IICD supported project : Strategies for pro-poor
sustainable agricultural knowledge centres in East Africa
from www.iicd.org
Summary
This project develops sustainable mechanisms for using ICTs to deliver agricultural
information to rural and peri-urban poor communities.
Results
The project is still in implementation phase.
Lessons
The project is still in preparatory phase and no lessons learned have been
generated.
Narrative
*** Research Overview ***
1. What is the Research Problem?
Agriculture production for local consumption and export plays a critical
role in the economies of East Africa. In Uganda and Kenya 75-90% of the
population make their living from farming. The targeted 4% annual growth
in African economies requires a 6% growth in agriculture. Yet the basic
unit of production in the region is a small-scale family holding, a high
percentage of whom in both Uganda and Kenya live below the poverty line.
Improving small scale agricultural production is therefore key to improved
rural livelihoods, food security and national economies as a whole, a fact
recognised in national poverty eradication programmes.
If agriculture is the engine of economic development, information could
be described as the fuel. Surveys show that farmers require more information
on a range of issues, particularly crop production, credit, agro-inputs
and markets. Inadequacies in any one of these areas can negate the benefits
of good information in another. For example, good production information
could result in increased yields, but with poor market information, the
extra yield is of little value. Conversely, poor knowledge on production
may leave farmers unable to take advantage of available or developing market
opportunities.
The traditional approach to providing agricultural information is through
extension services, but in E Africa they do not work effectively. The World
Bank has acknowledged that the large amount of money invested in the T&V
system has had little impact. Nevertheless, reviews by the Bank show there
is demand for information in agricultural communities, and even some willingness
to pay. In Uganda the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) places
emphasis on devolution of responsibilities to local authorities, and the
creation of National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADs), but it remains
to be seen how effectively this will operate.
Modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) now offer unprecedented
potential to deliver information to rural communities, and thus contribute
to alleviating poverty and transforming social and economic conditions.
It has been said that “information technology, together with the ability
to use it and adapt it, is the critical factor in generating and accessing
wealth, power, and knowledge in our time”.
However, although the potential exists, a number of questions need answering
if the potential is to be realised:
• How can ICTs be most effectively used to deliver the information required
by rural farming communities? • How can their benefits be made available
to the more disadvantaged groups? • What mechanisms or models for their
use will prove sustainable?
Building on the experience of the project team with pilot information centres
of various kinds in East Africa, this project will address these questions
to develop strategies to ensure agricultural knowledge centres based on
ICTs provide sustainable benefits to the rural poor.
2. Existing Knowledge
Rural information centres are a relatively recent innovation in East Africa.
While there has been much effort to establish and promote them, there has
been little research assessing their impact on the poor and disadvantaged
groups, or investigating sustainability issues.
A needs assessment in two districts of Uganda in the vicinity of the existing
telecentres found that a very low percentage of people (max 2.6%) were using
them for accessing agricultural information (Narathius, 2001), despite
the fact that they are situated in communities where agriculture is the
main source of livelihood. This was the case even though the same farmers
had a long list of information needs in relation to various aspects of
their agricultural activity. The centres are therefore not meeting the
needs of resource poor farmers.
Anon (2001) made a brief review of community telecentres in East Africa
and concluded that the current model is failing. A long list of problems
was identified including high start up costs, small revenue streams, low
customer base, and poor targeting of the market. Overall, a gloomy picture
was presented, and a much smaller model proposed, the e-kiosk. However,
this was opinion rather than the result of detailed research.
A community telecentre “cookbook” has been written recently (Jensen &
Esterhuysen, 2001), which is a guide on how to set up and run a telecentre.
A model budget for a full service centre gives start-up costs as $26,304,
and total recurrent first year costs of $22,121. Against this is an estimated
annual first year income of $33,810, which appears to be very optimistic
in comparison with the data presented by Anon (2001). Sustainability of
such centres has thus not been satisfactorily investigated to date.
The literature indicates that the establishment of multipurpose telecentres
has been somewhat supply driven. In contrast the market information centres
established by KACE are focussed on a well defined, specific need. Between
these two ends of the spectrum there is an unresearched area that this
project will address.
The current approach is innovative in 3 ways:
• It directly addresses the issue of sustainability through formal methods
• It will develop ways of promoting use of the centres by poor farmers
• The pilot centre will concern only agriculture, but driven by the users’
needs
3. What is the evidence of demand for this research?
From the Target Groups:
Two consensus-building workshops held at Nabweru and Buwama in Mpigi District
in Uganda in April 1998 identified various agricultural information needs.
A study conducted in 2000 on the agricultural information and communication
needs of communities in Central Uganda further confirmed this and highlighted
the priority and most urgently required information, namely: high yielding
and improved seed varieties, plant diseases, pests and control, soil fertility,
management and conservation, improved livestock farming, food processing
and marketing. The survey also showed that these needs were not being met
by the current centres.
In the Wider Environment
In Kenya, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute’s strategic plan (2000-2010)
identifies two new objectives, one of which aims to disseminate knowledge
and technologies and to catalyse the process of outreach and adoption of
agricultural technologies. This has resulted from the fact that research
outputs were not getting to farmers, despite the keen interest to adopt
modern technologies that ensure increased productivity. A series of study
visits in 1999, to meet relevant stakeholders in Kenya (NGOs, private sector,
government, universities, research, financial, private organisations to
identify the demand for agricultural information established the need to
set up pilot information centres to serve the needs of the wider agricultural
community in a rural area in Kenya and identified potential development
organisations.
In Uganda the government’s Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA)
has identified the need for agricultural information as paramount. The Government
has identified some strategic decisions which include:
• Make poverty eradication the over-riding objective of agricultural development
• Transform smallholder farmers from subsistence to producing for the
market
• Support the spread of profound technological change throughout the agricultural
sector
• Give priority to agriculture as the engine for economic growth and poverty
eradication
4. How has a poverty focus been incorporated into
the research?
The research is inclusive, since knowledge centres will improve opportunities
for all in the area they serve. However, the focus will be on ensuring the
needs of the poor are catered for.
Poor people will be consulted in activities under output 1 (stratified by
gender and wealth ranking), and will participate in the development and
testing of outreach methods for knowledge centres under output 3. Poor
people will be directly involved in the pilot centre (output 4), which
includes making an assessment of their needs, and they will be represented
at the workshop under output 5.
5. Which cross cutting themes (i.e.: gender, environment,
sustainability) will be addressed by this project and how?
Gender will be explicitly addressed when beneficiaries are consulted or
participate in the project. In assessing current usage of centres, the
samples will be stratified by gender, and focus groups will be gender balanced
or single sex. Similarly centre user groups participating in output 3
will be both mixed and single sex. Results of needs assessments for the
pilot centre will also be separated by gender.
Sustainability is a major theme addressed by this project. Environment is
not explicitly addressed. As with any agricultural development work, there
is the danger that the additional income generated encourages environmentally
damaging production practices. The information provided through the pilot
centre will therefore cover correct use of agrochemicals, and information
from organisations such as the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming that
promote environmentally benign agriculture.
6. Who are the target institutions and beneficiaries
(end users) for the research?
Immediate beneficiaries of this project will be those living in the area
of the pilot telecentre. Assuming a radius of influence of 4km and a population
density of 200km-2 this gives a potential beneficiary community of about
10,000 (the Nabweru telecentre in Uganda reportedly reaches a population
of over 50,000). The site of the centre has yet to be chosen, but it will
be in an area where the majority of the population are smallholder farmers.
A smaller number of people of similar socio-economic status will also benefit
from taking part in the development of the outreach and dissemination manual.
Benefits will accrue to both men and women, though gender roles in decision
making that will be improved with the availability of information are
different in different ethnic groups and crops.
The ultimate beneficiaries of the research will be the resource poor farmers
in rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya and Uganda, who have or will have
access to agricultural knowledge centres of one sort or another, directly
or through intermediaries. Currently there are less than 10 centres in
E Africa, using the same conservative assumptions as above giving a potential
beneficiary community of about 100,000. However, widespread uptake of the
research would benefit a much larger number of people. There are over 3
million small-scale farmers in Kenya farming land holdings of less than
2 hectares and 56% of these live under the poverty line earning less than
a dollar a day. In Uganda, 90% of the country’s population depend on agriculture
and 95% of these are resource poor small scale farmers. Extension services
can not be depended upon to provide extension to farmers as there is only
1 extension person per every 4 000 farm families.
Target institutions benefiting from the research will be all those concerned
with generating, disseminating and applying information in agricultural
communities. These include: Existing centres involved in the project seeking
to improve their impact and sustainability, including the centre to be
set up in Kenya and transferred to private ownership. National agricultural
research organisations who need improved uptake pathways for their research
outputs. National extension services whose extension officers can use the
centres, and whose managers search for more cost effective ways to function
with limited resources. Development agencies interested in supporting development
of the smallholder agriculture sector. Development organisations (NGOs,
CBOs) who act as conduits of information to farmers. Private sector organisations
in agriculture such as micro-credit institutions, inputs suppliers, market
traders. Some “middlemen” could be expected to lose out as the market
becomes more efficient.
7. Involvement of Target Groups
Two of the collaborators in this proposal are target institutions with links
to many others. All three collaborators, together with other target institutions,
participated in a 2 day consultative meeting in June at CABI in Nairobi,
to brainstorm the issues and develop the project framework. Beneficiaries
have not been consulted formally, but the ideas have arisen from contacts
between the research team and beneficiaries in Uganda and Kenya, and results
of related needs assessments.
***
Research Approach ***
1. Research
team competency
Jane Frances Asaba: Information scientist with over 20 years experience
in agricultural information research and dissemination, working in national
and international institutions.
First degree in agriculture and masters in information studies; expertise
in information technology, managing and disseminating agricultural information,
training. Currently Technical Advisor to a project on Electronic Delivery
of Agricultural Information (EDAI) to rural communities in Uganda.
Adrian Mukhebi: Agricultural Economist with over 20 years experience in
agricultural research and development, working in national and international
institutions, and in the private sector. Founder and Executive Director
of Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange.
Joyce Adupa: Information Scientist with 17 years experience as an Agricultural
Officer and Documentation Officer. First degree in Agriculture, MSc in Agricultural
Extension; expertise in information technology, processing and dissemination
of information. Currently coordinator ARIS, and Manager of Electronic
Delivery of Agricultural Information project.
Jemimah Njuki: Socioeconomist with experience in smallholder farming systems
and research on gender issues. Martin Kimani: Farmer participation specialist,
with extensive experience in farmer participatory research and training.
2. Briefly describe the management structure for implementation.
All personnel will be responsible directly to the project manager, who in
turn is responsible to senior management at CABI-ARC.
3. Will this project lead to the development of research
capacity? If Yes, how?
Yes. Research capacity in NARO and KACE will be enhanced through specific
training by CABI in undertaking some of the activities, and through participation
in novel research undertaken by a multidisciplinary team.
***
Research Implementation ***
1. Research
methods
A combination of research methods will be used including participatory and
extractive approaches to collect both qualitative and quantitative information.
Existing data and information will be used wherever possible. Guidance
on design of survey instruments and analysis of data collected will be
available from a statistician at CABI-ARC. Beneficiaries will participate
in research under all outputs except number 2
Output 1. Detailed usage statistics will be
collected over a period of a year at centres in Uganda and Kenya (currently
collected data are not sufficiently detailed). Surveys of users and non-users,
particularly from lowest income groups will be conducted through focus
groups, key informant interviews and individual interviews. Short visits
will also be made to other centres in E Africa to gather a wide range of
experience.
Output 2. Spreadsheet models will be used to
evaluate a wide range of scenarios for location and type of centre. Parameter
groups to be considered will include: population and socioeconomic profiles;
the local mix and type of agricultural enterprises; production costs and
market prices; centre usage; centre running costs; costs of information
access/provision/repackaging; information service prices to users; other
centre revenue streams (such as photocopy, telephone etc). Parameter values
and ranges will be determined through market and socioeconomic surveys,
and from government and published data. Sensitivity of conclusions to
key parameters will be tested. Results will be discussed with stakeholders
at the workshop near the end of the project.
Output 3. A pilot centre will be established
at a location shown to be viable by the models, and with a constituency
of poor farmers. Meetings will be held to engage the community in decisions
regarding its establishment. If possible the centre will be attached to
an existing establishment related to agriculture (such as one of KACE’s
market information centres). The centre will be run by a person (experience
shows a woman is likely to be most effective) hired from the local community
and given on-the-job training. As well as running the centre, detailed
usage statistics will be compiled. Information needs assessments will be
conducted in the area of the centre, and the appropriate information provided,
including technical (production), credit, agro-inputs, and market information.
Project collaborators will source the required information. Options for
private/community ownership of the knowledge centre after project completion
will be investigated and transfer of ownership completed by the end of
the project. One option for consideration would be as a franchised centre
under KACE.
Output 4. Farmer groups or “knowledge clubs”
will be established in the area of the pilot and other centres to devise
and test outreach and dissemination methods that will ensure farmers (particularly
low income and female farmers) are able to make use of the information available
at the knowledge centre. Participatory “discovery learning” methods
will be used to stimulate demand and add value to the information availed
through ICTs, and the experience used as the basis for the manual. Beneficiaries
will be involved in the “participatory publishing”.
Output 5. Discussions will be held with key potential partners and stakeholders
in a network of knowledge centres. A workshop will be held to present the
results of the research, and to plan details of the network. Participants
will include farmers, private sector, government, NGOs.
2. Dissemination
strategy
Beneficiaries. Involvement in activities under output 3 will ensure dissemination
in those communities. Beneficiaries of output 4 will also be involved in
the research, and an activity specifically to publicise the knowledge Centre
is planned. This is likely to include printed materials, and radio such
as the popular radio soap Tembea na Majira (originally funded by DFID)
which uses entertainment to disseminate agricultural information to an
estimated 36% of the population of Kenya, cutting across all sectors of
society. Beneficiary representatives will also be invited to the workshop
under output 5.
Target institutions and policy makers. Each
of the collaborating organisations has a wide range of contacts amongst
target institutions in the region. These will be pooled to provide a consolidated
list for dissemination of project outputs. As well as the project final
reports, an attractive booklet summarising the project and its findings
will be produced and distributed towards the end of the project. Articles
will be submitted to local newsletters covering both private and public
sector readership. Team members will also present the project through local
fora such as the Kenya Information Society.
Research community. At least one paper will
be submitted to an international refereed journal during the project. The
project will be included in the collaborators' web sites, and findings
disseminated through the regional research umbrella organisation, ASARECA
(Association For Strengthening Agricultural Research In East and Central
Africa).
Uptake of the research outputs beyond this project is addressed directly
under output 5. No formal agreements have been made, but it is anticipated
that development agencies, East African government organisations and the
private sector would all be involved in some form of public-private partnership.
Objectives
The purpose of the project is to devise strategies for implementing sustainable
agricultural knowledge centres that will enable the rural and peri-urban
poor in East Africa to improve farm productivity and profitability. This
will provide economic benefits to the target institutions, and economic
and social benefits to the beneficiaries directly involved in the project.
A wider group of beneficiaries will be reached through uptake of the outputs
by target institutions.
Planned
Outputs
1. Documented lessons from use of ICTs in rural information centres in East
Africa.
2. Agricultural knowledge centre business models.
3. Pilot agricultural knowledge centre.
4. Smart practice outreach and dissemination manual for agricultural knowledge
centres.
5. Plan for establishment of a network of agricultural knowledge centres.
6. Project management system installed and operational
Funding
type : Grant
Funder
: UK Department for International Development (DfID)
Partners
: CAB International Africa Regional Centre
Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange
National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda Partners Role : CAB
International Africa Regional Centre will be responsible for project management
and coordination, information, socio-economic and farmer participatory
components.
Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange will be responsible for business modelling,
running the pilot centre.
National Agricultural Research Organisation will be responsible for evaluating
Ugandan experience, implementing outreach activities in Uganda.
Project
owner : CAB International
Contact
organization : CAB International
Contact
name : Jane Frances Asaba
IICD contacts : Ivan Kulis Peter Ballantyne