What are the specific constraints you have faced in the use of ICTs for sustainable intensification of horticulture crop base

La technologie mobile et les outils de la NTIC sont réellement importantes pour faciliter l'accès et le partage des innovations en temps réel. Mais il ya lieu de noter la problématique de régularité des connexions et la disponibilité de l'internet. La situation d'accès à l'internet en RDC est difficile à la fois en milieu rural qu'urbain. Il ya aussi le coût à payer pour les petits producteurs et familles vulnérables.

En guise de recommandation, il serait souhaitable qu'une politique de mise en place par l'Etat et de ses partenaires, d'investissements structurants et d'infrastructures d'accès aux services de communication soit soutenue.

Accorder la facilité aux sociétés privées comme Vodacom et les autres, tout en insérant la place des outils de la NTIC dans la politique nationale de vulgarisation agricole à élaborer avec l'appui de la FAO Globale.

Meilleures salutations.

Clément.

Of course infrastructure is often a big problem for rural areas, and making technology adoption work. But I see a more fundamental problem to ICT implementation with farmers, which is the lack-of descoping technical possibilities to the level of the easiest functional value. 

Technological potential is tricky. It makes innovator-engineers believe that anything is possible. This is very useful for the aspirational side of ICT development. You first have to believe it's possbile, before you start making it possible.

But seeing the potential, also comes with a common frustration that farmers aren't ready yet to make use of it. There's computer literacy involved, there's customs around farm management practice, and there's trust issues around outside advice about how to run the farm. Such factors all work against implementation of the seemingly technologically advance alternative.

Regardless of the ICT project you're working on, I would advice to descope your solution to such a level that you start by meeting farmers where they currently are, not where you want them to be. This might lead to less appealing project proposals like IoT for farming, and such, but it does bring focus on the most immendiate functional value that you can bring to farmers.

Once you get a foothold with one small part of the solution, then your roadmap will start to gradually unfold for the rest of the solution becomes more concrete. It's easier to prioirties the release of the next feature, and holding the rest for later in the backlog. It also brings focus to partnerships that need to be created for compensating for lack of infrastructure, and other facets of distribution. (eg. mobile payment service, rural electrification initiatives, cooperatives, etc)

So, my advice would be to address the developers understanding of process, and mindset first. Keep development farmer-centric, and work your way up the technology ladder together with them.

[Full disclosure: I'm part of a community of FarmHack.nl. An movement dedicated to farmer-centric technoogy innovation. FarmHack is building the business case for open innovation technology development for the whoel agricultural value chain, in a farmer-centric way]

Les agriculteurs sont confrontés a plusieurs problèmes entre autres, manque de professionnalisme, ajouter a cela il y a l'analphabétisme pour introduire les TICs, il faut d'abord régler : le problème d'énergie, rendre la connexion a l'Internet disponible a un coût raisonnable, créer des plate formes dans lesquels les intérêts des agriculteurs seront inclus (les informations concernant les itinéraires culturaux, les intrants, les planifications de la production, et surtout les informations sur les marchés d'écoulement). Impliquer les gouvernements a divers niveaux dans la vulgarisation de ces outils.
Cordialement
Raoul

In the Caribbean, the AgriNeTT project developed several customized apps for farmers. These were selected as being the greatest need, from discussions with farmers and other agriculture persons. However, the uptake is still very small. What we have come to realize is that using ICT tools in farming (even the simplest ones) requires a fundamental shift in the farmers thinking about how he manages his farm business. He has to see the tool directly improving his profitability. 

One approach we are trying is getting farmers to encourage other farmers. Farmers look to other farmers more than they do to extension officers and even agriculture shops. Working with a small community of farmers who could see the transformation in thier business, can generate willing 'ambassadors' in getting the word out to other farmers. People follow success stories.