ICT in Agriculture e-Sourcebook

"The livelihoods of the world’s poor rise and fall with the fate of agriculture. Enhancing the ability of smallholders to connect with the knowledge, networks, and institutions necessary to improve their productivity, food security, and employment opportunities is a fundamental development challenge. Where once rural areas were largely disconnected from the greater world, today, networks of information and communication technologies (ICTs) enmesh the globe and represent a transformational opportunity for rural populations, both as producers and consumers. However, climate change and price fluctuations in the global food market remind us that realizing this opportunity requires a long-term commitment to mobilizing appropriate resources and expertise."

The ICT in Agriculture Sourcebook, published through a partnership between infoDev and Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank, offers practical examples and case studies from around the world. A compilation of modules related to 14 agricultural subsectors, each module covers the challenges, lessons learned, and enabling factors associated with using ICT to improve smallholder livelihoods. Its aim is to support development practitioners in exploring the use of or designing, implementing, and investing in ICT-enabled agriculture interventions.

The publication is organised into four main sections, each containing a subset of relevant modules.

Section 1 - Overview of ICT in Agriculture discusses topics of opportunities and access.  This includes innovations in telecommunications systems, making ICTs affordable in rural areas, delivering content for mobile agricultural services, and creating entry points for gender-equitable, ICT-enabled agricultural development.

Section 2 - Enhancing Productivity on the Farm looks at ways ICTs can be used to increase productivity, enable agricultural innovation, help farmer organisations, and broaden access to rural financial services. Examples among these topics include planning and early warning systems, e-learning programmes, radio-frequency identification (RFID) of livestock to secure insurance and credit, and skill sharing opportunities.

Section 3 - Accessing Markets and Values Chains discusses ways in which the farmer can use ICTs for market research, cost reduction, marketing, and integration into previously hard-to-access commercial supply chains. Additional case studies examine the potential two-way benefits of traceability, which links small-scale producers to the global market, allowing empowerment of the smallholder as well as improving food safety standards.

Section 4 - Improving Public Service Provision focuses on governance, land administration and management, and citizen participation. Topics in this section include digital media forums and e-learning, the use of websites and social media to connect governments and institutions with their constituents, geographic information systems (GIS) solutions to land information infrastructures, participatory mapping programmes, and the use of ICT in solving conflicts between human development and the destruction of natural habitats.

Note: This document is no longer available for downloading.  An updated version has been published (2017) and can be accessed on our website here (or see Related Summary below)