Enhancing Access to Agricultural Information using ICTs in Apac District (EAAI)

The EAAI project was developed in response to a study that showed rural farmers lacked information and skills related to improving the quality of their products, improving seeds and crop varieties, sourcing inputs/implements, plant diseases, pests and their control, and soil management and conservation. According to the organisers, this lack of information and skills has limited the production levels of rural farmers, and hence has resulted in limited incomes and poverty.

The project involved setting up the Kubere Information Centre (KIC), which acts as an information resource point and supports project implementation and two-way linkages with the women farmers. From the centre, women farmers can access training in agricultural practices, as well as in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as cell phones. Some of the groups have also received training in group dynamics and management. Group members are also able to share experiences with each other around best practices and new ideas.

In 2010, WOUGNET opened another rural information centre in Amuru district, called Riber-Ber Information Centre, to help farmers access market information using mobile phones. Using a combination of ICTs which included radio, mobile telephones, listening clubs, and face-to-face meetings, women farming communities were equipped with skills to be able to access farming information to improve their farming as well as increase yields.

The EAAI project also partnered with existing sources of agricultural information in order to more easily access a greater amount of information, and avoid "reinventing the wheel".

In addition to the centre, the project aired a weekly agricultural radio show, in partnership with community radio station Radio Apac, which provides information about agricultural techniques and resources. Farmers could also receive information by short messaging service (SMS). According to the organisers, these methods of information dissemination proved very beneficial for group members. Local agricultural information was also made available on audiotape, videotape, CD-ROM, and on notice boards. All content produced was made available in the local language, Luo.

In addition to the direct work with the rural women's farming groups, the KIC participated in an e-society programme designed to foster collaboration between local government and civil society in the district through the use of ICTs.

October 2012 update: Although this project as described above ceased as of June 2011, the KIC still serves as a source of agricultural and other development-oriented information in the district and in northern Uganda. Farmers can still borrow radio scripts and recorded agricultural audio discussion on radio tapes, and they can still consult on agricultural information and use the services of the centre as they wish. This is supported by the presence of other ongoing projects that use the centre as its coordinating office/field office.

Also, this project and its efforts are sustained by a new, connected initiative that WOUGNET is undertaking in partnership with Makerere University involving the women farmers that were involved under the previous project. Strengthening University - Farming Community Engagement (SUFACE) seeks to develop an operation framework where universities can work with communities to enhance productivity and competitiveness of smallholder agriculture as well as responsiveness and impact of universities in agricultural development. The partnership with WOUGNET under this project will further consolidate Makerere University's engagement with rural communities with the objective of improving livelihoods, adapting better farming technologies developed by Makerere University, and fostering better access to agricultural information.

Agriculture, ICTs, Women.

A 2010 evaluation of the EAAI project revealed that not only had ICT usage increased since inception, but the range of reasons why the rural women farmers used ICTs had broadened to include access to market information, efforts to reach out to agricultural extension workers, and participation in community radio shows as panelists and by calling in. Nevertheless, according to WOUGNET, the generally low literacy and income levels among rural women farmers do pose a challenge on the way that e-agriculture projects have to be packaged to facilitate uptake and engagement with various ICTs. For instance, repacking information for SMS (text message) or radio dissemination, so that it is in a format that can easily be understood by the farmers, requires expertise and time to ensure that information is not distorted, since it is usually scientific information. WOUGNET stresses that project staff, fluent in the local language, have to be skilled and maintained to perform this repackaging work. There is also a need to build partnerships and collaborations with agricultural-expert organisations.