Question 2: What examples of ICT strategies targeting the agricultural sector do we have in ACP and in non-ACP countries (“ACP” stands for “Africa, Caribbean and Pacific”)?
Really, really interesting what is happening over there in the Pacific rim with youths in agriculture. We often hear often about the literacy challenges when talking about ICT introduction in rural areas. Getting youths involved with a business approach in agriculture sounds like an excellent entry point for a positive snowball effect. Thanks for sharing these experiences, Anju.
Ghana has the "The Ghana ICTs in Agriculture Implementation Strategy" which was developed in 2005. It includes strategies relating to:
- Applying ICTs for Development of EffectiveAgricultural Production Systems
- Use of ICTs to Promote Processing, Preservation and Storage of Agricultural Products
- Applying ICT to facilitate Capacity Building in Agriculture
- Applying ICTs to develop Information System for Increased Agricultural Productivity
- Use of ICTs to Develop Effective Marketing Mechanism for Agricultural Products
Towela JereNEPAD Planning and Coordinating AgencySouth Africa
As the case of Malawi has already been discussed, I will look at the case of my host country South Africa. The strategic plan of the Department of Communications (http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=144159) does not make any reference to agriculture; the strategic plan for the Department of Agriculture (http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=146747) does not mention e-agriculture or ICT in agriculture. What I noticed in the Dept of Agriculture strategic plan is that they have some components related to ICTs - mostly in terms of faciltiating internal communications. This reminded me of a conversation I had with someone about how the interpretation of ICT in Agriculture (or any other sector) and notions such as e-government are often taken to mean the equipping of government departments with ICT equipment. While this is not a bad thing in and of itself, it is important to ensure that there is common understanding of the terminology.
I also had a look at South Africa's broadband policy and while it mentions economic and social beneifts - with specific mention of SMMEs, health, education, government services - there is no mention of the agricultural sector.
Nawsheen HosenallyTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA)Netherlands
Hi all,
My name is Nawsheen Hosenally, from Mauritius.
As highlighted in the study commissioned by CTA, many countries do not have specific e-Agriculture strategies or policies, but as part of their National ICT Strategic plan, there are strategies targeting Agriculture and this also applies for Mauritius.
National ICT Strategic Plan (NICTSP) 2007-2011
In the National ICT Strategic Plan 2007-2011 from Mauritius (expired in 2011), one of the strategies was to Adopt coordinated planning, design and implementation of ICT solutions in the Agriculture sector to bring about optimum utilisation of agricultural resources and help policy planners and farmers take informed decisions.
National ICT Strategic Plan 2011-2014: Towards iMauritius
In the National ICT Strategic Plan 2011-2014, there is no mention of a new e-agriculture strategy or whether an action plan was developed from the e-Agriculture strategy of the previous strategic plan.
I have not been personally involved in the policy planning, design or implementation, but as far as I am aware, an e-Agriculture action plan was being prepared by the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security in 2009 (based on the e-Agriculture strategy from the NICTSP 2007-2011), but the progress status of this document is unknown and to my knowledge, the e-Agriculture Strategy has not been implemented.
Agriculture Policies
From the Agriculture policies in Mauritius that are currently into use, two of them highlight the importance and use of ICTs in Agriculture:
1. Food Security Fund Strategic Plan 2013-2015
In this new Strategic Plan, the use of ICTs in Capacity Building, Information Dissemination and Advisory Services have been mentioned briefly (Page 14)
The Ministry is aiming at establishing individual sectoral information system which will network with each other and will be linked to the centralised information system of the Ministry. The Ministry's information system will form the basis of a portal which producers and farmers and other interested parties can access to through direct internet. This portal would also aim at directing its users to other potential sources of information according to their needs.
It is proposed to carry out an information needs assessment, based on the objective and mandate of each institution within the Ministry, to gauge the kind of data to be collected, stored and provided access to by potential users.
It is also proposed to create awareness among producers, farmers and other agricultural stakeholders as to the benefits that can be accrued from the use of ICT.
With a view to assisting producers and exporters in looking for market outlets and boost up export within the sector, AREU is managing Market Information System (MIS). This database, on one hand, is helping the stakeholders concerned to be more ICT literate and, on the other hand, allowing spontaneous access to market information on the export front.
At this point in time, I would encourage everyone to move forward and address this week questions (# 4, 5 and 6). This is a limited-time exercise, in terms of addressing specifically the set of 6 questions put forward. I am sure the discussion will go on, notably with the upcoming Observatory and the WSIS process. However for the purposes of reporting on the discussion of those six questions, only the answers posted by Friday night, your time, are most likely to shape the report. Therefore I would appreciate you spend some time to reply to Questions 4, 5 and 6 by then.
Obviously, you may still post here even during the remainder of this last week of the current debate, but hopefully after you have given some thought and posted on the last three questions mentioned above.
Question 2: What examples of ICT strategies targeting the agricultural sector do we have in ACP and in non-ACP countries (“ACP” stands for “Africa, Caribbean and Pacific”)?
Really, really interesting what is happening over there in the Pacific rim with youths in agriculture. We often hear often about the literacy challenges when talking about ICT introduction in rural areas. Getting youths involved with a business approach in agriculture sounds like an excellent entry point for a positive snowball effect. Thanks for sharing these experiences, Anju.
The Ghana ICT for acclerated Development (ICT4D) Policy is the generalized ICT strategy that also targets the Agricultural sector.
Ghana has the "The Ghana ICTs in Agriculture Implementation Strategy" which was developed in 2005. It includes strategies relating to:
- Applying ICTs for Development of EffectiveAgricultural Production Systems
- Use of ICTs to Promote Processing, Preservation and Storage of Agricultural Products
- Applying ICT to facilitate Capacity Building in Agriculture
- Applying ICTs to develop Information System for Increased Agricultural Productivity
- Use of ICTs to Develop Effective Marketing Mechanism for Agricultural Products
As the case of Malawi has already been discussed, I will look at the case of my host country South Africa. The strategic plan of the Department of Communications (http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=144159) does not make any reference to agriculture; the strategic plan for the Department of Agriculture (http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=146747) does not mention e-agriculture or ICT in agriculture. What I noticed in the Dept of Agriculture strategic plan is that they have some components related to ICTs - mostly in terms of faciltiating internal communications. This reminded me of a conversation I had with someone about how the interpretation of ICT in Agriculture (or any other sector) and notions such as e-government are often taken to mean the equipping of government departments with ICT equipment. While this is not a bad thing in and of itself, it is important to ensure that there is common understanding of the terminology.
I also had a look at South Africa's broadband policy and while it mentions economic and social beneifts - with specific mention of SMMEs, health, education, government services - there is no mention of the agricultural sector.
IST Africa has put together a collection of ICT and S&T strategies for some countries available at:
http://www.ist-africa.org/home/default.asp?page=ictpolicies
Another listing is available at: http://www.oafrica.com/ict-policy/african-nations-with-active-national-i...
Hi all,
My name is Nawsheen Hosenally, from Mauritius.
As highlighted in the study commissioned by CTA, many countries do not have specific e-Agriculture strategies or policies, but as part of their National ICT Strategic plan, there are strategies targeting Agriculture and this also applies for Mauritius.
In the National ICT Strategic Plan 2007-2011 from Mauritius (expired in 2011), one of the strategies was to Adopt coordinated planning, design and implementation of ICT solutions in the Agriculture sector to bring about optimum utilisation of agricultural resources and help policy planners and farmers take informed decisions.
Page 90-93: Extract of the e-Agriculture Strategy
In the National ICT Strategic Plan 2011-2014, there is no mention of a new e-agriculture strategy or whether an action plan was developed from the e-Agriculture strategy of the previous strategic plan.
I have not been personally involved in the policy planning, design or implementation, but as far as I am aware, an e-Agriculture action plan was being prepared by the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security in 2009 (based on the e-Agriculture strategy from the NICTSP 2007-2011), but the progress status of this document is unknown and to my knowledge, the e-Agriculture Strategy has not been implemented.
From the Agriculture policies in Mauritius that are currently into use, two of them highlight the importance and use of ICTs in Agriculture:
1. Food Security Fund Strategic Plan 2013-2015
In this new Strategic Plan, the use of ICTs in Capacity Building, Information Dissemination and Advisory Services have been mentioned briefly (Page 14)
2. Strategic Options in Crop diversification & Livestock Sector (2007-2015)
In this policy document, the importance of ICT in Agriculture is highlighted and some recommendations have been proposed (Page 106-107):
Recommendations
I appreciate Nawsheen for the very informative contribution.
I think you can take more time to assess the state of ICT strategies in Mauritius.
Hello,
At this point in time, I would encourage everyone to move forward and address this week questions (# 4, 5 and 6). This is a limited-time exercise, in terms of addressing specifically the set of 6 questions put forward. I am sure the discussion will go on, notably with the upcoming Observatory and the WSIS process. However for the purposes of reporting on the discussion of those six questions, only the answers posted by Friday night, your time, are most likely to shape the report. Therefore I would appreciate you spend some time to reply to Questions 4, 5 and 6 by then.
Obviously, you may still post here even during the remainder of this last week of the current debate, but hopefully after you have given some thought and posted on the last three questions mentioned above.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Mawaki