Michael Riggs
| Organization | FAO |
|---|---|
| Organization type | International Organization |
| Organization role |
.
|
| Country | Italy |
| Area of Expertise |
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An enthusiastic member of the e-Agriculture Community since its founding, and a former Team Leader (lead facilitator). Active in the field of information and communication technologies for development. Currently a programme officer at the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (unapcict.org), supporting ICTD capacity development intiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. A member of the ICTD Collective and of Orbicom.
This member participated in the following Forums
Forum Forum: "ICT and producer organizations" November, 2012
Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)
Hi Richard. Thanks for sharing this. Could you tell us more about LimaLinks? What is the ICT in the market information system? Also how long has it been active and what are the organizations that are involved?
Hi Michael. We in the e-Agriculture Team would agree that ICT in agriculture is an important part of any formal curriculum. (We might be biased!) Important enough that it probably deserves its own dedicated forum. Let's keep our convesation here focused on producer organizations. :)
Hi Corazon, this is very intersting. Is there any information on how long this organization has been using ICT and social media?
Also, what is the ESSC?
Thanks :)
Hello Osiyoye. In this discussion we want to consider all types of organizations of people involved in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock, etc.
Some of the organizations will be formal and well undestood (e.g. dairy cooperatives) while others may be less formal (e.g. radio listener's groups) or less common.
It is a wide definition, but the innovations found in one case may well be applicable in another. Just keep in mind we are looking for ways these organizations make use of ICT to improve their own performance, or the performance of their members. The forum runs for 2 weeks, so there is plenty of time to consider this!
Hello Fernando. Thank you for sharing these thoughts. You bring up the issue of whether or not technology is appropriate - always a challenging subject. We hope to cover this in more depth in Question 4: "Does ICT empower or marginalize women or smallholders in producer organizations?" starting on 20 Nov.
In the meantime, if you and others can bring in examples of where an appropriate technology has been put to a positive use in a producers organization or directly with farmers through the action of an organization.
We're off to a good start!
Hello to everyone, and welcome to this new e-Agriculture forum. As the lead facilitator of this forum I am here to make sure the discussion is productive and focused, and to assist you in any way necessary. We look forward to your participation. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
Over the next two weeks we plan to discuss many interesting and important issues. Please keep the focus of this forum in mind - how producer organizations and their work can be improved by the use of ICT. We are particularly interested in learning about functions or issues around ICT and producer organizations that complement or add to the body of information already provided in Sourcebook module 8.
So now, let’s discuss!
Forum Forum: "Using ICT to enable Agricultural Innovation Systems for smallholders" September, 2012
Question 4 (opens 26 Sept.)
In response to: What factors other than fee payment indicate farmers benefit from ICT-based advisory services? Su Kahumbu of iCow sent this input via Twitter:
retention rates, feed back, user growth, growth across features
See the Twitter conversation here: https://twitter.com/SuKahumbu/status/250965582873255937
As pointed out in question 3, the private sector can point to user payment for a service as evidence that smallholders are using and/or benefiting from ICT-based advisory services.
What other types of evidence exist in your experience?
What factors most contribute to the effectiveness of such services?
What are the limitations and challenges?
Let us know what you think. Thank you in advance for sharing your ideas with us all!
Question 3 (opens 24 Sept.)
So clearly the private sector (private companies) can point to users paying for a service as evidence that smallholders are using and/or benefiting from ICT-based advisory services.
This is the point specifically raised in forum question 4: "What evidence exists of smallholders using and/or benefiting from ICT-based advisory services?"
I encourage everyone to continue this disucssion under question 4.
cheers, Michael
Hi everyone. We're well into our second week of this discussion. The first week was excellent! Thank to you to everyone who particpated - reading or making inputs - and made it one of the best weeks ever.
Now the disucssion has moved on to focus on ICT and innovation by farmers. This is a critical part of the innovation system. Let us know about your experiences, challenges and questions.
cheers, Michael