Natalia Hule
| Organization type | Civil Society Organization/NGO |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
This member participated in the following Forums
Forum e-Agriculture: looking back and moving forward
Question 1 (opens 25 Nov.) What are the main achievements in the area of ICT for agriculture and rural development...
Submitted by Natalia Hule on Wed, 11/27/2013 - 09:01
Hello Rachel,
I agree that right now communities are driving change and it is not isolated. Services such as the Nokia Life Agriculture Service and Reuters Market Lite card are bridging extention education gaps in India. I believe these and similar services should be promoted without being worried too much about illiteracy being an impediment as more mobile usage automatically enhances literacy and helps improve the quality of decisions made for farming. Moreover, as people see their neighbours and other community members become tech-savvy, the social pressure to catch up with the trend mounts. That further encourages them to overcome barriers like low reading skills to adapt to ICTs.
Experience in India: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-01-28/india/27878257_1_mobile-phone-mobile-sets-phone-book and in Senegal: http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2013/03/Celebrate-Solutions-Improving-Literacy-and-Driving-Change-Through-SMS-Text-Messaging has shown that mobile usage even by illiterate people helps them become literate, albeit slowly.
Regards,
Natalia
I agree that right now communities are driving change and it is not isolated. Services such as the Nokia Life Agriculture Service and Reuters Market Lite card are bridging extention education gaps in India. I believe these and similar services should be promoted without being worried too much about illiteracy being an impediment as more mobile usage automatically enhances literacy and helps improve the quality of decisions made for farming. Moreover, as people see their neighbours and other community members become tech-savvy, the social pressure to catch up with the trend mounts. That further encourages them to overcome barriers like low reading skills to adapt to ICTs.
Experience in India: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-01-28/india/27878257_1_mobile-phone-mobile-sets-phone-book and in Senegal: http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2013/03/Celebrate-Solutions-Improving-Literacy-and-Driving-Change-Through-SMS-Text-Messaging has shown that mobile usage even by illiterate people helps them become literate, albeit slowly.
Regards,
Natalia