Translates to 3rs. a day. Cost of a tea or newspaper. To receive every information you need for making your farming more productive and remunerating. Helping you reduce your production & marketing risk. A simple sms informing "market closed tomorow, do not travel to sell" saves easily 800INR. There are approx. 1500 such decision critical personalized messages sent in a year to each farmer.Farmers have reported monetary benefit in the range of INR10k to INR400k. Keep counting the ROI. It is the lowest cost line item for the farmer. This shall eventually help him save from every other line item of farming cost starting from Seeds to fertilizers to labour, electrictiy, harvesting, transporting costs. On top, it will help you to fetch better prices. Not even considering the feeling of empowerment, feeling of level playing field. It is not about ability to pay, it is about too good to beleive. Agree, hills are wide spread and low in density.
Its sure one cannot avoid or push behind this factor. I have noticed that some time heavy ICT penetration without taking care of local values (cultural, eco, educational etc) bring unacceptable situations. Heavy investment in ICT with low return may disappoint the investors. ICT is necessary for development but it must be proportionate to local social development i.e. literacy, acceptance and adaptation of technology.
Adeel, this is an intersting point here about the importance of understanding local values.
Do you know of reported cases where ICTs have had a negative impact? These would have value as lessons learned, so that others can imporve their own work.
Reading the interesting discussions, it seems that there is two ways of looking at this:
a. Yes, we need the assesment!!: More than 10 years have passed, a lot of investments have being made in computer related projects, so it is time now to see if this has paid off. Is people living better off now after a project related with computer literacy was concluded? Tons of results are there and the answers from the project leaders is yes they are better. A couple of questions here: How can we related or correlate development with only one variable (computer, servers or software for example)? Complexity is there so I find it difficult to really make the case. Is the ICT the silver bullet of solutions? We need an answer to that.
b. No, we don´t need to waste our time doing such crazyness: Who with sane judgement will question this...ICT has impacted everyone, not only agriculture but all the productivity sectors around the globe. Imagine a bank not using computers in such age....are we measuring impact of ICT in the bank sector? in the health sector? Where do we want to go with the idea of assesments... Yes there are farmers that do not know the computer yet, but do they need the computer to solve their problems. Are we putting solutions to the people that maybe they are not able to handle....are we now questionning if ICT is the right solution? Don´t think so. People will have better opportunities if they have access, are better connected to its surroundings and have useful information.
My only answer at this point is to continue having a strong case on the reasons to promote change using Information, Communication and Technology processes.
Robert KibayaKikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization - KIRUCODOUganda
Annalyzing the socio-economic impact of ICT in rural areas is greatly welcome at this juncture of information age. This will help to:
-Know the real information needs of the rural areas in respective locations for appropriate action.
-to design appropriate projects which will really and surely help the rural people to meet their information needs cheaply and easily.
-to design appropriate and affordable ICT infrastructures and equipments that really suit the rural setting.
Lastly, I value this forum and I think it will surely come up with appropriate solutions which will help to develop a long term sustainable ICT strategies for rural communities.
Karl JonasFraunhofer Gesellschaft FOKUS Institute for Open Communication SystemsGermany
Dear All,
for the rural areas, ICT does _not_ just happen. No company connects rural areas. Unless, of course, there is either legal enforcement (Universal Service Obligation) or public money.
Now, this is the situation in the developed world.
In many developing countries, legal enforcement is not effective (or does not exist), and public money is not (made) available. (Correct? Please comment!)
I visited Chikanta in rural Zambia. No electicity grid, no GSM, no internet. Young people were taking computer courses (donated computers, energy from a diesel engine in front of the hut). These young people were desperate. The Internet will come to Chikanta (and many other places throughout the world) within the next few years. Or these young people will have left for the city.
Karl JonasFraunhofer Gesellschaft FOKUS Institute for Open Communication SystemsGermany
Dear All,
for the rural areas, ICT does _not_ just happen. No company connects rural areas. Unless, of course, there is either legal enforcement (Universal Service Obligation) or public money.
Now, this is the situation in the developed world.
In many developing countries, legal enforcement is not effective (or does not exist), and public money is not (made) available. (Correct? Please comment!)
I visited Chikanta in rural Zambia. No electicity grid, no GSM, no internet. Young people were taking computer courses (donated computers, energy from a diesel engine in front of the hut). These young people were desperate. The Internet will come to Chikanta (and many other places throughout the world) within the next few years. Or these young people will have left for the city.
One would know what the community needs versus what they already have and how this can be improved. Again, time is not wasted as they are other ranking challenges in the communities. Resources are efficiently allocated and directed to where they are needed most.
Translates to 3rs. a day. Cost of a tea or newspaper. To receive every information you need for making your farming more productive and remunerating. Helping you reduce your production & marketing risk. A simple sms informing "market closed tomorow, do not travel to sell" saves easily 800INR. There are approx. 1500 such decision critical personalized messages sent in a year to each farmer.Farmers have reported monetary benefit in the range of INR10k to INR400k. Keep counting the ROI. It is the lowest cost line item for the farmer. This shall eventually help him save from every other line item of farming cost starting from Seeds to fertilizers to labour, electrictiy, harvesting, transporting costs. On top, it will help you to fetch better prices. Not even considering the feeling of empowerment, feeling of level playing field. It is not about ability to pay, it is about too good to beleive. Agree, hills are wide spread and low in density.
For anyone interested, RML refers to Reuters Market Light of Thomson Reuters Ltd.
More information can be found here:
https://customers.reuters.com/community/commodities/agriculture/focus_ju...
or by asking Prem!
Its sure one cannot avoid or push behind this factor. I have noticed that some time heavy ICT penetration without taking care of local values (cultural, eco, educational etc) bring unacceptable situations. Heavy investment in ICT with low return may disappoint the investors. ICT is necessary for development but it must be proportionate to local social development i.e. literacy, acceptance and adaptation of technology.
Adeel, this is an intersting point here about the importance of understanding local values.
Do you know of reported cases where ICTs have had a negative impact? These would have value as lessons learned, so that others can imporve their own work.
Reading the interesting discussions, it seems that there is two ways of looking at this:
a. Yes, we need the assesment!!: More than 10 years have passed, a lot of investments have being made in computer related projects, so it is time now to see if this has paid off. Is people living better off now after a project related with computer literacy was concluded? Tons of results are there and the answers from the project leaders is yes they are better. A couple of questions here: How can we related or correlate development with only one variable (computer, servers or software for example)? Complexity is there so I find it difficult to really make the case. Is the ICT the silver bullet of solutions? We need an answer to that.
or
b. No, we don´t need to waste our time doing such crazyness: Who with sane judgement will question this...ICT has impacted everyone, not only agriculture but all the productivity sectors around the globe. Imagine a bank not using computers in such age....are we measuring impact of ICT in the bank sector? in the health sector? Where do we want to go with the idea of assesments... Yes there are farmers that do not know the computer yet, but do they need the computer to solve their problems. Are we putting solutions to the people that maybe they are not able to handle....are we now questionning if ICT is the right solution? Don´t think so. People will have better opportunities if they have access, are better connected to its surroundings and have useful information.
My only answer at this point is to continue having a strong case on the reasons to promote change using Information, Communication and Technology processes.
Annalyzing the socio-economic impact of ICT in rural areas is greatly welcome at this juncture of information age. This will help to:
-Know the real information needs of the rural areas in respective locations for appropriate action.
-to design appropriate projects which will really and surely help the rural people to meet their information needs cheaply and easily.
-to design appropriate and affordable ICT infrastructures and equipments that really suit the rural setting.
Lastly, I value this forum and I think it will surely come up with appropriate solutions which will help to develop a long term sustainable ICT strategies for rural communities.
I thank you
Robert
Dear All,
for the rural areas, ICT does _not_ just happen. No company connects rural areas. Unless, of course, there is either legal enforcement (Universal Service Obligation) or public money.
Now, this is the situation in the developed world.
In many developing countries, legal enforcement is not effective (or does not exist), and public money is not (made) available. (Correct? Please comment!)
I visited Chikanta in rural Zambia. No electicity grid, no GSM, no internet. Young people were taking computer courses (donated computers, energy from a diesel engine in front of the hut). These young people were desperate. The Internet will come to Chikanta (and many other places throughout the world) within the next few years. Or these young people will have left for the city.
karl
Dear All,
for the rural areas, ICT does _not_ just happen. No company connects rural areas. Unless, of course, there is either legal enforcement (Universal Service Obligation) or public money.
Now, this is the situation in the developed world.
In many developing countries, legal enforcement is not effective (or does not exist), and public money is not (made) available. (Correct? Please comment!)
I visited Chikanta in rural Zambia. No electicity grid, no GSM, no internet. Young people were taking computer courses (donated computers, energy from a diesel engine in front of the hut). These young people were desperate. The Internet will come to Chikanta (and many other places throughout the world) within the next few years. Or these young people will have left for the city.
karl
One would know what the community needs versus what they already have and how this can be improved. Again, time is not wasted as they are other ranking challenges in the communities. Resources are efficiently allocated and directed to where they are needed most.