Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)
Question 1: What roles does ICT play in producer organizations? Support examples with specific reference to an organization, the technology tool(s), and content delivered.
In particular consider:
- How can ICT facilitate accountability and transparency among members of an organization and between different organizations?
- How can ICT facilitate climate change adaptation among members of an organization and the rural communities where the organization is active?
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Hello to everyone, and welcome to this new e-Agriculture forum. As the lead facilitator of this forum I am here to make sure the discussion is productive and focused, and to assist you in any way necessary. We look forward to your participation. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
Over the next two weeks we plan to discuss many interesting and important issues. Please keep the focus of this forum in mind - how producer organizations and their work can be improved by the use of ICT. We are particularly interested in learning about functions or issues around ICT and producer organizations that complement or add to the body of information already provided in Sourcebook module 8.
So now, let’s discuss!
A producer company managed by AKRSP(India) manages a 4,000-farmer producer company. The company main office struggles to collect various types of information from its farmers. During harvest season, the main office must know how much of each crop the company is expected to harvest, and when. Currently this information is collected manually, in person and over the phone, making it inefficient and expensive. Moreover, the lack of real-time information often results in lost sales and difficulty managing logistics. Using Awaaz.De the producer company has deployed a voice-based survey which farmers call into and enter expected harvest for each crop. The data is aggregated in real time in a report that the main office can access over the Internet, saving them time and money, and ultimately making them better able to execute sales. Complementing the data collection, the producer company will use Awaaz.De to disseminate agricultural locally relevant agricultural advice through a combination of question and answer and message broadcast. This two-way solution can help any producer company or cooperative gain efficiences, and also effectively reach out, connect, and build capacity amongst its constituent farmers.
About Awaaz.De: Awaaz.De provides hosted voice solutions that help people and organizations engage with communities in any language, leveraging the power of spoken voice and mobile phones. Our goal is to make information and social media accessible to everyone. We provide products and services that help our customers and their communities become active and informed producers and consumers of knowledge.
http://awaaz.de/home
It is great to see a firm delivering services to producers. ITC has certainly a key role in improving the efficency and the quality of the services delivered as the firm will better know the demand. Are the producers servecd by the company AKRSP (India) members or shareholders of the company??
it a good thing we are discussing the functions of ICT and Producer Organisation but there should be claerity as to which Producer Organisation, but if it is a general thing then we have alot to do.
Hello Osiyoye. In this discussion we want to consider all types of organizations of people involved in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock, etc.
Some of the organizations will be formal and well undestood (e.g. dairy cooperatives) while others may be less formal (e.g. radio listener's groups) or less common.
It is a wide definition, but the innovations found in one case may well be applicable in another. Just keep in mind we are looking for ways these organizations make use of ICT to improve their own performance, or the performance of their members. The forum runs for 2 weeks, so there is plenty of time to consider this!
In addition to the organizations that Michael mentioned, I would include resource governance associations as well as federations(i.e. an organization made up of organizations or a network of networks). In the Philippines we have Irrigators Associations, Protected Area Management Boards, Watershed Management Councils representing the former and local, municapal and provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Councils representing the latter. Resource governance associations made up of producers serve a self regulating function particularly in resource poor or limited areas. Their role as such have been highlighted in recent years due to extreme weather events such as drought and floods. And it has been demonstrated, time and again, that ICT, ranging from the humble rural radio to the 3G mobile phone, has assisted their members in sharing El Nino forecasts, disaster alerts, even adaptation strategies such as crop diversification.
Any organization should have the responsibility to manage their resources to answer and/or give proposed solutions to the many societal issues which may include climate change. Corporate social responsibility must not only be used to create a good image for the company or organization, but must be utilized as a venue for a more meaningful social participation. ICT, just like rural radio, created an impact in society not just for rural development. The community radio in Laurel, Batangas which I visited years back was commendable (THE TAMBULI PROJECT). Today, ICT is not just community radio anymore; social media is already ICT. And the use of social media as a venue for social change has created a new impact to social development.
I searched information about the Tambuli Project mentioned above by Lalaine; it's below for readers' reference.
Lisa
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The Tambuli project aims to the empower people through communication so that they will strengthen their community organisations and seek better opportunities for development.
How it works?
The engine that makes a Tambuli station work is a multisectoral Community Media Council (CMC). The CMC decides on managerial and programming issues. Most of the members also have responsibility as broadcasters, each one contributes with a programme slot relevant to his or her sector: health, education, youth, agriculture, senior citizens, environment, fishermen, women and legislation among others. In the long run, the CMC should become the owner of the stations.
Source: ICT for Development Network
Busuanga Island in the Northernmost tipt of the Province of Palawan in the Philippines is a bio-diversity area with rich marine fishing grounds. Divided between the Municipalities of Coron and Busuanga, it is its rice, fruit and vegetable production self-sufficiency that continue to be a major problem despite efforts concerted by the government.
Seed dispersion, water irrigation, bank loans and trainings had been conducted over and over in the past – to no avail. The Borac and the Dipuyai Plains are two areas which can provide self-sufficiency in rice production but remained either idle or under utilized resulting to the heavy importation of rice, fruits and vegetables from nearby provinces and the national capital Manila.
Technology transfer, since the age of VHS to CDs to Power Point Presentations only serve the purpose of the organizers and remained irrelevant to the poor farmers who cannot afford devices to view, study and eventually adopt the knowledge imparted through new technologies.
Lately, the formation of farmer cooperatives initially took off with still relative results. Where does the problem lie?
Hello Fernando. Thank you for sharing these thoughts. You bring up the issue of whether or not technology is appropriate - always a challenging subject. We hope to cover this in more depth in Question 4: "Does ICT empower or marginalize women or smallholders in producer organizations?" starting on 20 Nov.
In the meantime, if you and others can bring in examples of where an appropriate technology has been put to a positive use in a producers organization or directly with farmers through the action of an organization.
We're off to a good start!