Farm Radio International is a Canadian-based, not-for-profit organization working in direct partnership with approximately 330 radio broadcasters in 39 African countries to fight poverty and food insecurity. Materials are also available electronically to broadcasters and to rural development organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The Farm Radio International program supports broadcasters in meeting the needs of local small-scale farmers and their families in rural communities, and helps broadcasters build the skills to develop content that responds to local needs.
Qton provides development and government organisations in the emerging markets with appropriate mobile and web based applications.
With extensive experience in mobile applications and software development Qton has a knowledgeable team committed to supplying affordable and effective solutions.
Aim
To assist organisations achieve their aims by enabling basic mobile phones to:
The Power of Information: The Impact of Mobile Phones on Farmers' Welfare in the Philippines data sheet 3343 Views
Author:
Julien Labonne, Robert S. Chase
Publication Date:
Jul 2009
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
The authors explore the impact of access to information on poor farmers' consumption. The analysis combines spatially coded data on mobile phone coverage with household panel data on farmers from some of the poorest areas of the Philippines.
Both the ordinary least squares and instrumental variable estimates indicate that purchasing a mobile phone has a large, positive impact on the household-level growth rate of per capita consumption. Estimates range from 11 to 17 percent, depending on the sample and the specification chosen.
The authors perform a range of reliability tests, the results of which all suggest that the instruments are valid. They also present evidence consistent with the argument that easier access to information allows farmers to strike better price deals within their existing trading relationships and to make better choices in terms of where they choose to sell their goods.
WildKnowledge (WK) are a spin out company from Oxford Brookes University in the UK. WK enables members to create and share mobile recording forms (WildForm), decision trees (WildKey), maps (WildMap) and diagrams (WildImage). These tools enable the user to make informed decisions in the field and gather good quality data. This collated data can then be uploaded and shared as part of collaborative projects. Most of our members are UK school children and students, we are keen to explore new areas both geographically and contextually. All WK applications are wep apps and can work on any device with a web browser from a mobile device to a laptop (functionality will vary according to browser's capabilities).
Using CAM-equipped Mobile Phones for Procurement and Quality Control at a Rural Coffee Cooperative data sheet 1725 Views
Author:
Yael Schwartzman, Tapan S. Parikh
Publication Date:
May 2007
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
With globalization, small rural producers must compete in a competitive economic market. Due to their small size and limited financial capacity, they face significant challenges in doing so. We discuss the design and evaluation of two mobile phone based tools to help small producers achieve economies of scale and a quality premium.
These tools were developed using CAM, a camera-based mobile phone application framework specifically designed for the rural developing world. CAM DPS (Delivery Processing System) efficiently captures transactions between producers and cooperatives, in order to monitor remote inventory levels, and document the price paid to the producer. CAM RANDI (Representation AND Inspection tool) allows local inspectors to digitally capture the condition of farm parcels, using a combination of paper, text, audio and images. Using this data, rural producer cooperatives can improve their efficiency and monitoring, and ensure conformance with quality and certification standards. A preliminary evaluation suggests that these applications are accessible to target users and will serve a significant need.
The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when then-Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. From that inspiration grew an agency of the federal government devoted to world peace and friendship.
Since that time, more than 195,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in 139 host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation.
Avaaj Otalo - A Voice-Based Community Forum data sheet 20391 Views
In places such as rural India, small-scale farmers struggle to meet the challenges of fierce global competition, increasing costs of farm inputs, water shortages, and new diseases and pests brought on by a changing climate. To deal with these challenges, information has become a critical input to farming operations: faced with rapidly changing conditions, farmers need market information, timely technical advice, and alerts on new and improved techniques. There are currently few sources for reliable, timely knowledge. Television and radio have achieved remarkable penetration in rural areas and stand as an effective means of information dissemination. However, without a platform to discuss, debate, and relate personal experience, information is not actionable.
Blurring Livelihoods and Lives The Social Uses of Mobile Phones and Socioeconomic Development data sheet 1512 Views
Author:
Donner , Jonathan
Publication Type:
Journal article
Abstract:
This paper focuses on how this intermingling of lives and livelihoods, as mediated
by the mobile phone, figures into the micro-processes of economic development.
It neither broadly elaborates the core contributions of mobile phone use to
economic development (synchronizing prices, expanding markets, reducing transport
costs, etc.), nor suggests that one kind of mobile use is more important than
another. Instead, it argues simply for a perspective on work and on livelihoods that
is broad enough to account for (and perhaps even take advantage of) the social
processes surrounding these activities. Analysts, policymakers, and technologists
interested in the application of Mobiles for Development (M4D) should not
ignore the way mobiles blur livelihoods and lives; the developmental and nondevelopmental uses of the mobile are not in competition, nor are they always distinguishable.
Instead, the uses of mobiles for developmental and non-developmental
purposes are often interrelated and sometimes mutually reinforcing. The social
functions of the mobile (in matters of connection and self-expression) are helping
drive its widespread adoption, and these same functions inform the very behaviors
that make the mobile a tool for economic development.
“Can You Hear Me Now?” How Cell Phones are Transforming Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa data sheet 1889 Views
Author:
Aker, Jenny C.
Publication Date:
Oct 2008
Publication Type:
Other
Abstract:
Cell phones are quickly transforming markets
in low-income countries. The effect is particularly
dramatic in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where
cell phones often represent the fi rst development in
telecommunications infrastructure. The twelve million
residents of Niger, a landlocked country in West
Africa, had 20,000 landlines—an estimated 2
landlines per 1,000 people—when mobile phones
were fi rst introduced in 2001. Now Niger has
almost 400,000 cell phone subscribers. Although
the country still has the lowest rate of cell phone
adoption in sub-Saharan Africa, cell phone coverage
has had important implications for grain markets and
hence welfare in the country.
ICTD for Healthcare in Ghana: Two Parallel Case Studies data sheet 1735 Views
Author:
Luk, Rowena; Zaharia, Matei; Ho, Melissa; Levine, Brian; Paul M.
Publication Date:
Apr 2009
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
This paper examines two parallel case studies to promote remote medical consultation in Ghana. These projects, initiated independently by different researchers in different organizations, both deployed ICT solutions in the same medical community in the same year. The Ghana Consultation Network currently has over 125 users running a Web-based application over a delay-tolerant network of servers. OneTouch MedicareLine is currently providing 1700 doctors in Ghana with free mobile phone calls and text messages to other members of the medical community. We present the consequences of (1) the institutional context and identity of the investigators, as well as specific decisions made with respect to (2) partnerships formed, (3) perceptions of technological infrastructure, and (4) high-level design decisions. In concluding, we discuss lessons learned and high-level implications for future ICTD research agendas.
At a small agrarian cooperative in Chile, farmers with little access to the internet have a new source of farming information: text messaging. The messages, a combination of national and international news and farming information about topics like weather and pricing, are part of a project called DatAgro, which aims to bring relevant farming information to rural populations that have little access to computers.
DatAgro is a collaboration between Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit DataDyne and the Santiago-based Zoltner Consulting Group, which looks at ways that ICTs can be used for development. The project is primarily funded by a $325,000 Knight News Challenge Grant and will continue until November 2010.
Mobile phones bridge the rural digital divide, bring economic benefits, and act as agents of social mobilization through improved communication. But what are the real challenges of reaching rural areas, and what are some of today’s most beneficial applications that can help rural communities, specifically regarding agriculture development?
The Virtual Forum on "Mobile Telephony in Rural Areas" will examine the challenges that rural communities face in enhancing the benefits of mobile telephony, and look at some examples of interesting initiatives and good outcomes from around the globe.
