ICTs for Sustainable Food Production and Agriculture Technology and Information for the next Green Revolution June 2009

infoDev | ICTs for Sustainable Food Production and Agriculture 1

Project Summary ICTs play a key role in improving the availability of agricultural production and market information in developing countries. ICT-based market information systems have a proven track record for improving rural livelihoods in middle income developing countries where they have been introduced. However, these systems are generally limited in scale and have not been effectively replicated beyond the local level. Also, relatively few schemes exist in smaller countries that lack the economies of scale of an India or a China. Furthermore, while internet-based market information systems work well in more developed, literate markets, other media, such as mobile phones or community radio, could be appropriate alternatives in least developed countries (LDCs), especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Poor access to information and communication was one of the main reasons the original green revolution failed in Africa (see figure 1). However, the current mobile revolution in Africa offers real hope for a different outcome now. The rapid spread of mobile phones in Africa has transformed the continent, with mobile ownership now exceeding one-quarter of the African population at the end of 2007. This project will survey the current state of the art in the effective use of ICT in agriculture and food production, identify models that work, and examine the scope for effectively replicating these models on a wider basis, with the appropriate adaptation to local needs and circumstances. Another aim is to assist governments and local authorities in adaptive policy-making so that they are better able to respond to future food crises, whenever and wherever they occur.

Project Description This project will have four main components: 1.

Sharing Best Practice and Creating Communities of Practice

Working with leading experts in the field, infoDev will review best practice in the use of ICTs for sustainable agriculture and food production. This will include the development of a knowledge map of existing initiatives, a set of best practice guidelines and a “how-to-do-it” toolkit for practitioners who design field based projects. Figure 1: Agricultural yields and poverty reduction Cereal Yields and $1 a day Poverty Incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa 4000

3500

50

3500

3000 2500

40 Poverty (right axis) 30

2000 Yields (left axis)

20

1500

10

1000

60 50

Poverty (right axis)

3000

40

2500 30 2000 20

1500

Poverty incidence (%)

60

Cereal yields (Kg/Ha)

4000

Poverty incidence (%)

Cereal yields (Kg/Ha)

Cereal Yields and $1 a day Poverty Incidence in South Asia

10

1000 Yields (left axis)

500 1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

0 2002

500 1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

0 2002

Source: World Bank “World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development”

infoDev | ICTs for Sustainable Food Production and Agriculture 2

Capacity-building workshops will be held in beneficiary countries for local community officials, farmers and their representatives, aid and donor agencies, agricultural extension workers and researchers using the toolkit. As a means of spreading good practice and creating a living community of practice where interested entities, groups, companies and individuals can learn from each other, infoDev will organize and host an Annual Practitioners Forum, convening researchers and practitioners from around the world to discuss trends, share experience and see the latest technology in action. These would be global in scale, but could also be organized regionally. In between meetings, an online community of practice hosted by infoDev will serve as a development resource for practitioners and spur regular debate and experience sharing. 2.

Pilot Programs

After identifying strong examples of ICT-based interventions in agriculture and food production, infoDev will collaborate with ARD to roll out pilot programs which replicate the approach used in one country in other countries, or which scales up existing schemes over a wider geographical area. The number of countries/regions selected for these pilot programs would be dependent on the scale of donor funding. 3.

Mobile for Agriculture Solutions

Mobile banking has been a transformative application in developing country markets, with innovative schemes such as M-Pesa and Wizzit making waves, while mobiles have also been used for market information systems (such as Gov Gnana Seva in Sri Lanka). infoDev proposes to study, through wide survey research, the impact that mobile applications have had and could potentially have on agriculture and food production in developing countries, whether via the use of mobile phones for providing stored credit for agricultural transactions, as a platform for remittances and conditional cash transfers, as a market information tool or as a means to undertake targeted extension services to farmers. This research will provide important glimpses into how mobile and wireless technology is transforming the landscape of the developing world and into the needs and preferences of its users. 4.

ICT in Agriculture Sourcebook

On the basis of these three components and other Bank initiatives, infoDev and the World Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) division will collaborate to create a definitive, globally recognized ICT in Agriculture Sourcebook, which will serve as a practical and comprehensive guide to operationalizing the good lessons derived from existing initiatives.

Indicative Budget Depending upon the level of funding and the interest among the donor community, the following indicative budget, in US$, could be proposed for this activity during the period 2009-2011 (three years).

infoDev | ICTs for Sustainable Food Production and Agriculture 3

Expected Outputs 1. Sharing best practice and creating communities of practice 2. Pilot programmes 3. Mobile for agriculture solutions 4. ICT in Agriculture sourcebook Total

Duration Development of knowledge-map in 2009. Capacity-building workshops in 2009- 2010 (approximately two per year). Annual Global Practitioners Forum, starting in 2011. Starting in 2010 with the aim of launching two pilot programmes per year Research conducted 2009-2011 culminating in the publication of the ICT in agriculture sourcebook Completion in 2011

Cost (in $US) US$800 K

2009-2011

US$2’520 over three years

US$350 K per pilot programme = US$1’400 US$200 K

US$120 K

Key Partners The principal contractors for the projects will be infoDev and the World Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department. Other potential partners could include:  Operational partners, including IISD, LIRNEasia, EDGE Institute.  Institutional and regional organizations and donors, including FAO and UNECA  Private sector partners in the mobile or technology fields, including Nokia, Vodafone; and agricultural market information systems providers, such as TradeNet and Manobi.

Implementation Risks and mitigating measures The main risks to the project include:     

Lack of political support for the program in the potential beneficiary countries; Technological obsolescence in the ICT tools used; Lack of dissemination of the research results to the relevant agricultural communities; Too narrow a focus on ICTs may overlook other important ways to reduce rural poverty Lack of scope for technology transfer.

Steps taken to mitigate these risks include mixing research and assessment with operational work to ensure it stays current and rooted in practical application. The project will study, replicate and scale up programs that already exist and that are known to work. infoDev’s partnership approach, which brings together the expertise of the World Bank with experienced practitioners in the donor, NGO, international organization and academic communities and private sector, will help to ensure that the project establishes strong political and stakeholder connections in beneficiary countries. A suitably broad approach to knowledge mapping and best practice collation will offset dangers of too narrow a focus. Various dissemination methods (e.g. the capacity building workshops, annual forum, community of practice website and sourcebook) have been built in to the project.

infoDev | ICTs for Sustainable Food Production and Agriculture 4

ICTs for Sustainable Food Production and Agriculture - infoDev

Source: World Bank “World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for ... Mobile banking has been a transformative application in developing country markets, ...

233KB Sizes 22 Downloads 249 Views

Recommend Documents

Sustainable Intensification of Rice Production for Food Security in the ...
food security in several developing countries where rice is the staple food crop. ..... West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) or African Rice Center.

Crop Prospects and Food Situation - Food and Agriculture ...
Dec 4, 2014 - 53 360. 1 971. Note: Totals computed from unrounded data. 1 The import requirement is the di erence between utilization (food, feed, other ...

Crop Prospects and Food Situation - Food and Agriculture ...
Dec 4, 2014 - and lack of support services, mainly in the northern regions. □ .... Despite a generally good aggregate cereal harvest ...... Reports and Special Alerts, when published, can be received by e-mail through automatic mailing lists:.

Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society - WordPress.com
18 Mar 2016 - (Central Time) on Friday, March 18, 2016. Soon-to-be-graduating students must be students at the time of submission in order to be eligible. A paper submitted to the AFHVS paper competition may not also be submitted to the Association f

Food Outlook - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Oct 7, 2014 - FOOD OUTLOOK. OCTOBER 2014. RICE. SO. U. THER. N. A. FRIC. A. Mo n th. U. SD. /Kg. 3 m o nths earlier. 1 year earlier. 2 years earlier. A ngo la. : Lua nda. A ug-1. 4. 3.32. 0%. 2%. 5%. M ad agascar: N tl. A vg. (lo cal). A ug-1. 4. 0.4

Food Outlook - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Oct 7, 2014 - DAIRY lobal markets for most foodstuffs are characterized by abundant supplies and less un- certainty than in recent years, a situation reflected in FAO's. Food Price Index falling to a four year low. Major exceptions are markets for an

Sustainable Consumption and Production: Framework ...
unobtrusively through server log file analysis (Hofacker and Murphy, 2005). 2 .... Three related journal articles stem from the early 1980s (Anderson and. Claxton, 1982 ... The experimental data was gathered from Quelle, a major German mail-.

Biotechnology for Sustainable Crop Production and ...
Fmr Director, Monsanto Research Centre,. Bangalore - 560 092. .... IGMORIS (Indian GMO Research Information. System). http://igmoris/.nic.in. James, Clive ...

sustainable agriculture practices pdf
Page 1 of 1. File: Sustainable agriculture practices. pdf. Download now. Click here if your download doesn't start automatically. Page 1 of 1. sustainable agriculture practices pdf. sustainable agriculture practices pdf. Open. Extract. Open with. Sig

impact on agriculture of expanding production of ethanol and biodiesel
Data and Data Sources. •Department of Statistics Malaysia, MPOB, Oil World & IFS. •Time series annual data (1976-2010) .... 0.9828 F stat=184.16 DW=1.9447.

Food Production Management.PDF
Describe the main characteristics of Bengali food. 20. List five special ... Page 2 of 2. Main menu. Displaying Food Production Management.PDF. Page 1 of 2.

Yemen - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Apr 15, 2015 - agricultural production and marketing. This would in turn .... To do so, please send an e-mail to the FAO-Mail-Server at the following address:.

Agriculture and Food Security under Global Change ...
Under business-as-usual, real world food prices of most cereals and meats are ... opportunities, a series of agricultural investment and policy scenarios were ...

Pig Sector Kenya - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United ...
worldwide and this trend is expected to continue over the coming years. Growth in .... 3.2.1 Breeding stock / Piglet production . .... 4.1.1 Animal trade markets . ...... Another source of feedstuffs for pigs is swill from schools, hotels and governm

Yemen - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Apr 15, 2015 - imports, transportation network and market supply, and hence on prices of both ... recovery and resilience to promote food and nutrition security ...