I am Lea Michalczik, Research and Extension Branch, FAO, Rome, Italy. By reading through the precedent discussions we realize that ICTs are becoming very important for generating knowledge, documentation, and sharing in farmer innovation.

Also in our work within the Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension, by working with TECA and Rural Radios, we constantly deal with different ICTs. It helps to document, save and share information by using different devices, not only the computer and internet, but also Videocamera, Photocamera, voice recording devices and mobile phones, for example.

ICTs can help to overcome geographical distances, especially in rural regions, through speeding up the information flow between various stakeholders including farmers. This is important as farmers can be connected more quickly and efficiently with advisory services, researchers or private companies to more directly share their needs and allow for collaboration and ultimately innovation.

ICTs, through their different mediums, offer various ways to document and share farmer innovations. Of course we should keep in mind the different directions a specific ICT device allows. A radio for example may reach huge masses but depending on how it is used it might not allow exchanges. If used as participatory radio it can also be used as an outlet for exchange.

For example, in several FAO field projects the Rural Radio activities are designed to fully support the farmer’s knowledge and information needs. If developed correctly, relying on a needs assessment surveys and participatory message design, the Rural Radio programming should offer contents demanded by the farmers, according to their languages and cultural values. Farmers may be invited to help develop scripts, call the radio for talk show programs and request different themes to be addressed. Furthermore, radio is also a less expensive and very diffuse medium to reach different audiences in the rural area increases the potential for effectiveness. Likewise, the Rural Radio stations may integrate other media, such as the Internet to address farmers’ questions which can then be shared on a large scale through the radio with those communities who have no direct access to the Internet.

An online forum gives the possibility to exchange but again depending on how it is used, it might leave out a part of the given audiences that is not able to connect for different reasons. Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers (TECA) is a platform that combines a knowledge repository with a tool for discussions. TECA has been developed by FAO to facilitate access to practical information that can benefit small producers around the world. Through the knowledge repository information on applied technologies and practices can be accessed from partner organizations agreeing to share their descriptions on TECA. An additional tool is the online forums, or Exchange Groups, where members can enquire a community of practitioners about a specific agricultural technology or practice, and at the same time share their own experiences with other members looking for support.

The question, if intermediaries are important is justified. It is also important to support ICTs that are directly for farmers themselves in order to make sure that the whole process is not based on dependency. The use of radios is widespread, particularly in the rural areas. But as efaminu pointed out, and we can all observe the mobile phone is a device that is of increased importance. We should definitely observe its progress as it is an ICTs that is used directly by the farmer without necessarily needing any intermediary. The mobile phone offers benefits, such as providing price and market information, fertilizer information, money transfer and more, but alone might not be sufficient for addressing more complex issues, conflict resolution and more.  

Thus, it is important to note that a variety of ICTs can make the farmer innovation process more diverse and accessible to everybody. Nevertheless, what really counts is the communication process behind it and the possibility to foster the convergence between community media (such as the rural radio) and the new ICTs. This is also the case of the application of and agricultural information system such as the TECA in connection with rural radio and other community media.

Talking about the topic of farmer innovation we warmly welcome you to TECA as we recently launched the Farmer Innovation Exchange Group (please see: http://teca.fao.org/group/farmer-innovation-exchange-group)!