Question 3 (opens 19 Nov.)
Question 3: What should be the role of the public sector in supporting producer organizations' uptake of ICT?
To receive notifications of new posts in this forum, or to post a reply directly from your email, you need to simply click under "Account" > "Notifications" > "Create a new subscription" > "Content type" > "Forum topic". For any questions contact [email protected]
Yes, Ms Fatima, I agree with you that many of the organizations (in our place Albay in particular) are too dependent to the support of the funding organizations, the moment the funding agencies left, the programs or projects being implemented will also stop.
What I can suggest in this question is that:
1. Increase in social and institutional capacities
improvement of people's participation in capacity building. mobilizing their own resources that can provide viable and sustainable e services to the producer organizations.provide access to income generating projects
2. Educate producer organizations byproviding trainings and seminars, provide access to computer technology for free in community ecenter.
Fatima and Abaguilar
This is a very interesting discussion. Radio is expensive to run but this is the easiest way for PO to communicate with their members, to communicate prices, knowledge, information etc.. Almost everybody has a small radio and can listen. I have been fascinated to see how farmers in remote areas, are attached to their radio which is a window open to the world (as they say).
Radio are expensive to run thus why not being supported by Government? Then we have the question of PO depending to much on Government resources.
PO dependency on Government resources is absolutely normal when PO are delivering services instead of Government. In the US or Europe, all producer organizations are supported by their Government as cheap vehicules to transfert knowledge and technolgy to farmers.
If Government are serious about PO and increasing farmers production and revenues, reducing poverty etc.. then it is worthwhile for them sponsoring/subsidizing ICT for PO to be more efficient.
What do you think??
Hi Pierre,
Regarding your comment on the government sponsoring/subsidizing ICT for PO, you may want to check the website of the Philippines' Pinoy Rice Knowledge Bank, which provides social mobilization, connectivity, content development and ICT training for farm use.
Harv
Yes, I agree with Sir Pierre when you say radio is expensive to run but the easiest way for PO to communicate mass audiences.In fact it can reach both the literate and illerate. In some areas here in Bicol there were good radio programs funded by the Non-Government organizations,however after quite some time the radio program is discontinued due to non-patronage of listeners. I would say that, Indeed if the government is willing to help the POs they should provide funding assistance and promote the programs and projects being implemented.
Hi Pierre, Fatima, and Abaguilar,
Yes radio program is costly. To familiarize the cost of it as for the fact that some of us realized that radio is still relevant in conveying information and knowledge, let me add some few lines in this discussion that based on my experience when my organization was trying to implement our radio program for the migrants (seafarers and overseas contract workers) and their families, that was 2006, I got an idea that having a slot for radio program is a bit costly. Although that radio program is not directly intended for the farmers, but for the families left behind of seafarers and overseas contract workers, somehow there is still an association and link with our discussion talking with the holistic perspective of agriculture for producing and harvesting, and from manufacturing and marketing. The seafarers and overseas workers with their families belong to the category of workers and consumers in relation to agriculture in this level.
But what I am saying is the cost of radio program in the year 2006 was P10,000 pesos ranging to US#240 -250 per thirty (30) minutes airing the program in Metro Manila. I am not sure what would be the cost in the regional area. Indeed it is still costly to implement radio program as a medium of information dissemination in the part of POs unless they own the radio station or we can go back to the principle of networking and linkages to public sector and affluent business sector. As most of the cases, public sector and established private communication companies have the capacity to establish a radio station.
Hi Pierre, I agree on government support but there has to be commitment. If they use the radio as a tool, there should be some creativity to attract people not just target PO’s but it should somehow create awareness to everyone in order to be effective. Year round announcements would be a nice support from the governement.
Despite the potential benefits of ICTs, farmer organizations are rarely the first to adopt them, given that they normally work in difficult environments with low margins to generate income for their members. To speed the uptake of ICTs it may be appropriate for public agencies to provide funds that can overcome the inertia typical of organizations struggling on a shoestring budget. Supporting a pilot project to demonstrate benefits can be effective. The challenge in most cases, however, is to sustain the use of ICTs after the period of support.
One way of looking at the sustainability issue is to support well-functioning farmer organizations as a public good that merits support from public funds, at least initially. Public funding is justified under the assumption that the public in large would benefit from "cheaper and better" agricultural products. Public-private partnerships are also important, as development in ICT comes largely from the private sector.
http://www.ictinagriculture.org/ictinag/sourceb
www.sljol.info/index.php/JFA/article/download/1799/1511
Jayathilake, H.A.C.K., Jayaweera, B.P.A. and Waidyasekera, E.C.S. ICT Adoption and Its Implications for Agriculture in Sri Lanka.
In a study conducted by Jayathilake, et. al., ICT uptake problems identified are as follows: cost of technology; lack of training; trust level in the ICT system; lack of ICT proficiency; and lack of technological infrastructure.
Adoption is not usually spontaneous, the technology has to be taught and learned - adopted to existing experiences and integrated into production. Batte et. al. (1990), and Warren et.al. (2000), clearly demonstrated that the adoption of ICT is strongly associated with the education level of the farmer and farm size and negative effect of age of the farmers. - Joyce Wendam