"Since its debut in the Philippines a year ago, Nutrient Manager for Rice Mobile (NMRiceMobile)—designed to give fertilizer guidelines to rice farmers via their mobile phones—is now available via smartphones with Android operating systems." “We wanted to make NMRice available on smartphones as a complement to existing Web and mobile phone applications of NMRice,” explains Dr. Roland Buresh, IRRI’s nutrient management expert and lead developer of NMRice. “NMRiceApp provides an additional way for rice farmers in the Philippines to obtain a fertilizer guideline for their crop."

Source: IRRI Media Releases "Feeding rice just got easier with smartphones"

irri.org/news-events/media-releases/feeding-rice-just-got-easier-with-smartphones

"ICT has created unprecedented linkages between public and private institutions, governments, citizens and corporations. It has changed nearly all aspects of modern society, and seen a redesign of traditional structures, leading to developments such as eGovernment and digital education. ... But ICT cannot exist in isolation. It is not synonymous with technology, and African governments that consider their ICT policy a technology policy should think again. While it is vital for development, it is not a substitute for technological advancement in a broader sense." Ndubuisi Ekekwe  Sci.Dev 2012.03-02 

Difficulty to access WWW or limited connectivity, missing electricty power during most of the day or permanently, lack of materials used for ICT-enabled information management and knowledge sharing that address the needs and demands of users are among the key challenges. They can be overcome by service providers that develop reliable rural connectivity, alternative power resources for electricity supply, and by involving from the onset the particular client groups to define what types of information and knowledge will be useful to them.