Thanks Noel. As regards the authorative material, do you have instances where the private sector has taken up the information and offered it to the public in the countries you mention? Manish

Hi everyone! It's Manish again, one of your moderators, and first let me thank all for participating in the Week I discussion and making it a success. Your contributions stimulated lively discussion which allowed us all to learn from various examples of how PPP models are contributing to e-Agriculture. Let us continue in the same vein and make Week II an even bigger success. Please allow me to remind you to share as much in-depth information as you can. Building up on last week's discussion, let's focus and delve deeper into the various PPP models. Let me get the discussion started by posing the following: What are the successful models where PPP has worked in e-Agriculture? What were the reasons behind their success and the lessons we can draw? (Please provide insights into: ensuring win-win for stakeholders; sourcing, updating content and authenticating the same; ensuring service delivery where "last mile" connectivity is an issue; creating awareness among the target groups; measuring the impact of e-Agriculture initiatives) Best, Manish

Thanks for this, Mahinda. Could you please explain a little how you are dealing with the issue of appropriate content sourcing and development and which channels of dissemination (private sector, public sector) you are thinking of to reach the farmers? Moreover, can you share with us how you are envisaging the roles of ICT and private sector in the national strategies on ICT on agriculture? Perhaps you can also share with us some examples from Sri Lanka where the public and private sector have collaborated on linking ICT with agriculture. Thanks. Manish

Making E-Agriculture Work through Public Private Partnership in Asia Summary Week I discussion: From March 10 to March 15th 2008 The discussion of Week I focused on various public-private partnership models in e-agriculture, how the public and private sector actors work together, lessons therein along with the challenges. The forum witnessed a healthy exchange of ideas from professionals and practitioners across continents. The Models Some examples discussed included ITC e-Choupal, the LifeLines-India, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Commonwealth of Learning supported "Lifelong Learning for Farmers; Project, the Kisan Call Centers, Grameen Phone's Community Information Centers, among others. The broad-based discussion provided a general picture of how PPP is working in the context of e-agriculture. For example, in India, e-Choupal, (run by ITC, a private sector entity) shows how mutual cooperation between ITC, rural entrepreneurs, state agricultural universities and the Indian government's extension machinery has served to bolster the farmer's expertise and day-to-day awareness of what needs to be done to cope with myriad agricultural needs. In Bangladesh, Grameen Phone in collaboration with WIN and a development project has established Community Information Centers (CICs) to disseminate agriculture-related information to farmers in their native language, Bengali. The discussion cited a range of PPP models: from tele-centers to call centers aimed at farmers; linking of academia and Government; mobile phone operators setting up information centers etc. The examples included for-fee services as well as free services at Kisan Call Center. Challenges The major challenges according to the practitioners related to inadequate infrastructure (electricity, connectivity) and support services such as maintenance; poor capacity to deliver appropriate services; awareness creation among the farmers; ownership of data, particularly the publicly generated information; content development and updates; authenticity of information; and lack of clarity in the public and private sector roles. Moreover, measuring and identifying how PPP models in e-agriculture impact on the farm level remains a challenge. What Works/Lessons Understanding the underlying incentives for the public and private sectors is essential to reach win-win for all involved and make PPP models work. For example, when developing content for farmers, one of the key sources of information is government but delivery channels may be best used through the private sector. It is in government's interest to disseminate the information to the wider public understanding fully well that the private sector will do so but may charge the user for the cost of access in some cases and in other cases it may choose to provide the information embedded with other basic services. Furthermore, collaborative efforts between government, academic/research institutes, civil society and private organizations are essential for effective creation and dissemination of rich information content. It is important to create a "pull' effect for the technologies from the target groups, or in other words, farmers must demand the services for the PPP initiatives to sustain. Related to this is that the initiatives must focus on developing need-based services, delivering via appropriate channels and business models and monitoring through building in feedback loops in the business model. As in the case of LifeLines, an innovative ICT application or a PPP model in agriculture will be successful only when it is adapted to local context and be responsive to farmers' needs. Critical and time dependent knowledge of farm input impacting on crop productivity and profit to the farmers is the key differentiator to create value propositions. Awareness for agriculture services can be generated by understanding the local culture and networks where NGOs can play a role. Likewise, it is important to involve local authorities and opinion leaders. There are examples of taking information to the "last mile": Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) with IRRI worked on information that could be downloaded and then provided by a service provider as a hard copy. This is essential where connectivity is an issue. Similarly, in Laos for the Northern Highlands IRRI did an exercise on who has computers and who has access to the internet. The lack of computers and internet access is a reason IRRI opted for a model that uses internet, CD and hardcopy. The "last mile" is clearly an area where more innovation is required. As ITC e-Choupal and Grameen Phone CICs show, entrepreneurship driven models are essential for sustainability of the PPP initiatives. Similarly, it is important to build on what exists and not to create new model for the sake of it or to bypass existing mechanisms or norms. Links to models discussed in Week I: Agriculture Marketing Information Network (AGMARKNET): www.agmarknet.nic.in Agriculture Resources Information System (AgRIS), Haryana State: www.eindia.net.in/eagriculture/Fullpaper/FullPaperGhanShyamBansal.pdf; www.agric.nic.in Global Information and Early Warning System on food and agriculture (GIEWS): www.fao.org/GIEWS Grameen Phone Community Information Centers: www.gpcic.org ITC e-Choupal: www.e-choupal.com Kisan Call Centers: www.dacnet.nic.in/dwd/kisan_call_center.pdf Krishi Vigyan Kendra: www.kvkbaramati.com; www.mitrakvk.org; www.kvk.pravara.com LifeLines-India: www.btglobalservices.com/business/global/en/docs/case_studies/lifelines… Lifelong Learning for Farmers: www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/3083 MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) & Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO): www.mssrf-nva.org/publications/ISRO-MSSRF%20VRC-2004.pdf V-Agri of ASHWINI Platform: www.byrrajufoundation.org

Thanks to all for participating in this stimulating discussion and sharing your precious thoughts. We have been learning from your experiences and lessons. This has indeed been useful. Week I of the forum is now officially closed. A summary of the first week's discussion will be made available next week. We will announce the Week II discussion shortly and look forward to your continued participation. Thanks and best regards, Manish

Many thanks for sharing these examples with us, Dr. Janaki. They are indeed useful. The forum would benefit further if you could please share with us the aspects that make v-Agri and AgRIS effective. If you have info, please let us know specifically about the private and public sector roles in these initiatives, the challenges they are facing and the impact these initiatives have on the target groups. Thanks

Thanks for sharing this, Peter. This is indeed helpful. Would be great if you could please expand a little more on how the "project" went about motivating "everyone to work together" and the incentivizing the public and private sectors Since you mentioned this is a project, do you know its longer term perspective?

Hi Sapna, Many thanks for sharing the e-Choupal example. This is a great start. e-Choupal is, indeed, one of the most talked-about stories. Can you shed some more light on what makes the ITC's partnership with the government agencies you mentioned work well? For instance, what do you think were the incentives, motivation for the government agencies to collaborate with ITC? Moreover, India sure is a hotbed for many ICT innovations, so please feel free to share examples of other relevant initiatives. Thanks.