Cory Belden
| Organization type | International Organization |
|---|---|
| الدولة | United States of America |
This member participated in the following Forums
المنتدى First Topic: ICT Tools for Land Use Planning and Management
Question 1
Ademola Braimoh has recently worked on a paper on land management use and land use planning, which was published at ARD in the World Bank this Feb. Though it doesn't go into depth on ICT, it is relevant to pracitioners using the technology to enhance green growth.
ARD has also been working on a database for soil carbon sequestration. That growing database can be found here:
المنتدى Forum: "Strengthening Agricultural Marketing with ICT" December, 2011
Question 7: Logistics - costs
This subject is very interesting, and I agree with Grahame that little research has focused on the impacts of ICT on logisitcs or transport costs in agriculture. I also agree with Judy that the developed world uses many ICT devices to lower costs and improve management/aggregation, so there must be some useful (and more affordable) applications that could work in developing areas. I think what might help in making sense of the 'quiet revolution' and the impacts of mobile phones and other ICT is engaging in interdisciplinary dialogue between agriculturalists, ICT specialists, and those working in the transport sector. Interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration between IT and ag experts, and the private sector, have been necessary for all projects/companies working on ICT for agriculture (especially to maintain sustainability). As for transport/logistics, the World Bank has an entire unit dedicated to infrastructure and transport. Many other development partners, along with national governments, make major investments in faster and safer transport. Numerous economists have also harped on the relationship between transportation and road/highway infrastructure (among other types) and improvements in the export sectors as well as product affordability.
All that said, it is very likely that experts in transport and logistics might have critical knowledge on how to use ICT to lower transaction costs in agriculture...which leads me to wonder how many agriculturalists are dialoguing with transport specialists on this topic. Combining expertise and exploring devices used in the tranport sector might lead to increases in understanding both opportunities and impacts that ICT for logistics/transport has on smallholder farmers.
Question 1: Market Information - users of mobile technology
Shahroz's experience is very interesting, particularly in regards to credibility and external challenges like logistics (which will be discussed further in the forum next week). Grahame points out in his module that governments--for a variety of reasons--often fail to provide accurate and up-to-date marketing services. Coming from a governance perspective, this makes sense. Financial resources are few, capacity is low, and these types of services require fast and sustained action. Developing countries with large rural populations cannot easily agglomerate such diverse data and information and then disseminate it on a large platform that a wide variety of actors can access... That said, I wonder if the public sector should try to decentralize (with adequate oversight) some of the concerted efforts to provide this information; we should also perhaps explore what types of incentives are needed (and perhaps missing) to encourage improved provision. I find it interesting that companies also find it difficult to provide useful price services to farmers in some cases.
I would love to hear more from Rantej (and others in the private sector) on this matter, particularly because many development organizations/partners are asking about PPPs and how to provide cost-effective market info services in partnership with mobile operators and the like. What steps are needed to accurately provide market information? How can development organizations encourage private investors to provide agriculture services to the poor? What are the main challenges when the private and public sector collaborate in these initiatives? What are the enabling areas that development partners can and should be focusing on in order to make these services (whether private or publically provided) more widely accessible and useful to farmers? It seems that many want to support these efforts but the paths of action are covered in some fog!
FYI- I am posting my post in two parts, but they are all part of the same comment thread.
I have spent the past year working on the ICT sourcebook with the World Bank and am delighted to see pertinent issues raised in regards to the "how". Market-- and as Shaun said, price--information is certainly one of the most, if not the most, critical and up-and-coming agriculture service provided through mobile phones. The problem that we all seem to agree on--making market information services sustainable and accurate--appears to be the main challenge. It seems that many of the projects we hear about are "boutique" pilot studies... While indeed useful to gain information on what works and what doesn't, scaling is a hurdle that only a few seem to be clearing.
I think Judy's point and her comment about USAID's is useful. Focusing on farmers' associations increases demand for services and builds up a critical mass, making the service more appealing for private and public sector involvement/investment.
I also agree with Ben's point in that switching from donor-led initiatives to business-oriented often does not work. Farmers may be hesitant (or simply unable) to pay for services after they've been subsidized for some time. However, if we examine the economics of farmers' situations and attempt to offer a service that increases their profits, they have more incentives to pay for them. Tiered payment systems may work in areas where farmers have varying "ability to pay" such as different levels of income, distance to markets, and types of production.