This formal contribution albeit not specific to a particular country in Africa surveys the information and communication technologies (ICTs) landscape throughout the continent as championed by pundits and as expressed in various research and communication articles. The basic premise is that we are in an "era of abundance" when it comes to what we have realised because of practical application and continued investment in ICTs.
Humans are fixated on ICTs for better or for worse especially as it pertains to resilience programmes or projects, or simply put in the very goals that humans seek to pursue in the domain of choice. There is absolutely no doubt ICT tools are amazing in shaping our society and how we come to create new programmes or projects. Fixation should be a cause of concern as resilience revolves around keeping the "entrepreneurial spirit" of all and not a segment of human population alive.
ICTs are shaping the arc of human progress. Conversely, human progress should also shape the arc of ICTs, reminiscent of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s mobilization of American resolve to “put man on moon” following the lead of the Soviet Union. We see throughout Africa, technology and entrepreneurship hubs whose pivot is ICTs. In many of these programmes, the practical application to resilience initiatives is missing as resilience programmes or projects may not have profit making as the ultimate aim. Thriving and not surviving should be the aim. The two descriptions about human nature are fundamentally different.
ICTs can be integrated through specific actions geared at “scaling up” and “scaling out” promising inventions, and match that with the other extreme, the non-mainstream ICTs inventions. The choice as to what to "scale up" and "scale out" can be made by evaluation of ICTs captured from an open access repository. This has the benefit of reminding humans that our capacity for exploration is in itself inadequate but sufficient to trigger transformative actions.
Another example is that the integration of ICTs in resilience programmes or projects should draw lessons on discourse on civil society as “numbers matter” when implementing large-scale programmes or projects. This is because the Internet of Things has so meshed together even the most mundane of things for economic, social and political reasons. Individuals, their bodies, their expression, their businesses, and their feelings, all appear to “crank the Internet of Things”.
We are perhaps being reminded through the pervasiveness of ICTs of our capacity for adventures, creativity, discovery, and exploration in what we can do for each other as part of the human species. This capacity is, and should compel humans to re-imagine a better human-ordered society. That is perhaps one form of resilience-enabled.
Though ICT for Resilience has so many challenges discussed in the last question, it does not mean that a bowl is empty. There is a need to anticipate the challenges and build strategies of delivery model. I hope that the following approach for HOW TO START WITH for ICT based resilience project will be surely a good reference for any ICT project and any country.
I am sure that it will be helpful for new comers as well as strategists for understanding the fundamental steps which will reduce the time of field trials as well as resources.
1. Different ICTs or specifications for the same idea but different farmer segments –
A particular ICT application can’t be standardised for all segments. After a basic idea or innovation of ICT is decided, it should be tested against the real requirements and problems of the farmers in the targeted segments based on geography, education, telecom connectivity, urban connectivity, crops pattern, seasonal, finance etc. A progressive class of farmers can afford to adopt costly equipment while small holder farmers can go for the low cost options with moderate features e.g a grape grower can afford computerised irrigation for the water pumps whereas a small grain growing farmer will go for low cost remote controller for pumps.
2. Priority-wise select a marketing segment and related ICT solution such that maximum number of farmers would be benefited (Decide Target and addressable Market Potential )
After deciding a particular ICT solution or an idea for the particular segment, a three stage strategy is must to proceed with – 1.Understanding of the existing problems 2. Involving farmers in the discussions with tentative idea of ICT solutions helps creating a wonderful ground for the upcoming trials and pilot projects 3. Understanding their aspirations about the ICT solutions based on different parameters like cost, utility, buying period, dependability on ICT etc. The selected solution must be offered for the market life cycle of at least three to four years considering the dynamic evolution of the ICTs from the laboratories. Please note that speedy implementation is the key of success.
3. Tune the coarse idea of ICT for a pilot field run in at least three regions involving selected pioneer class of farmers willing to provide timely feedback on the use and performance. Next stage is to fine tune the solution within the stipulated time frame based on the user’s feedback considering the simplicity of use, performance in different weather conditions, electricity effects etc. This stage is crucial where the solution has to be rigorously tested for the robust performance in which every stakeholder contributes towards fine-tuning process of the ICT solution.
4. Building up of a scalable, sustainable, profitable business model is the next process considering the different factors like cost effective advocacy, local availability, post-sales support and hands-on experience on fields. This must consider the different external factors like climate, telecom infrastructure, human limitations, and local communication for building the strategies of GO TO MARKET.
5. There is active involvement of three partners for the successful implementation – Private Sector as the technology enabler, The Government or NGOs as the Catalysts and rural population for the actual use along with operation & maintenance.
6. Business Model – To implement ICT for the rural sector involves socio-economic aspects and it is a social entrepreneurship rather than a conventional professional business models.
Please see the following value chain diagram based on which Nano Ganesh ICT has been successfully adopted in India, of course with a room kept for evolution.
As the majority of food is produced by smallholders farmers,adopting ICT tools for resilience programs for smallholders farmers became a necessity.
Existing limitations like vagaries of climate , fluctuation of market price, information to latest technologies, market linkages and access to finance influence the adoption and selection of ICT tools.
ICT tools should not be the regional basis, it should be scalable so that large organization government bodies and private organization who are associated with smallholder farmers should adopt.
ICT tools which are used to share information to the farmers should also allow them to use that information, for their benefits. I have seen farmers are curious about the adoption of technologies provided they should able to use them for either increase in crop production, or access to markets and in turn generate income for their produce.
Tools should also cater to the large number of tribal farmers, hilly area farmers and who are remotely located and scattered .
There are existing technologies, like FM radio, usage of video, computers kiosks, etc. but the most important according to me, being the usage of mobile technologies. No Technology has made such a profound impact in such a short span of time as mobile technologies have done to human beings, especially to the people at the bottom of the pyramid, and engaged in the agriculture sector.
In order to target smallholder farmers spread across various location and to access the remotely located farmers and to empower them, cloud-based mobile application/solution became imperative.
The solution can be used to maps the farmers, crop, field etc., and helps to provide information and monitors activity related to the field, crop and various other agronomic practices, which will help them to ensure better food production and global market access.
We should evolve from traditionally based tools to a smartphone based application. Internet penetration and smartphone are increasing,hence adoption to latest technologies for any resilience projects for larger benefits became a necessity.
I met an interesting company this year. I can't (without looking at the CEO's business card or company website) remember what they do, or even their name. What I do remember and will always remember is their motto. It was: "Those who feed us, need us". Simple yet on the button.
If ICTs are to be implemented in reslience programmes, it must be to fulfill the needs of those who feed us. If it doesn't, not only is it not fair nor ethical, but if it continues, will result in increased food scarcity.
My experience with Service Providers in all areas of business is that they tend to be focused on only selling their services instead of delivering their service in the context and as part of the appropriate solution to the need or problem. I.E. their approach is myopic instead of holistic.
It's thus easy to fall into the trap of approaching enablement of resilient agriculture through ICTs in isolation of other interconnected sectors and influencers in what will be a multi-dimensional agricultural need and in an holistic human being.
There will always be multiple answers - at both the micro and macro levels, to this question.
Ultimately, with 1 Billion people globally employed in agriculture and 500 million - half of them - earning their primary income from smallholder agriculture and undernourished and living in poverty - the ultimate objective of integrating ICTs in reslience projects must be to improve the economic standing of smallholder farmers and enable them to lift themselves out of poverty.
The World Economic Forum 2015 leaders’ statement included the words:
“Inequality is the greatest threat to the global economy…Addressing inequality is not only a responsibility but also an opportunity and is good for business as it creates a new demographic of consumers…We know what we need. We need inclusive economics.”
So how can ICT resilience programmes, solutions and strategies bring about "Inclusive Economics"?
Inclusive Economics brings both more stakeholders into the economic equation and increases financial remuneration with a view to balance. This could be brought around in two ways:
1. Integrating smallholder farmers into more of the value chain. This means further reducing the pounds of flesh charged by the middle men.
2. Integrating consumers into the development of smallholder farms and economic success of their farmers. This means further reducing the pounds of flesh charged by the middle men.
*(For those who are not familiar - "pounds of flesh" is naturally a figurative statement (Merchant of Venice) and not a literal one.)
With many ICT solutions already enabling farmers to have increased and improved direct access, be it to markets and pricing and other important information, this trend is already under way and will continue to bring about greater economic inclusion and with it, economic resilience.
The ultimate solution I believe will have global consumers ( the global crowd ) participating in the economic foundation, support and thus participation, as well as consumption of smallholder farms in developing countries. This is already happening in what I'd refer to as a half-way solution, through investment funds run by organizations.
Hopefully one day we will have direct global crowd-sponsorship of smallholder ICT-based economic resilence. In the meantime, a great article on organization-led initiatives which also happens to reference one or two examples, can be found here:
Farmers frequently seek information regarding various inputs needed in their field such as seed, fertilizers, pesticides, labour, transport, etc in terms of cost, quality, availability and possible sources. Once crop gets ready for harvesting, need arises for its marketing. The questions like; where to sale, when to sale, how to sale and whom to sale mesmerizes the farmers. At this point of time, information provision related to marketing and transportation is must, which may help farmers in decision-making of agriculture product marketing.
Strategic Information
There are several stages where farmer requires information to strengthen the planning and minimizing risk of cultivation. Information related to cultivation practices such as varietal characters, fertigation schedule, pest control methods, irrigation schedule, mechanization, planting and harvesting schedule, inter-cropping, crop rotation, etc may be classified under strategic information. Information about most suitable production and protection technologies is required for optimum and sustainable crop production.
Past Trends
Information on past trends regarding area, production, productivity, consumption, utilization, pest attack, climatic conditions, environmental concerns, fertigation, etc are of immense use in making decision in crop production. For example, past trends in climatic conditions may help growers in scheduling cultivation activities for optimum production and control of stresses.
Government Policy decisions
Government decisions related to agriculture and its products marketing, labour laws, land holdings, rural development etc is also important factors while taking decision. All such information must reach to the farmers at the earliest, so that one may take right decision for high production and maximum return. Many IT tools are available to record and disseminate information for decision support. Making available the information about government policies and support facilities to the farmers in time will empower the farmers in the way to their prosperity.
Decision-makers should not underestimate the importance of knowledge management and information capture. Good knowledge management should be integrated at the institutional and individual level as well as given enough importance in the framework of the use of ICTs for resilience.
Effective knowledge management will enable appropriate learning of lessons, sharing of successes and failures and ensure the most effective initiatives can move forward with support of other decision makers to move beyond the stage of small projects and isolated pilots and to scale up the best initiatives even beyond the sector of agriculture and rural development.
This formal contribution albeit not specific to a particular country in Africa surveys the information and communication technologies (ICTs) landscape throughout the continent as championed by pundits and as expressed in various research and communication articles. The basic premise is that we are in an "era of abundance" when it comes to what we have realised because of practical application and continued investment in ICTs.
Humans are fixated on ICTs for better or for worse especially as it pertains to resilience programmes or projects, or simply put in the very goals that humans seek to pursue in the domain of choice. There is absolutely no doubt ICT tools are amazing in shaping our society and how we come to create new programmes or projects. Fixation should be a cause of concern as resilience revolves around keeping the "entrepreneurial spirit" of all and not a segment of human population alive.
ICTs are shaping the arc of human progress. Conversely, human progress should also shape the arc of ICTs, reminiscent of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s mobilization of American resolve to “put man on moon” following the lead of the Soviet Union. We see throughout Africa, technology and entrepreneurship hubs whose pivot is ICTs. In many of these programmes, the practical application to resilience initiatives is missing as resilience programmes or projects may not have profit making as the ultimate aim. Thriving and not surviving should be the aim. The two descriptions about human nature are fundamentally different.
ICTs can be integrated through specific actions geared at “scaling up” and “scaling out” promising inventions, and match that with the other extreme, the non-mainstream ICTs inventions. The choice as to what to "scale up" and "scale out" can be made by evaluation of ICTs captured from an open access repository. This has the benefit of reminding humans that our capacity for exploration is in itself inadequate but sufficient to trigger transformative actions.
Another example is that the integration of ICTs in resilience programmes or projects should draw lessons on discourse on civil society as “numbers matter” when implementing large-scale programmes or projects. This is because the Internet of Things has so meshed together even the most mundane of things for economic, social and political reasons. Individuals, their bodies, their expression, their businesses, and their feelings, all appear to “crank the Internet of Things”.
We are perhaps being reminded through the pervasiveness of ICTs of our capacity for adventures, creativity, discovery, and exploration in what we can do for each other as part of the human species. This capacity is, and should compel humans to re-imagine a better human-ordered society. That is perhaps one form of resilience-enabled.
Though ICT for Resilience has so many challenges discussed in the last question, it does not mean that a bowl is empty. There is a need to anticipate the challenges and build strategies of delivery model. I hope that the following approach for HOW TO START WITH for ICT based resilience project will be surely a good reference for any ICT project and any country.
I am sure that it will be helpful for new comers as well as strategists for understanding the fundamental steps which will reduce the time of field trials as well as resources.
1. Different ICTs or specifications for the same idea but different farmer segments –
A particular ICT application can’t be standardised for all segments. After a basic idea or innovation of ICT is decided, it should be tested against the real requirements and problems of the farmers in the targeted segments based on geography, education, telecom connectivity, urban connectivity, crops pattern, seasonal, finance etc. A progressive class of farmers can afford to adopt costly equipment while small holder farmers can go for the low cost options with moderate features e.g a grape grower can afford computerised irrigation for the water pumps whereas a small grain growing farmer will go for low cost remote controller for pumps.
2. Priority-wise select a marketing segment and related ICT solution such that maximum number of farmers would be benefited (Decide Target and addressable Market Potential )
After deciding a particular ICT solution or an idea for the particular segment, a three stage strategy is must to proceed with – 1.Understanding of the existing problems 2. Involving farmers in the discussions with tentative idea of ICT solutions helps creating a wonderful ground for the upcoming trials and pilot projects 3. Understanding their aspirations about the ICT solutions based on different parameters like cost, utility, buying period, dependability on ICT etc. The selected solution must be offered for the market life cycle of at least three to four years considering the dynamic evolution of the ICTs from the laboratories. Please note that speedy implementation is the key of success.
3. Tune the coarse idea of ICT for a pilot field run in at least three regions involving selected pioneer class of farmers willing to provide timely feedback on the use and performance. Next stage is to fine tune the solution within the stipulated time frame based on the user’s feedback considering the simplicity of use, performance in different weather conditions, electricity effects etc. This stage is crucial where the solution has to be rigorously tested for the robust performance in which every stakeholder contributes towards fine-tuning process of the ICT solution.
4. Building up of a scalable, sustainable, profitable business model is the next process considering the different factors like cost effective advocacy, local availability, post-sales support and hands-on experience on fields. This must consider the different external factors like climate, telecom infrastructure, human limitations, and local communication for building the strategies of GO TO MARKET.
5. There is active involvement of three partners for the successful implementation – Private Sector as the technology enabler, The Government or NGOs as the Catalysts and rural population for the actual use along with operation & maintenance.
6. Business Model – To implement ICT for the rural sector involves socio-economic aspects and it is a social entrepreneurship rather than a conventional professional business models.
Please see the following value chain diagram based on which Nano Ganesh ICT has been successfully adopted in India, of course with a room kept for evolution.
As the majority of food is produced by smallholders farmers,adopting ICT tools for resilience programs for smallholders farmers became a necessity.
Existing limitations like vagaries of climate , fluctuation of market price, information to latest technologies, market linkages and access to finance influence the adoption and selection of ICT tools.
ICT tools should not be the regional basis, it should be scalable so that large organization government bodies and private organization who are associated with smallholder farmers should adopt.
ICT tools which are used to share information to the farmers should also allow them to use that information, for their benefits. I have seen farmers are curious about the adoption of technologies provided they should able to use them for either increase in crop production, or access to markets and in turn generate income for their produce.
Tools should also cater to the large number of tribal farmers, hilly area farmers and who are remotely located and scattered .
There are existing technologies, like FM radio, usage of video, computers kiosks, etc. but the most important according to me, being the usage of mobile technologies. No Technology has made such a profound impact in such a short span of time as mobile technologies have done to human beings, especially to the people at the bottom of the pyramid, and engaged in the agriculture sector.
In order to target smallholder farmers spread across various location and to access the remotely located farmers and to empower them, cloud-based mobile application/solution became imperative.
The solution can be used to maps the farmers, crop, field etc., and helps to provide information and monitors activity related to the field, crop and various other agronomic practices, which will help them to ensure better food production and global market access.
We should evolve from traditionally based tools to a smartphone based application. Internet penetration and smartphone are increasing,hence adoption to latest technologies for any resilience projects for larger benefits became a necessity.
One tool which serves all.
Surajit
I met an interesting company this year. I can't (without looking at the CEO's business card or company website) remember what they do, or even their name. What I do remember and will always remember is their motto. It was: "Those who feed us, need us". Simple yet on the button.
If ICTs are to be implemented in reslience programmes, it must be to fulfill the needs of those who feed us. If it doesn't, not only is it not fair nor ethical, but if it continues, will result in increased food scarcity.
My experience with Service Providers in all areas of business is that they tend to be focused on only selling their services instead of delivering their service in the context and as part of the appropriate solution to the need or problem. I.E. their approach is myopic instead of holistic.
It's thus easy to fall into the trap of approaching enablement of resilient agriculture through ICTs in isolation of other interconnected sectors and influencers in what will be a multi-dimensional agricultural need and in an holistic human being.
There will always be multiple answers - at both the micro and macro levels, to this question.
Ultimately, with 1 Billion people globally employed in agriculture and 500 million - half of them - earning their primary income from smallholder agriculture and undernourished and living in poverty - the ultimate objective of integrating ICTs in reslience projects must be to improve the economic standing of smallholder farmers and enable them to lift themselves out of poverty.
The World Economic Forum 2015 leaders’ statement included the words:
“Inequality is the greatest threat to the global economy…Addressing inequality is not only a responsibility but also an opportunity and is good for business as it creates a new demographic of consumers…We know what we need. We need inclusive economics.”
So how can ICT resilience programmes, solutions and strategies bring about "Inclusive Economics"?
Inclusive Economics brings both more stakeholders into the economic equation and increases financial remuneration with a view to balance. This could be brought around in two ways:
1. Integrating smallholder farmers into more of the value chain. This means further reducing the pounds of flesh charged by the middle men.
2. Integrating consumers into the development of smallholder farms and economic success of their farmers. This means further reducing the pounds of flesh charged by the middle men.
*(For those who are not familiar - "pounds of flesh" is naturally a figurative statement (Merchant of Venice) and not a literal one.)
With many ICT solutions already enabling farmers to have increased and improved direct access, be it to markets and pricing and other important information, this trend is already under way and will continue to bring about greater economic inclusion and with it, economic resilience.
The ultimate solution I believe will have global consumers ( the global crowd ) participating in the economic foundation, support and thus participation, as well as consumption of smallholder farms in developing countries. This is already happening in what I'd refer to as a half-way solution, through investment funds run by organizations.
Hopefully one day we will have direct global crowd-sponsorship of smallholder ICT-based economic resilence. In the meantime, a great article on organization-led initiatives which also happens to reference one or two examples, can be found here:
Input Procurement and Marketing
Farmers frequently seek information regarding various inputs needed in their field such as seed, fertilizers, pesticides, labour, transport, etc in terms of cost, quality, availability and possible sources. Once crop gets ready for harvesting, need arises for its marketing. The questions like; where to sale, when to sale, how to sale and whom to sale mesmerizes the farmers. At this point of time, information provision related to marketing and transportation is must, which may help farmers in decision-making of agriculture product marketing.
Strategic Information
There are several stages where farmer requires information to strengthen the planning and minimizing risk of cultivation. Information related to cultivation practices such as varietal characters, fertigation schedule, pest control methods, irrigation schedule, mechanization, planting and harvesting schedule, inter-cropping, crop rotation, etc may be classified under strategic information. Information about most suitable production and protection technologies is required for optimum and sustainable crop production.
Past Trends
Information on past trends regarding area, production, productivity, consumption, utilization, pest attack, climatic conditions, environmental concerns, fertigation, etc are of immense use in making decision in crop production. For example, past trends in climatic conditions may help growers in scheduling cultivation activities for optimum production and control of stresses.
Government Policy decisions
Government decisions related to agriculture and its products marketing, labour laws, land holdings, rural development etc is also important factors while taking decision. All such information must reach to the farmers at the earliest, so that one may take right decision for high production and maximum return. Many IT tools are available to record and disseminate information for decision support. Making available the information about government policies and support facilities to the farmers in time will empower the farmers in the way to their prosperity.
Decision-makers should not underestimate the importance of knowledge management and information capture. Good knowledge management should be integrated at the institutional and individual level as well as given enough importance in the framework of the use of ICTs for resilience.
Effective knowledge management will enable appropriate learning of lessons, sharing of successes and failures and ensure the most effective initiatives can move forward with support of other decision makers to move beyond the stage of small projects and isolated pilots and to scale up the best initiatives even beyond the sector of agriculture and rural development.