Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)
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.
In particular consider:
- How can ICT facilitate accountability and transparency among members of an organization and between different organizations?
- How can ICT facilitate climate change adaptation among members of an organization and the rural communities where the organization is active?
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Hi all,
Great examples of the benefits of and challenges with using ICT among cooperatives, producer organizations and rural communities overall.
Would you have anye xamples where ICT enabled training (off-line, on-line) have been sued by e.g. cooperatives members? Topics could range from technical to managerial issues?
Hi Riika,
1. UP Open University currently offers two non-formal courses available to those interested in cooperatives and bio-enterprise development: New Enterptise Planning and Personal Entrepreneurship Development. These course have enabled the members of primary multi-purpose cooperatives to hone their entrepreneurial skills and thereafter result in additional household income. The courses are available online.
2. The University of the Philippines Los Banos - College of Development Communication operates a radio station, DZLB. DZLB broadcasts development-oriented radios. Farmer education is onew of the current programs of this radio station. This is an economical way of training cooperative members.
3. The UPLB Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-enterprise Development (ICOPED) is currently studying the ways in order to fully utilize ICT in cooperatives management. The institute is currently being reorganized to answer the needs of the modern agricultural cooperatives. Let's hope that ICOPED will advocate ICT application in producers cooperatives.
ICT and mobile money benefits in agriculture
One fairly successful ICT intervention in agriculture (and in people’s lives in general) is the use of mobile money or the conduct of financial transactions using the mobile phone. Generally, the way this works is that a sender loads up on cash credit by going to an agent or registered outlet, and use these credits to transfer funds via mobile phone service in a secure and transparent manner. The recipient can choose to store the funds for further mobile money transactions or visit a registered outlet to convert the mobile money to cash.
Particularly beneficial to small-scale farmers are the reduced transaction costs, reduced risks of losing cash, and as mentioned in a USAID Briefing Paper, increases chances of savings. Kenya’s M-PESA, operated by Safaricom, is cited as a successful case with 13.5 million customers and over 21,000 agents as at 2010.
For smallholder farmers, mobile money can be used for loan services – both receiving loans and for making payments – in a secure, efficient, time-saving manner, and at reduced transaction costs.
In Kenya, the service is being employed by input suppliers to collect payments. Producer organizations can use the service to aggregate orders for inputs, negotiate for better deals, and pay for them.
The service has caught the attention of government agencies providing support to the agricultural sector. If I may directly cite from the USAID Briefing Paper on “Using Mobile Money. Mobile Banking to Enhance Agriculture in Africa” (December 2010): “This will offer even more opportunities to agriculture development projects to leverage such services to tackle financial-services related challenges for smallholder farmers individually or in groups. Projects need to monitor new opportunities such services offer, such as faster payments to farmers; easier access to credit and savings opportunities; and access to related financial services such as weather insurance and more.”
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.
There are many ways that ICT in agriculture will help producers. With technology being more advance in the stages of agriculture, in cultivation such as control of water on the plant, the appropriate application of fertilizer, weeding, pest control, waiting time for plant to mature, and harvest. All these applications could be manage efficiently with ICT. With ICT the enhancement of these stages could be improved by information and communication processes. Information is vital to farmers for them to be able to manage the stages more efficiently.
Example:
Outline
Changing over to agriculture that uses IT services increases productivity and maintains stable crop yields and quality.
This solution unifies the management of environmental data obtained by sensors and cultivation records and supports agricultural production activities by providing adequate cultivation information. NEC plans to provide know-how, such as harvesting timing forecasts, by using statistical analyses of accumulated sensing data and production log history and harvesting records from GAP1 management.
This solution will:
Note 1) Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) is an agricultural production process and a collection of methods applied to agricultural activities for growing safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products that also takes into account economical, social, and environmental sustainability.
Features
The agricultural ICT solution is applicable to every service since basic functionalities such as sensing data collection, data statistics, analyses, and various data provisions are normally included. NEC provides applications, system platform, network environments, and various sensors that collectively enable companies and network operators to launch M2M services as a one-stop service. Leveraging this enables customers to start up services more quickly and economically than they can when building up an individual system.
Use case
By managing environmental data (e.g., on temperature and illumination intensity) and pesticide spraying data quantitatively, safe and secure crops can be delivered to consumers. The agricultural ICT solution diagnoses crop growth particulars and predicts picking time and crop yields by continuously collecting data.
Agricultural workers have until now passed on technical know-how based on experience, but in the future, they will be able to hand down more explicit know-how based on objective data, which realizes more progressive generational changes and engagement in agriculture to aid the expansion and activation of agriculture business.
http://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/nsp/m2m/prod-sv/prod-sv
It is nice to know that there are lots of benefits ICT brought to improved the lives of our marginal farmers in some part here in the Philippines…It would be much better if it will enjoyed by majority of our farmers. In areas where the local government units’ support to economic development particularly in agriculture is very minimal; where agricultural infrastructures - farm to market roads, markets, irrigation facilities, post- harvest and credit facilities among others - are still not in place; where farmers’ associations are only organized but not sustained due to lack of government incentives/support and the bayanihan spirit and where the main source of knowledge on agriculture is through the radio – farmers are lucky enough to have access to flyers, agriculture magazines, demonstration farms or regular visits from their agricultural technologist – farmers remained marginalized. It would be beneficial if the agriculture sector will have a seat in the local councils to respond to issues relating to agricultural development. The only sector which has a clear guideline on sectoral representation in the local councils is the Indigenous People. I also believe we still have much more to do in terms of sharing and showcasing best practices of farmers’ group in their collaboration with the government/NGOs/funding agencies, using ICT to really make a difference in the lives of our poor farmers and to address poverty which is one of the Millennium Development Goals.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) here in the Philippines has this flagship program known as the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS). It is a self-assessment tool and web-based development management tool for provinces, cities and municipalities capable of providing information on the capacities and limitations of Local Government Units (LGUs) in the delivery of essential services (Compendium of DILG Key Programs and Projects). It aims to provide results-oriented information concerning levels of LGU management capacity, service delivery and state of development. It emphasizes on the areas of Valuing Fundamentals of Good Governance, Administration Governance, Social Services Governance, Economic Development Governance – which includes support to Agriculture and support to Fishery sectors - and Environmental Management Governance. It also reflects financial reports of the LGU and the state of local development (generated every three years after the term of the local officials). The results of the LGPMS are the State of Local Governance Report (SLGR), e-Financial Report and State of Local Development Report (SLDR). After generating these reports, an Exit Conference or Utilization Conference is conducted to address the gaps by incorporating it in the Local Development Plans as well as the Capacity Development Agenda. CSOs and Private Sectors' representatives are also invited for their inputs. LGUs’ performances are open to the public.
Another program of the Department initiated by the late SILG Robredo is the Full Disclosure Policy (FDP), where LGUs are required to post Local Budget and Finances, and Bids and Public Offerings in the FDP Portal. Compliance to FDP is one of the requirements of the LGU in receiving the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) award which enable LGUs –especially 4th -6th class – to avail the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF), which can be used to augment in financing development projects included in the Annual Investment Program (AIP). SGH is also a requirement for an LGU to avail of bank loans and other financial institutions per Local Finance Circular 1-2012.
The Philippines Government through the Department of Agriculture is embarking on developing and operating a functional information communication technology system with the end purpose of fast tracking agricultural development. It has developed and opened the e-learning system which is an on-line education/training system for farmers, agri-entrepreneurs and other interested persons on agricultural courses. This is currently operated by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATIs). Another is the Agriculture and Fisheries Information Management System (AFMIS) that provides information and likages as to agribusiness and and marketing matters, particularly linking producers, suppliers and buyers.
The DA has really recognized that through ICT, relevant information on government programs and services can be easier accessed by farmers, fishers and other stakeholders.
The challenge however that remain today is the ability of poor and small farmers and fishers to buy or own the gadgets and other hardwares needed for them to make use of the ICTs. (The DA however is now trying its best to address this problem. It is also operating School on the Air Programs being broadcasts through selected radio stations).
Hi Susan & Maila,
The problem of infrastructure and means of transportation in many cases of the rural areas in the Philippines are also other hindrances of implementing ICT to the fullest in the country. It cannot be denied that there are those unfortunate Filipinos who are not benefiting the projects of the government in terms of developing infrastructures and means of transportation and communication while obviously the government has programs, and definitely there are fortunate places who are lucky enough to access modern technologies, enjoying the projects of the government, and eventually there is an ease of transporting products for trade and marketing to the cities. While there are places which are struggling because of the problems of infrastructure and difficulty in the means of transportation which could be one of the problems of fully practicing and realizing ICT in the remote areas in which producer organizations are affected.
One example which I recently encountered was when I went to one of the provinces of Mindanao, but Mindanao is known as one of the biggest sources of agricultural productions in the country. Although I did not intend to observe the agricultural situation, but one thing that touched me most is the means of transportation from the city to various barangays in that region at least two barangays I heard from the local people, besides of underdeveloped infrastructure, the public transportation which can accommodate twenty (20) persons, the so-called "jeepney" only serves once a day. Once you missed the trip your plan of activities will be delayed and you have to wait for another day or else you have to ride in a so-called "habal-habal", it is a motorcycle that is creatively modified by adding wings and propels so that it can accommodate four (4) persons in every ride. But riding on that transportation does not guarantee security and satefy. It is an interesting situation in connection with agriculture in the country. Farmers may have ICT information but in this case providing other necessities in farming it is truly a sacrifice and vice versa, transfering the products to the market as mentioned earlier, it takes interval once such products are not delivered and transported on time. Therefore, all aspects require attention and consideration when we talk with the function of ICT to the producer organizations or even to the farmers themselves.
Hello Sr. Eva,
It is not only the farmers in Mindanao who are experiencing that situation. That is why the National government particularly the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) in coordination with the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster and the Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Cluster organized under Executive Order No. 43 s. 2011, together with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) piloted the bottom-up approach to planning which ensured that funding requirement for the development needs of at least 300 of the 609 selected focus local government units were included for the Budget Year 2013. I was able to participate in one of the bottom-up planning and budgeting (BUPB) , it was a multisectoral plan -local poverty reduction action plan (LPRAP)- it will not be entertained by NAPC without the endorsement of the CSO representatives. With regards to agriculture farm-to-market roads; post-harvest facilities, farm aninamals (dispersal) and livelihood projects for fisherfolks were identified. Early next year, more LGUs will conduct the BUPB so that their programs, projects and activities identified in their LPRAP can be included in the 2014 General Appropritions Act.
Hi,
would it be out of place to use as example the Federal government of Nigeria, using mobile or evuchers - text message confirming to farmer he has made purchase of a bag of fertilizer which the farmer presents at collection point for claiming. This seeks to remove middle men who have the money to buy off the inpute and re-sell at higher prices, thus making it out of reach to subsistent farmers. Through this means inputs get to real farmers who apply to the scheme and probably at subsidised rates.