Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)

 Other options to what I earlier posted would be:

1. Employment of the agriculture graduates, who are equipped with knowledge in ICT, by   producer organizations
2. Linkages to higher education institutions  who are producers of BSA graduates and other concerned agencies.

These might support the ideas/points of view of  Yitzhak613, Mjborres22 and Sr. Eva. 

Hi Gigi,

Greetings from Manila!

Thank you so much for enlightenment.  When I was formulating my earlier post concernning the online discussion on education in agriculture in view of ICT, along with the ideas of Yitzchak613 and mjborres22, I was indeed thinking of you.  I am pretty sure that there is an appropriate person among us from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) who can brightly address and support the opinion.  I am also reflecting Gigi, probably this is only my presumption, I am not really sure if I am correct, that not only BS-Agriculture Course nowadays has computer subject in the curriculum.  I think in today's time, almost all degrees and courses in any field of study in the undergraduate course has the basic computer subject and even in the lower level of education (elementary) has computer lesson in this present age of education in our country.  We can think of the "young generations" computer literate even teaching their old "folks" to use the computer and other high tech ICTs gadgets.  It is really very interesting.

Now, it is nice to know that higher education in our country is really exerting efforts, knowledge, initiatives, and programs to mold and nourish the mind of our young generations to the interest which could be applicable and useful to them this time and for the future as well so as to attend to their needs in line with the proper preparation to fully practice their degree someday whether for their own improvement or for the progress of our society.  Since the young generations are basically the future parts of the producer organizations, productive farmers, or potential consumers and products builders.  

Best Regards,

Sr. Eva

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">The Philippine agricultural sector may find time to cope
with globalization in terms of ICT</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">and
producer organizations may find </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">difficulty
to invest on ICT having all the issues posted </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">like limited resources, etc., but let me draw from
the baseline by starting to think outside the box:</span></p>

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; "><!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font:7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span><!--[endif]-->The Agriculture program curriculum being adopted
by higher education institutions (HEIs) may &nbsp;be enhanced. &nbsp;In fact, in CMO 14, s. 2008, otherwise known
as the Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) program,
there is only one (1) subject (3 units) of Basic Computer Concept and
Application being offered, &nbsp;where the competencies &nbsp;desired &nbsp;&nbsp;to
achieve are to develop the ability of students to access, retrieve, process and
disseminate information and &nbsp;to update
the students of the recent trends in ICT. The agriculture student's ICT &nbsp;knowledge and&nbsp;skill should &nbsp;already be fully developed&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;so that &nbsp;once they go through &nbsp;community immersion, &nbsp;OJT or when they graduate
and go to rural areas, they could start by introducing a literacy program&nbsp; for farmers or &nbsp;having been equipped, they could readily
utilize &nbsp;and share such skill with the
stakeholders. Once they have internalized this, a domino effect will set in.</p>

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; "><!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font:7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span><!--[endif]-->Employment of these graduates, who are equipped
with the knowledge and skill in ICT, by&nbsp;&nbsp;producer
organizations, could also be done.</p>

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; "><!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font:7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span><!--[endif]-->Linkages to higher education institutions &nbsp;who are producers of BSA graduates and other
concerned agencies may &nbsp;also work well.&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; ">This could also support the ideas of&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana; ">Yitzhak613, Mjborres22 and Sr. Eva.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; "></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana; "><br></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 39.75pt; text-indent: -0.25in; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana; "><br></span></p><font face="arial">--- On </font><b style="font-family: arial; ">Fri, 11/16/12, [email protected] <i>&lt;[email protected]&gt;</i></b><font
face="arial"> wrote:</font><br><blockquote style="font-family: arial; border-left-width: 2px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px; "><br>From: [email protected] &lt;[email protected]&gt;<br>Subject: Re: [e-Agriculture] Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)<br>To: "gigi_casipit" &lt;[email protected]&gt;<br>Date: Friday, November 16, 2012, 12:30 PM<br><br><div id="yiv483317750">

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Mike maybe with the Dept Ed change of having K212, CHED should look into the curriculum, because there will be lesser general education subjects. Grades 11 and 12 will tackle most of the general education subject.

Mike maybe with the Dept Ed change of having K212, CHED should look into the curriculum, because then now there will be lesser general education subjects. Grades 11 and 12 will tackle most of the general education subject.

We now have several examples of farmers and/or farmer organizations using ICT and finding it useful. In these examples do we know if ICT has helped the farmer organizations to better serve their members and to be more efficient? Does ICT help farmers to directly access market and knowledge information without having to go through its organization?? 

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are useful to support accountability and transparency, necessary for attempts to track and ensure good use of funding for different efforts.  Making information available to the public by mobile is one such way.  SODNET's budget tracking tool, for example, informed Kenyans of how much funding is allocated by the Constituency Development Fund to different municipalities in different categories. 

New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are considered to be powerful tools to engage citizens in policy-making.  Although governments continue with traditional tools today, many of them are working to bridge the "digital divide" to ensure that all citizens enjoy equal rights of participation in the public sphere by providing information through websites, portals, to facilitate consultation (e-mailing and on-line chat events) and active participation (on-line discussion groups and interactive games).  However, it has been the experience of many countries that integration with established "off-line" tools is needed to make the most of ICTs.

Public participation is a critical ingredient for good governance, whether at the local or national level.  Citizens must be able to communicate their needs and demands to decision-makers, and vice versa.  Active public participation also promotes government responsiveness to public needs. 

There are many ways in which governments try to give citizens a voice.  It can be as simple as establishing a telephone hotline citizens can use to report wrong-doing  or corruption by local government officials within a broader anti-corruption strategy.  Take the Municipality of Ipatinga in Brazil.  In 2001, they began using the Internet to give citizens an opportunity to vote on budgetary priorities and allotments for local projects.  They had introduced participatory budgeting a few years before, but participation became much easier when they began using the Internet and citizens could voice their opinions on budget priorities through computer stations in various public locations.  In addition, citizens could submit online proposals, keep an eye on the implementation of city projects, and participate in online chats with the mayor.

Other interesting examples of how ICTs can be used for transparency and accountability can be found at Tactical Tech's Info Activism site and at Technology for Transparency.   

References: 

http://www.ictworks.org/news/2010/12/27/5-ways-ict-can-support-millenium-development-goals

http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02168.html

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN007714.pdf

As you say ICTs are useful to support transparency and accoutability. Your post explain how ICT can help accountability and transparency with the Government and public institutions. Do you have also examples how ICT has helped  farmer organizations to be more efficient and better serve their members??

 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. 

Thank you for your provocative question. I think a good place to start is recognizing that ICT is very dependent on the situation on the ground. That is to say that there are many factors that actually define what ICT is in that particular context, and perhaps more importantly what content can be delivered. Rather than focus first on the suggested items, I would like to explore the idea of food safety which is a growing global concern. I am involved in food safety education in Japan and I think that "content" and context first needs be addressed before looking at the delivery system, which I would define as the role of ICT. SO when we look at comtent in any area (I will use food safety as an example) I think we first need to look to education of the baisc issues. regardless of how effective ICT if there is not value placed on the goal of ICT by the communities that are being targeted for ICT, then ICT will not make any impact. 

One example is toxin risks posed by poor storage risk (eg OTA & OTB in rice) . How effective will any ICT approach be without an understand and agreement with the objetive of the disemination of this information. So back to one of the "subtopics"

How can ICT facilitate climate change adaptation among members of an organization and the rural communities where the organization is active?

Well this question is context oriented because the situation will be different for each organization based upon the situation that they are involved in. While this seem self evident, I believe that the question suggests that there may be one solution utilizing ICT to address the impact on rural communities. I do not believe that this is the best approach becuase even in communities with fairly developed information systems, there may not be universal agreement on what should be done. That being said, in my opinion ICT probaby need to play an initial role as tool for eductaion. But before I go further into it, I have to ask how the "rural" areas are defined because certainly rural areas of Japan are impacted by climate chages, as they are in Thailand, and so on. 

So "what is a rural area"?
 

best regards,

Peter

Hi Peter,

You raised use of ICT in disaster preparedness - involving local communities aka farmer groups - and whether it is of any use to communities. In vietnam at least ICT has been used in preparedness. I don't know but suspect ICT is increasingly important in this type of use also elsewhere. In Vietnam, natural hazards - storms, flooding - are linked to climate change, but help with both resilience and adaptation. The following is a cut and paste from Asian Disaster Reduction Center:

"The use of ICT for disaster preparedness and response has been making a steady progress in Vietnam, in particular weather forecasting and monitoring, risk assessment and risk mapping, early warning to communities and people, etc. Moreover, state-of-art ICT technologies have been widely applied such as broadband networking of observation stations and automatic communication by mobile phone, but mostly on an experimental basis.

While good progress has been made for typical meteorological and hydrological hazards such as typhoon and flooding, relatively less progress has been made for landslide, flash flood, and geological hazards such as earthquake and tsunami. Among them, tsunami warning system (towers) has recently been developed in Da Nang city in Central Vietnam, but more has to be done in view of future tsunami risks in its long coastal line. Likewise, disaster preparedness and response capacity could be further enhanced if it would make more use of such ICT technologies as information sharing system among various institutions, remote sensing, imaging system, real-time measurement sensor, etc."