Andrew Kizito

Andrew Kizito

Organization MSU-AFRE
Organization type University
Country United States of America

This member participated in the following Forums

Forum Forum: "ICT for Rural Economic Development" November, 2010

2. How to analyze the socio-economic impact in rural areas?

Submitted by Andrew Kizito on Mon, 11/29/2010 - 19:19
To conduct social-economic impact analysis, one needs to be very specific about the ICT in reference, its application (usage), stakeholders, the performance indicators, and the social-economic impact indicators. For example, one needs to be specific about the ICT in reference: Is it cell phones (for voice and SMS), cell phone towers, broadcast radio, broadcast television, an internet connected computer, or an individual email account? One then has to state what the ICT is used for. Is the ICT used to transmit or diffuse market information (e.g., market prices), production or agronomic information, health information (e.g., malaria control or treatment messages), or financial transactions (e.g., money transfer)? Next, one has to state who the beneficiaries are. Some projects identify farmers as their main clientele when in reality their main clientele are traders, government policy makers, or donors. Next, one has to identify the performance indicators as viewed by the users (e.g., reliability, accuracy, timelines, and accessibility). Next, one has to identify the social-economic indicators to be measured. These can be numerable or non-numerable, and vary depending on the ICT usage. Examples include price received, revenue or income, quality and or quantity of food produced or bought, government policies that increase food security, new friends, better health, increased production and productivity, employment, improved property rights, and improved security. Once the social-economic indicators are well stated, one can then think of methods to measure the marginal contribution (impact) of: (1) a particular ICT if its effects can be truly isolated from other factors such as the ability of the person who wrote the project proposal; or (2) a group of ICT if one tries to account for the complementarities within ICT usage, and between ICT usage and other intervention such as government policies.

Become a member

As e-Agriculture Forum member you can contribute to ongoing discussions, receive regular updates via email and browse fellow members profiles.