2,889 research outputs found
Reaching the last mile: best practices in leveraging the power of ICTs to communicate climate services to farmers at scale
This report reviews key ICTs for Development (ICT4D) Programs, Innovations and
Information Exchange Platforms which are experimented within South Asia to
explore the use and scale-ability of these innovative approaches to other parts of
Africa and the developing world. Learning from the pioneering experiences of pilot
projects across India and Africa in ICT development, we assess the potential ICTs
offer to not only communicate climate information and related advisory services but
also to build capacity and increase the resilience of rural smallholders. It is our hope
that such South-South learning can pave the way for improved cross-regional
experience sharing to tackle common challenges in reaching ‘the last mile’ with
salient rural extension services, including climate information services
Agricultural information dissemination using ICTs: a review and analysis of information dissemination models in China
Open Access funded by China Agricultural UniversityOver the last three decades, China’s agriculture sector has been transformed from the traditional to modern practice through the effective deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Information processing and dissemination have played a critical role in this transformation process. Many studies in relation to agriculture information services have been conducted in China, but few of them have attempted to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of different information dissemination models and their applications. This paper aims to review and identify the ICT based information dissemination models in China and to share the knowledge and experience in applying emerging ICTs in disseminating agriculture information to farmers and farm communities to improve productivity and economic, social and environmental sustainability. The paper reviews and analyzes the development stages of China’s agricultural information dissemination systems and different mechanisms for agricultural information service development and operations. Seven ICT-based information dissemination models are identified and discussed. Success cases are presented. The findings provide a useful direction for researchers and practitioners in developing future ICT based information dissemination systems. It is hoped that this paper will also help other developing countries to learn from China’s experience and best practice in their endeavor of applying emerging ICTs in agriculture information dissemination and knowledge transfer
Review of agricultural extension in India: Are farmers' information needs being met?
Despite a wide range of reform initiatives in agricultural extension in India in the past decades, the coverage of, access to, and quality of information provided to marginalized and poor farmers is uneven. This paper aims to ascertain why farmers are not accessing information and where information gaps exist, despite the variety of extension approaches in India. Using information provision and access as the basis for analysis, the paper reviews some of the major agricultural extension programs in India by considering their ability to provide information and facilitate information sharing and use in farming communities. The review gives a broad overview of the current extension scene in India while providing a synthesis of recent debates and the observations of various authors as well as working groups in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Planning Commission. The paper examines the challenges and constraints of each agricultural extension approach as it attempts to provide farmers with access to information that is relevant to their farm enterprises. As a result of this analysis, opportunities are identified for increasing extension services' effectiveness and efficiency in reaching smallholder farmers. Research gaps are also identified. The review concludes that there is an increasing need to work in partnership and to share knowledge and skills in order to provide locally relevant services that meet the information needs of marginal and smallholder farmers in India.agricultural extension, Knowledge, information, Innovation, Public-private partnership, Gender, Education,
Scaling up climate services for farmers: Mission Possible. Learning from good practice in Africa and South Asia
This report presents lessons learned from 18 case studies across Africa and South Asia that have developed and delivered weather and climate information and related advisory services for smallholder farmers. The case studies and resulting lessons provide insights on what will be needed to build effective national systems for the production, delivery, communication and evaluation of operational climate services for smallholder farmers across the developing world. The case studies include two national-scale programmes that have been the subject of recent assessments: India’s Integrated Agrometeorological Advisory Service (AAS) Program, which provides tailored weather-based agrometeorological advisories to millions of farmers; and Mali’s Projet d’Assistance Agro-meteorologique au Monde Rural, which provided innovative seasonal agrometeorological advisory services for smallholder farmers and 16 less mature initiatives operating at a pilot scale across Africa and South Asia. The case studies were examined from the standpoint of how they address five key challenges for scaling up effective climate services for farmers: salience, access, legitimacy, equity and integration
Capacity Building In Information And Communication Management (ICM) Towards Food Security
This paper addresses capacity strengthening needs in the area of ICM to support food security initiatives. It fully acknowledges that FS is a state of assuring physical availability and economic accessibility to enough food in terms of quantity (amount, distribution, calories), quality (safe, nutritious, balanced) and cultural acceptability for all people at all times for a healthy and active life. It starts by outlining how ICM can support strategies to ensure availability, access, acceptability, adequacy, and agency and it highlights key information needs in each case. A FS Information and Communication Web is developed basing on a generic conceptual framework of determinants of food security. The web delineates information needs that would support strategies to ensure adequacy of food, stability of supply, and access – physical and economical. The paper then articulates capacity strengthening needs in line with the three dimensions or levels of food security: national, community and household. Four case studies: (i) Uganda’s ICT policy and Food Security (ii) Human Resources needs at community level drawing experiences from Africa and Asia (iii) HR Capacity Development Needs in Africa by the IMF (iv) Audio visual and farmer skills in Mali – serve to demonstrate grassroots ICM applications that support food security initiatives, and in each case it points to theme specific capacity strengthening needs. The studies, as a result, demonstrate how enhanced ICM capacity can support food security through: developing suitable ICT policies, empowering communities with ICM knowledge, improving development planning, enhancing agricultural productivity, supporting marketing systems, improving natural resources management and conservation, and through effective execution of early warning systems – all having implications for food security. The paper concludes by presenting a summary of capacity strengthening needs. These range from sensitization of regional and national policy makers, down to technical skills required by data collectors, analysts and information generators, knowledge disseminators and also knowledge users. To achieve the above the paper proposes roles that may be played by governments, NGOs, education sector, research and development institutions, regional and international organizations, and CTA.Capacity Building, Food Security, ICM, Tanzania
ICT Infrastructure, Applications, Society and Education
Proceedings of the Annual Strathmore University ICT Conference 2006Proceedings of the Annual Strathmore University ICT Conference 200
Regional priorities for strengthening climate services for farmers in Africa and South Asia
This report captures a process of shared South-South learning and planning towards defining
priorities for strengthening and scaling-up climate information and advisory services for
agriculture and food security in West Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and South Asia.
The process began at the international workshop on “Scaling up Climate Services for Farmers
in Africa and South Asia” (Saly, Senegal, December 2012), where participants collectively
identified critical gaps in the design, delivery and effective use of climate services for
smallholder agriculture; and self-organized into working groups to develop a set of priority
actions for strengthening climate services for smallholder farming communities within and
across regions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Following up on a commitment made
at the workshop, USAID and CCAFS partnered to develop a small grants program and
sponsor a set of guided planning workshops to enable the working groups that emerged from
the Saly workshop to further develop their visions, and obtain resources to begin to
implement them. Expert working groups from all regions prioritized improving the scientific
capacity of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to develop location
specific seasonal climate forecasts at the subnational scale, and enhancing institutional
frameworks for collaboration between the different agencies involved in the production and
communication of climate services. The Eastern and Southern Africa working group also
emphasized the co-production with farmers of location-specific climate services, and the
importance of assessing the added value of climate services for enhancing agricultural
production and managing risk. The West Africa working group prioritized communications
mechanisms for reaching marginalized groups, including rural radio and Information and
Communications Technologies (ICTs), and training farmers to access and use climate
information. Building on the region’s existing strength in ICTs, the South Asia group
emphasized efforts to identify appropriate ICT tools and build the capacity of smallholder
farmers, women, poor and socially marginalized groups to access and utilize climate
information services
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