Originally written by Benjamin Addom in 2010. I conducted a study recently in over 50 rural communities from three regions in Ghana to understand how local farmer innovate. Below is the process that I have identified through interviews and focus group discussions. The local farmers usually make attempts to address their problems when faced with…
Category: Agriculture
Digital agriculture to help Africa through coronavirus
Originally written by Benjamin Addom and Sabdiyo Dido, and published by CTA on Tuesday, 28 April 2020 As COVID-19 continues to devastate lives all over the world, agriculture and food systems come under critical strain. Recessions, food shortages, hunger and malnutrition are feared to be likely, with grave impact on vulnerable communities in developing regions…
Innovative digitalisation project transitions into promising business
Originally published by CTA on Wednesday, 11 July 2019 A recurring question in agricultural development is how to transition successful donor-funded initiatives into self-sustaining, smallholder-focused businesses. One of CTA’s most innovative digitalisation projects, the Market-led, User-owned ICT4Ag-enabled Information Service (MUIIS), is proving it can be done. The MUIIS project was established in September 2015 with support from…
Capacity Building, ICTs and Gender Issues in Ag. Value Chains
Relation between Farming, Research, Extension, Gender & ICTs (Photo Credit: Ben Addom) In this post, I bring together two arguments as the basis for addressing the challenge of capacity building in agriculture through the emerging value chain approach, and the role Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) can play to increase food security in some of these…
From ICT4Ed to ICT4Ag: The Potential of EasySMS Mobile App!
Photo Credit: EasySMS EasySMS mobile app intends to enable illiterate people to “read” SMS on Windows Phone 7; understand the meaning of each word of the SMS; and write SMS using icons with sound support and SMS recomposition from previous SMSs. It is a Windows phone application which empowers illiterate people to read, compose, send…
AGRONET: Connecting small producers to information in Colombia
Photo Credit: Agronet-Colombia AGRONET, a National Agricultural Information and Communication Network was developed with the goal to connect small producers in Colombia and reduce the digital divide through public private partnerships and growing broadband penetration in rural municipalities. A Government of Colombia’s initiative under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the United…
Another App for Smallholder Farmers: M-Farm
Photo Credit: M-Farm M-Farm is an award winning mobile solution for agribusinesses and farmers currently being piloted in Kenya. It is an SMS and web-based application focused on improving weaknesses in the value chain. It is a transparency tool for Kenyan farmers to get information pertaining to the retail price of their products, buy their…
Africa Monitoring System (AMS) for Sustainable Food Security
Photo Credit: TV Pro Gear An initiative being co-led by Conservation International (CI), the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa and the Earth Institute (EI), Columbia University, has been launched with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Africa Monitoring System (AMS) tool will track, monitor and diagnose agricultural…
8Villages: A new social network app for smallholder farmers
Photo Credit: 8Villages.com One of the new ICT solutions that I have discovered and love to share with agricultural commodity value chain implementers is 8Villages, a mobile platform that links farmers to their communities of peers, input suppliers, and their external business partners. Below is a short discussion that I had with the Founder and…
A business model for delivering information to smallholder farmers: RUNetwork
As the hype for integrating new information and communication technologies (ICTs) into agricultural value chain projects increases, one of the common questions that ICT4D analysts often try to answer is, who pays for the service – the poor farmer, the project, the government, or a donor agency? Payment for information services to farmers is one…
Digitalisation and Smallholder Agriculture 