Improving Rural Livelihoods Through Access to Knowledge: Information and Communication Technologies in Support of the Agriculture Sector in Mali

This 8-page report shares information about the experience of The International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) to support developments in the agriculture sector in Mali through use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools. According to the report, the agriculture sector in Mali has great growth potential, however, it is being held back by lack of infrastructure and relevant information for the producers and processors of agricultural produce. Information and communication technologies have proven to be appropriate tools for enabling better access to markets, market price information, and information on production methods, which can have a positive effect on the livelihoods of the people depending on this sector.

The report explains that aside from health projects, the IICD Country Programme in Mali includes five agriculture projects. For example, the Jèkafo Gèlèkan (meaning "let’s talk under the palaver tree"), is working to improve communication and information exchange between farmers’ organisations in the Sikasso province and the regional and national authorities, thus contributing to raising the farmer's voice in political debates around agriculture. Another project works with the Zantiébougou Women Shea Butter Producers Cooperative (Coprokazan) and the Malian Association for the Promotion of Youth (AMPJ) to improve promotion activities using computers, standard software and office automation tools, e-mail, a website, and advertisements on radio and television. Other projects similarly work to improve agricultural systems and livelihoods through ICTS.

According to IICD, the five agriculture projects have 380 direct users and approximately 585,000 beneficiaries. All 380 users of the projects have received training. This was made possible by means of a train-the-trainer methodology, where a trained group in turn trains a new group of users. IICD says that initially the capacity development programme focussed on training end-users to acquire basic ICT-skills, but it was recognised that project participants needed more advanced training, such as in the use of multi-media, e-facilitation skills for knowledge sharing, advanced software such as PowerPoint, Excel, and Moviemaker, as well as the use of personal digital assistants and data collection.

The report says that in general the use of ICT improves visibility, social status, and credibility of farmer organisations. Participants of focus group meetings consider empowerment as the most important type of impact. Both training and the exchange of information and experiences between actors are considered crucial.

The report provides some specific impacts from the project. For example, the Kari&TIC project saw an increase in sales figures. During the first phase of Sene Kunafoni Bulon, the project helped the three mango farmers' organisations to increase their visibility, to improve productivity and processing quantity and quality, to identify new markets, and to better negotiate bulk prices for their products. The improved access to market prices contributed to a more informed position of the mango producers in their negotiations with traders, resulting in a net increase of the kilo price for mangoes. Activities in the Mandé region have resulted in important information on market opportunities, weather forecasts etc. now reaching a much larger audience.

The report shares several lessons learned, stating that there is a general lack of capacity in Mali and to achieve success the country programme needs to identify and work with good and trustworthy enabling partners. Shared connectivity models are one solution to solve the lack of connectivity. The report mentions that in general it was observed that users with a higher educational level showed a higher level of satisfaction with the project. Recognising that the main users are people with low levels of formal education, the question of what should be done to raise levels of satisfaction was discussed in focus groups. Some of the suggestions made included: provide a keyboard and training materials in the local language Bamanan, adapt training to participants' practical level, and make materials based on testimonials and images. Farmers indicated that they felt more at ease making use of an information centre run by farmers than with services of a commercial telecentre.

Some specific lessons from individual projects included the following:

• Jèkafo Gèlèkan project: Maintenance of the ICT equipment and connectivity remains a challenge, there is a need to budget and provide for continued training for the centre managers. It was recognised that to get visitors to the website, there was a need to actively market the site and ensure that structure, content, and design of a website gets sufficient attention.
• Kari&TIC project: The project team prefers to work with a relatively small group of women who can really learn and apply their ICT skills, instead of focusing on a large group of women who will be able to understand some of the basics, but will in the end not be able to apply it. The presentations shown to the women on how they can improve the quality of the shea butter are animated with pictures showing good and bad practices. These visuals have positively influenced the uptake of the content and shown a direct improvement in production methods.
• Qualité & Fruiléma project: Improving an export chain is a very complex process. Developing a web-enabled database with all necessary information does not guarantee a successful chain. Other factors such as access to credit, physical infrastructure, skilled labour, and marketing are equally important. On the other hand; the existence of the platform strongly strengthened the credibility of the exporting partners and even led to concrete exporting contracts.
• Sene Kunafoni Bulon project: Long-term sustainability remains the main challenge to be tackled by the involved farmers' organisations: their members clearly see the added value of the project for the positioning and income improvement of the organisations, but they may not be willing and/or able to support the running costs. While looking into solutions like taxing on overall sales, partnering with other support organisations may be an intermediary solution.
• Rural information system Mandé region: The multimedia equipment used suffers from the extreme circumstances in rural settings. Regular maintenance and budget reserve should be in place for safekeeping. The information services are highly appreciated by the users, but to encourage people to really use the network more time needs to be invested in content development, collecting information, and prioritising the information per sector.