Question 3 (opens 19 Nov.)

The role of the public sector in supporting organization’s uptake on ICT should be on the provision on public goods and services that cannot be done by the producer organization but are important in creating an environment where ICT can successfully be operated.

First is on Research, Development and Extension.  The public sector should be well informed and should have a good grasp on the needs of the producer organizations as to ICT development and management. Not all areas where producer organizations are located have the same environment and levels in terms of progress and development. R & D should always be followed by extension where the public organizations shall be capacitated and educated on ICT and the salient areas of ICT to make it succeed ICT should not be looked at as luxury but a necessity). The public sector may not necessarily provide all the inputs in making ICT work but focus on making the POs be able to implement and manage an operational ICT system.

Second, the public sector should look into existing policies or formulate policies that can create an environment where the POs are able to develop and operate a workable ICT. (e.g. some areas, particularly in the rural areas, have no internet connection or communication service provider). Example will be policies to encourage investments in ICTs, or policies to make ICT development and operation be affordable.

Third, the public sector should look into the infrastructure support (like farm-to-market roads, training and resource centers among others) that are important in encouraging investments on ICT development (e.g. communication ompanies to invest in the areas for communication relay towers, etc). Note that communication companies invest only based on how feasible and viable their investments are (costs can be recouped in a reasonable time or profit can be assured) and they are always considering the question of accessibility and availability of support service centers.

Fourth, it may not be in the long term but for the short term, the public sector should at least lead in the installation of ICT sytems by providing subsidies in classified poor areas classified where most of the people are also poor and may not have the capability to make direct investments in ICT structures and services. Another strategy will be for the public sector to be the one to establish a rural ICT center to provide the necessary ICT-related services.

The public sector has a very important role to play in supporting producer organizations.  Among these include partnership with the private sector or engage in public-private partnership in the delivery of ICT services and infrastructure to the countryside to enable farmers and other rural folks to have access to the technology to which they are introduced. 

Since the acquiring and setting up of ICT equipments and its accompanying infrastructure can be costly to the producer organizations, partnering with the private sector could reduce this cost.  The private sector, through their corporate social responsibility, could assume some of the costs being shouldered by the government or public sector and the producer organizations.  

Or the private sector could help develop localized/simplified programs needed to run/operate the ICT equipment(s).

The public sector is a major stakeholder in producer organizations. Apart from paying taxes, producer organizations (POs) play a major role in alleviating the plight of the rural poor and vulnerable groups like subsistence farmers.

The public sector should therefore be at the forefront in supporting the producer organizations. There are four areas that I believe stand out especially in East Africa; the issue of infrastructure, legislation, access to capital, and information.

Infrastructure: sometimes there are areas that have producer organizations that cannot use the ICT that they have like mobile phones due to lack of booster masts that can strengthen the signals. The public sector can offer subsidies to ICT providers. It is a fact that communication and good communication at that is an integral part of these organizations.

Legislation: this could mean the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from the purchase of equipment that’s used by these POs

Access to information: this means information from international, national and regional organizations that would greatly improve the way these POs carry out their day-to-day business

Access to capital: this would help the POs in their initial start-up capital, or where clients do not pay on delivery, which raises the problem of lack of capital which stifles these groups.

http://www.ifpri.org/publication/rural-institutions-and-producer-organizations-imperfect-mar

Anne

I believe you are answering the question as it is important to find out what should the government do to help producer organization better use ICT.

Government are in charge of roads and public infrastructure.  Should Governments invest massively in ICT infrastructure? If yes which one? Radion? cable? wifi?? others I do not know ?? What kind on ICT infrastructure should the government invest in for producer organization to use ICT for the development of their members??

You also mention legal. This is also very important. Legislation should exist and allow producer organization to have radio, newspaper, to produce films for TV etc.

Cell phone exist because of license given or sold by Government to private entreprises. How can government intervene for cell phone communication to be affordable etc... How to organise competition among cell providers for them to serve rural areas where population density is few ??

You also very rightly mention access to information.  Producer organization should be able to connect between themselves through social networks or other form of connection? How can they connect with other producer organization outside the country? 

Therefore legislation for producer organization to have the freedom to meet, to network, to communicate, to receive funding from outside the country, etc.. is very important. 

What should Government do for farmers leaders to participate in forum like this one??? 

Pierre

Dear Pierre,

Yes, I think that the government should facilitate producer organizations (POs) uptake of ICT.

The infrastructure in this case should be both like public roads and electricity or alternative power. Yes, it should massively invest in ICTs that would be viable for POs.  Though Kenya is in the forefront in ICT and has four under undersea fibre optic cables, easy access to the internet is a reality for those in the urban areas only.

The digital technology has come and revolutionalized the way we do things. This technology could be used for example to print pictorial pamphlets for members who cannot read, to store information, etc.

On legislation, the government can put into place policies that protect the POs from high taxes, zero rating of inputs and equipment etc. If the POs were to start a community radio for example, legislation would fasten the time it takes for them to acquire a license.  

At the moment, many rural and far flung areas of Kenya are unreachable even by mobile phones; the government could give incentives/subsidies to mobile telephony providers who set up their boosters in these forgotten regions.

When it comes to access to information, the public sector could help in linkages for these POs to institutions and organizations that could provide useful information and to other POs that could enjoy mutual exchange of knowledge and knowhow.

The government should not be an outsider in these organizations, but should have at least a representative who could provide a link that could be the channel for information both ways and to alert the two when there is a forum like this. It would also be easy for PO leaders to be encouraged to participate in these fora on behalf of their members.  

Anne

Hi, Peter,

I think you are absolutely right: governments should focus on providing public goods, mainly as you mentioned, rural infrastructure.  In terms of ICT, governments may want to invest in partnerships with the private sector, in order to ensure that remote areas have access to low-cost internet and cell phone coverage.  Grants to help producer organizations finance start up costs of investing in ICT (such as computers) can also be justified, as well as offering training for producer organizations' staff on the use of ICT, for example the use of software for financial management.  Governments should also ensure that research institutions publish their research results in a form that producer organizations can readily use to communicate to their members the information that can be of use for their members (through their members' mobile phones for example, or their own web page).  Often, research results are not published in a form that can be readily used by producer organizations and their members.  I would say therefore, that governments should help producer organizations with the content that can be communicated via ICT rather than in the hardware itself.  

Marie-Helene

Hi Marie-Helene

Thabnk you for your comments. Generally, I am skeptical of government initiatives (for various reasons such as lack of political will for follow through, lack of consistency, corruption, inefficient use of resources, and the whole slew of bureacractic complaints).  I believe that government can be effective in some roles and tp be more specific to the question.

Governments could provide:

1) One time grants with no extension/no annual expiry. (to avoid waste at the end of bidget season and to encourage financial autonomy)

2) Declaring information networks to a be a universal public service and forcing IT companies to supprt outlying rural areas as part of a requirement/condition for licensing in the lucrative urban areas. (This worked very well in developing telephone and mail service in other countries.) For profit companies need "firm guidance" to help them produce all those "we care commercials". Developing nations have demonstrated time and time again that they have lucrative and vibrant IT markets, human capital to develop it, and companies have been able to cheery pick their services areas. Strong legislation to ensure that there is not a growing IT divide is necessary with an emphasis addressing the digita; divide that is increasing within developing nations. 

from Marie-Helene

Often, research results are not published in a form that can be readily used by producer organizations and their members.  I would say therefore, that governments should help producer organizations with the content that can be communicated via ICT rather than in the hardware itself.  

I agree that governemnt can play a role in developing materials BUT I believe that government on the whole woprks too slowly and ICT content should be developed from both local knowledge and more flexible sources. Now if a government were willing to empower a small IT/knowledge base team of experts with developing content and gove them a free hand, then I think you would have hit upon a great solution (but that brings me back to my lack of faith in Gov organizations to move quickly and effiently and I think that NOPs or NGOs would be more effective).

I think in general, the role of governemnt should be at the policy level with impacts that target not specifically ICT, but ICT in rural areas (above suggestion). I think that industry (when properly motivated), NPOs and NGOs are much more efficient at getting things done.  

Cheers

Peter

Hello Everyone,

Here in Roxas City there are a number of producer organizations and cooperatives that have benefitted so much from the local government (public sector).  Being in the public sector myself, I have seen how producer organizations have worked together with the local government to improve their operations, in particular, in the areas of:

1.  Funding - It is not new to most of us that in developing countries, producer organizations seek the assistance of lending institutions when they decide to expand operations which should include modernization of many of their systems such as their inventory systems, marketing, and communication systems, which are imperative for efficient and successful operations.  The problem with this is that lending institutions are businesses that charge extremely high interest rates.  The local government of Roxas City, seeing this problem, has extended financial assistance to a number of producer organizations in the city.  The financial assistance extended is then paid back by producer organizations in manageable monthly amortizations.  In many cases, the financial assistance extended was used in the purchase of computer units which are intended mostly for printing of product labels, for internet access needed in product research, and communication.  

2.  Technical Assistance - From previous discussions, it had been pointed out that one issue among producer organizations when it comes to ICT is the lack of skills or a good knowledge base.  Our local government, responding to requests from certain producer organizations in the city, has brought in technical experts from the Department of Science and Technology, the TESDA, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Natural Resources, as well as from the National Computerization Commission to deliver information and education packages and conduct trainings for producer organizations.  Some trainings include website design and product marketing and packaging, inventory and the use of communication systems in the marketing of products.

3. Networking - As with other local governments all over the Philippines, our LGU has also involved the private sector in the uptake of ICT among producer organizations.  As mandated in the local government code, special bodies have been established as part of the local government organization.  These special bodies are composed of representatives from the private and public sector working together to address issues (not necessarily limited to but including ICT concerns).  

These three areas are probably the most viable areas where public sector intervention is most feasible when it comes to ICT for producer organizations.

Regards,

Bryan

The public sector must play an important role in the sustainability of PO’s utilization of ICT. For one, the government can offer programs that are geared towards continuing or advanced education on ICT so that PO’s will be able to further sharpen their skills and keep up with the fast-paced technology. Also, the public sector can serve as  bridge among PO’s to facilitate convergence and sharing of best practices. Through this, the potentials of ICT use can be even more maximized and increased productivity among producer organizations can be heightened. 

In my opinion, providing training/capacity building using the most efficient and effective traditional and/or modern media technologies with the simplest and easy to understand message for farmers and  producer organizations would be the role of the public sector.

I discussed in my answers to Question 1 the reason for prioritizing training/capacity building and in Question 2 the reason for using traditional media. I think another important element to benefit the farmers and producer organizations has something to do with the message. The public sector in cooperation with the academe and farmers or producer organization as users of ICT should produce ICT technologies/software based on academic research transformed to simple and easy to understand technologies/software to have impact in the practice of end users or the farmers or producer organizations as mentioned by Harris and Chib.

In the field survey I did last November 2011 as part of a research team, I experienced difficulty of farmers, fishermen, housewives, cottage/micro entrepreneurs in answering a questionnaire and an interview schedule due to the language used. They also commented on the difficulty of understanding the program guidelines due to the language. They suggested using pictures for the training on program guidelines and using Tagalog or the local language in the province for them to understand better the trainer and the survey questions. I agree with Sinha, Elder, and Smith that we should put emphasis on the knowledge translation or the technologies/software and using accessible language to reach the pertinent users/audiences or farmers or producer organizations. The public sector should take the lead to produce Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) and ICT useful to farmers or producer organizations. Specifically, the public sector should transform scientific or technical research information to very basic or applied training/capacity building materials and translate English materials to Tagalog or the local language in the community.