurance and limited finances, were generally seen as more significant obstacles. The study also shows that the radio provides a viable alternative to disseminating price information in the early stages of production, while M-Farm becomes more important closer to the selling stage. Existing m-services in the developing world are barely scratching the surface of what is technology possible. The dissertation examines how current technology trends may impact m-service delivery to farmers in the future. Three trends are identified, i.e. the growing diversity of mobile connected devices to access m-services; the 'Internet of Things' which links objects and people through the network; and the increasing ubiquity of mobile networks and expanding user base. The dissertation presents two scenarios for the evolution of mobile technology trends (Status Quo and Big Leap) and assesses their implications for agricultural service delivery.Landwirtschaftliche Innovation und Erbringung von Dienstleistungen durch Mobiltelefone : Analysen in Kenia Mobiletelefone haben sich als die am weitesten verbreitete Telekommunikationstechnologie in Entwicklungsländern etabliert. Unternehmen, Regierungsbehörden und Nichtregierungs-organisationen nutzen diesen Trend, indem sie zunehmend Dienstleistungen über Mobiltelefone (m-Dienste) anbieten. Im Agrarsektor werden Informationsdienste am häufigsten angeboten, aber auch m-Zahlungen, virtuelle Märkte und Lieferkettenmangement-Systeme nehmen stetig zu. Landwirtschaftliche m-Dienste sind allerdings noch in einem frühen Stadium und meist nicht finanziell tragfähig. Die Dissertation untersucht, wie m-Dienste die Beteiligung der Bauern an landwirtschaftlichen Innovationsprozessen verbessern könnten. Zu diesem Zweck wurden vier Arten von Dienstleistungen identifiziert: Informationen und Bildung, Finanzdienstleistungen, Zugang zu Produktionsmitteln, und Zugang zu Märkten. Empirische Forschungsergebnisse gibt es auf diesem Gebiet bisher nur wenige und die Schlussfolgerungen sind nicht eindeutig. Einige Studien zeigen positive Auswirkungen für Bauern, einschließlich verbesserter Management-Praktiken, Produktivität und Preisen, aber andere finden keine Beweise, dass Bauern von der Nutzung der m-Dienste profitiert haben. Kenia gilt als Vorreiter in der Entwicklung von m-Diensten in Subsahara Afrika. Die Technologieszene konnte sich dank einer Reihe von Faktoren entwickeln, einschließlich verbesserter Infrastruktur, staatlicher Regulierung und Zugang zu Innovationszentren, Finanzierung und personellen Ressourcen. Der wachsende Kundenstamm stellt einen vielversprechenden Markt für m-Dienste dar und durch die weite Verbreitung des mobilen Bezahlsystems M-Pesa sind viele Kenianer schon mit der Nutzung ihrer Mobiltelefone für andere Dienste als Telefonate vertraut. Einige landwirtschaftliche m-Dienste werden schon angeboten, aber deren Reichweite ist noch begrenzt und die Auswirkungen sind nicht belegt. Die Dissertation präsentiert die Fallstudie von M-Farm, ein m-Dienst, der Preisinformationen und Marketing-Dienste für kenianische Bauern anbietet. Die Studie untersucht die Auswirkungen von M-Farm auf die Entscheidung von Bauern, landwirtschaftliche Technologien einzuführen und dadurch ihr Einkommen zu verbessern. Obwohl die Bauern enthusiastisch von den Vorteilen des Dienstes für die Produktionsplanung und Einkommensgewinnung berichten, konnte die Studie wenig andere Beweise für diese positive Einschätzung finden. Zusätzliche Einschränkungen, wie das Risiko von Ernteausfällen und begrenzte finanzielle Ressourcen, scheinen größere Hürden für die Nutzung von neuen Technologien darzustellen. Die Studie hat außerdem gezeigt, dass das Radio eine gute Alternative zur Verbreitung von Preisinformationen in den frühen Stadien der Produktion darstellt, während M-Farm vor allem in der Verkaufsphase wichtig wird. Die Dissertation hat außerdem untersucht, wie aktuelle Technologietrends die Bereitstellung von m-Diensten in der Landwirtschaft in Zukunft beeinflussen könnten. Drei Trends werden analysiert: erstens die wachsende Diversität von mobilen Geräten, um m-Dienste zu nutzen; zweitens das 'Internet der Dinge', das Objekte und Menschen durch ein Netzwerk verbindet; und drittens die zunehmende Verbreitung von mobilen Netzwerken und eine wachsende Nutzerbasis. Die Dissertation stellt zwei Szenarien für die Entwicklung von Mobiltechnologien vor und analysiert deren Auswirkungen auf landwirtschaftliche m-Dienste

ARTiVIS Arts, real-time video and interactivity for sustainability

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Media DigitaisPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/42555/2007

Cheetah Generation: Youth Social Entrepreneurship in Nairobi

From a young age, I have used artistic expressions to tackle social issues in Kenya and Canada, and witnessed how it can be a powerful tool in fostering social change. Whilst growing up in Kenya, I noticed a clear division between the haves and the have-nots. It was always disheartening to see those without and those struggling to make ends meet. I have always been passionate about poverty alleviation, but the question of social enterprises as a framework for poverty alleviation sparked my curiosity several years ago. This curiosity and seeking to merge my various interests was the reason I applied to the Strategic Foresight and Innovation program. I am interested in how storytelling, and ideas within development economics and design thinking can be employed within social enterprises to reduce poverty and create self-sustaining communities. My work with the United Nations, Ontario government, University of Guelph, Association for Canadian Educational Resources and Mennonite Economic Development Associates have led to some of the research questions and have significantly informed the work. I chose to focus on Kenya because it is a context that I am familiar with and would like to continue with this work in the future

The contribution of mobile telecommunication technology to sustainable development in selected countries in Africa

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management, and, in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-150).While most of the world's population resides in countries that are wealthy or developing, the rest reside in low-income and least developed countries (LDCs), left behind and growing more disconnected. At the same time, mobile phones are widely adopted in these underdeveloped areas and demonstrate potential for economic development. However, technological innovation and policies have often addressed narrow dimensions of poverty and development. Sustainable development, on the other hand, assesses the welfare of a country in its entirety. This then begs the question of how mobile telephony technology, given its pervasiveness, can be beneficial on a systemic and sustainable level. This document presents evidence that mobile phones can contribute to sustainable development in several ways. The focus is on selected countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Nigeria, each of which is categorized as a LDC. The Sustainable Development framework is used to analyze data from case studies and existing technology, institutional and policy trends in the mobile telecommunication industry. The evidence from literature demonstrates that mobile initiatives focused on niche areas, such as banking and health, have benefited on the community level and improved operations within firms. Mobile industry policies have created a healthy system of innovation in these countries. However, environmental development has been secondary or even ignored. Thus, the recommendations focus on prioritizing sustainability, specific policies continuing diffusion and adoption, technology transfer mechanisms, increased robustness in data-tracking and countering external economic shocks. The data presented is not meant to be comprehensive nor complete. Consequently, suggested future work addresses short-term, mid-term, and long-term strategies. Specific areas include examining causal linkages for mobile phone adoption, designing technology initiatives around sustainability goals, and drivers that facilitate technology transfer. Mobile telecommunication technology offers real opportunities for development and growth in Africa. If the focus of development shifts from mere economic growth to sustainable development, countries can not only transform their economic fortunes but also enhance the quality of their environment.by Alexander Shih.S.M.in Engineering and Management, and, in Technology and Polic

Exploring the use of open data to support citizen-led initiatives for sustainable urban development in East Africa

In the last two decades, both the academic realm and urban governance practice have seen a rising interest in smart cities and open data to aid sustainable urban development and citizen engagement. However, little is currently known about data-driven citizen-centric practices ‘on the ground’. Research to date has been scarce and focused primarily on the experience in countries of the ‘Global North’. Therefore, the knowledge gap this work aimed to bridge was to develop an understanding of how open data are used to support citizen-led initiatives that address sustainable development in cities in the ‘Global South’. The research employed an inductive exploratory approach using qualitative research methods to examine case studies in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). The case studies were focused on how city governments and other stakeholders engage with communities dealing with sustainability challenges, and how data can support this. Expert interviews, 25 in Dar es Salaam and 25 in Nairobi, were conducted with representatives of national and local government, international and local experts in open data and urban data innovations, leaders in non-profit organisations, private sector companies and start-ups, international development organisations, local community initiatives and academia. These were followed by direct observations of four community projects (Ramani Huria and Nipe Fagio in Dar es Salaam, and Map Kibera and sensors.AFRICA in Nairobi), and focus groups with project participants. By taking a ground-level perspective on how data are generated, circulated, accessed and leveraged by stakeholders, the author has drawn conclusions on how cities adopted and supported ‘citizen- centric’ practices to address specific urban challenges, such as solid waste management, air pollution, flooding, and access to public services. Overall, the nature of data-driven community initiatives in these cities was found to be different to the cities in the Global North. They were shaped by the way people traditionally participate in decision making and how they were initiated and resourced. Due to the prevalence of international donor funding in these countries, project agendas and their sustainability depended strongly on the continuation of donor programmes. Also, the history, local governance and motivation for community engagement played a considerable role in shaping these activities. Findings suggest that using data for citizen engagement in urban challenges in East Africa, and the design of urban sustainability interventions, should take into consideration these contextual differences. Addressing such specificities simply as ‘barriers’ or ‘gaps’ to achievement, rather than as practically and symbolically significant local practices integral to existing community governance, risks failing to account for their importance, at the cost of the deliverability of data- driven project goals

Infrastructural Attachments: Technologies, Mobility, and the Tensions of Home in Colonial and Postcolonial Kenya

At the heart of this dissertation sits a question: why have access to infrastructures and services emerged as key metrics by which people evaluate and debate the meaning of social and political belonging in contemporary Kenya? Part of the answer, I argue, lies in the long and entangled history of marketization and state-formation in this corner of Eastern Africa. The tensions between the public and the private, the state and the corporation, were the basis of early infrastructural projects undertaken by the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA) under the dual mandate of “commerce and civilisation.” This marriage, I argue, formed the durable foundations of the austere state. Indeed, the tension between private capital and the commonweal did not end with the formalization of colonial rule, but critically shaped the infrastructural landscape of both the Kenya colony and later the postcolonial state. In understanding these dynamics, this dissertation addresses three infrastructures ‘in the making’—roads in the interwar period, radio broadcasting in the postwar period, and services offered by Safaricom, Kenya’s wildly successful communications company, in the present. Beginning in the nineteenth century, I explore how the state and Kenya’s various communities have negotiated the technopolitics of infrastructures enacted under durable conditions of austerity. As I argue, public austerity over the longer term has repeatedly undermined infrastructures’ purported status as public goods to which all should have access. Specifically, conditions of austerity not only guided the distribution of infrastructures and services, but critically shaped the conditions of infrastructural work. Considering infrastructures as multiply authored cultural and material objects, this dissertation pursues two lines of inquiry. First, I explore the ways in which designers and administrators imagined how infrastructures could materialize new economic, political, and social orders. Second, I trace the unforeseen ways that Kenya’s multiple publics, including ordinary and extraordinary experts, reshaped infrastructural networks in staking out the domain of the political. PHDHistoryUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140820/1/emlopa_1.pd