Mobile messages - Ken Banks on mobile phones in rural developnment

Ken Banks founded kiwanja.net; he applies mobile technology for positive social and environmental change in the developing world. His research resulted in the development of FrontlineSMS, an award-winning text messaging-based field communication system designed to empower grassroots non-profit organisations.

Follow his series of blog posts on National Geographic, including:

• From smart phones to smart farming: Indigenous knowledge sharing in Tanzania

• Mobile meets farmer: Stories from Kenya

• In African agriculture, information is power

Connected agriculture: Mobiles help drive efficiency and sustainability in food and agriculture

A new report from Vodacom and Accenture argues that mobile communications can help to meet the challenge of feeding an estimated 9.2 billion people by 2050.

The study identifies 12 specific opportunities that could increase agricultural income by around US$138 billion by 2020. These are:

Improving access to financial services

• Mobile payment system
• Micro-insurance system
• Micro-lending platform

Provision of agricultural information

• Mobile information platform
• Farmer helpline

Improving data visibility for supply chain efficiency

• Smart logistics
• Traceability and tracking system
• Mobile management of supplier networks
• Mobile management of distribution networks

Enhancing access to markets

• Agricultural trading platform
• Agricultural tendering platform
• Agricultural bartering platform

The report aims to stimulate engagement between mobile operators, governments, NGOs and businesses to realise these opportunities and explore others.


Press release

Download full report

mFarmer Fund to bring information and advice to farmers in developing countries

The GSMA, the body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has launched the 'mFarmer Initiative Fund' with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Here is where the story goes.

The mFarmer Initiative Fund is designed to:

• Stimulate the development of mobile phone-enabled agriculture information and advisory services that are commercially sustainable;
• Build services that impact farmers’ income and productivity;
• Reduce the barriers for operators to launch and improve mFarmer Services;
• Test and prove models for delivering agricultural information services via mobile phones; and
• Promote a culture of knowledge sharing in the mFarmer ecosystem.

Read more ...

M-Pesa helps Kenyan farmers get insurance claims

An innovative insurance program is coaxing Kenya’s farmers to invest in quality seeds and fertilizer. Relying on the popular mobile money transfer service, Mpesa, it promises to process any claims due to crop loss quickly and safely.

Read the article

More information on the insurance scheme

Nutrient Manager for Rice - Mobile app for the Philippines

NMRiceMobile is a mobile phone-based application of Nutrient Manager for Rice, which uses an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application.

NMRiceMobile is targeted for farmers and extension workers without internet access. When internet access is available, Nutrient Manager for Rice web-based application is recommended.

With NMRiceMobile, a farmer or extension worker in the Philippines calls a toll-free number to access the Nutrient Manager for Rice. A voice prompt instructs the caller to answer questions about his/her rice field by pressing the appropriate number on the phone's keypad. After all the questions are answered, NMRiceMobile sends a text message with a field-specific nutrient management guideline for rice.

See a demonstration

Exploring voice-driven web for the developing world

Accessing the Web has become so easy for so many that it's startling to learn that less than a quarter of the global population can connect to the Internet External Link, according to Internet World Stats. Meanwhile, the penetration of mobile phones — especially in developing countries — is much larger.

Which is why IBM Research India in New Dehli has launched what it calls the Spoken Web, a network designed to use phones, not computers, to bring information on the Web to mainly under-served populations that cannot readily experience the Web's benefits.

Read more ...

Nokia launches rural information service in China

Nokia is bringing Ovi Life Tools, a set of informational services for rural areas in developing countries, to China, the company said on Friday.

The SMS-based service will be in simplified Chinese, the written form of the language used in mainland China. The services are split into four categories: healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment.

More:

Ovi Life Tools lands in China

Rural Calling: Can Nokia Sustain Its First-mover Advantage?

The Mobile Opportunity in Rural Areas

Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, says: “Mobile communication is perhaps the single most transformative technology for rural African villages to improve access to health care and education, create new business opportunities and access to markets, and ultimately to help eradicate extreme poverty.

Read more ...

Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Phones on Indian Agriculture

This working paper from the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations investigates a series of questions: What kind of information do farmers value the most to improve agricultural productivity? Do mobile phones and mobile-enabled agricultural services have an impact on agriculture? What are the factors that impede the realisation of the full productivity enhancing potential of mobile phones?

The study found evidence that mobiles are being used in ways which contribute to
productivity enhancement. However, to leverage the full potential of information
dissemination enabled by mobile telephony will require significant improvements in
supporting infrastructure and capacity building amongst farmers to enable them to use
the information they access effectively.

Agricultural advice by SMS

Many farmers save seed from one harvest for the next season's planting. But, for those who can afford it, commercially-sold seed, such as hybrid varieties, can be more productive. However, with so many types of seed on the market, which should farmers choose?

In the past, local extension officers were able to recommend suitable varieties for different locations. Those kinds of advisors are thin on the ground. So now, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, known as Kephis, is trying a new way to give maize farmers the information they need.

Farmers who want to plant maize can send an SMS text message to a database created by Kephis, and get an automatic response about the best varieties for their area.

Read more ...

Nokia Life Tools for farmers and rural communities

Nokia may be a name most would associate with handsets and great user interfaces. But increasingly, the Fin is focusing on solutions and services. We take a look at the launch of Life Tools, which targets an interesting segment in the emerging market of India.

Following this, the service will be rolled out in Indonesia, which will make it the first country in Southeast Asia to get the Nokia solution.

First talked about in November 2008, Life Tools is a service tailored for farmers and rural communities living in remote areas, providing them with information specific to their livelihood and personal enrichment.

Read more ...

Sri Lankan farmers share market info on mobiles

A trial Sri Lankan commodity trade matching portal using mobile phones to improve marketing of farmer produce will need private sector investment to be sustainable, an official said.

Chitranganie Mubarak, a Senior Programme Head of the Information Communications Technology Agency (ICTA), said the project is part of efforts to use mobile phone and information technology to link farmers with markets.

Read more ...

República Dominicana: meta 2011 de llevar teléfonos e Internet de banda ancha a localidades

El Gobierno a través del Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel) se ha trazado la meta para el 2011de que las localidades de la República Dominicana que tengan más de 300 habitantes, disfruten la posibilidad de hacer uso de teléfonos en sus domicilios y acceder al internet de banda ancha.

La afirmación la hizo el secretario de Estado y presidente del Indotel, doctor José Rafael Vargas, quien dijo que “esperamos lograrlo –esa meta- a más tardar en el 2011, siempre y cuando las demás instituciones involucradas de manera directa e indirecta nos ayuden”.

Los debates incluyen, asimismo, “el pasar de línea con nuevas tecnologías de la telecomunicación” y adelantará ¿qué viene después de las redes de la generación siguiente?”. Se planteará, además, cómo “estimular Nuevas tecnologías y compensación de los servicios en áreas rurales”.

En su intervención el doctor Vargas destacó que la telecomunicación, especialmente la banda ancha, constituye hoy en día un servicio tan vital como los alimentos, el agua y la electricidad.

“El impacto es aún mayor en comunidades rurales donde la experiencia vivida ha mostrado que las instituciones locales, las organizaciones no gubernamentales y los jóvenes, se convierten rápidamente en los principales usuarios de las TICS, abriendo el camino a lo que podría considerarse un círculo virtuoso de desarrollo, donde una puerta abre la otra, para construir el camino hacia la globalización y la era de la tecnología”, expresó.

Precisó que el Indotel tiene como meta principal llevar este año banda ancha a 508 comunidades a nivel nacional.

Explicó que “el Banco Mundial, en un informe de Mayo del año en curso, reporta que por cada 10 puntos porcentuales de incremento en la penetración de los servicios de banda ancha, se ha demostrado que en los países en desarrollo se registra un incremento de 1.3 puntos porcentuales en el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB); y en los servicios móviles se registra un incremento de 0.5 puntos porcentuales en el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB).

Vargas significó que la política del Indotel es garantizar que todos los y las dominicanas sin importar su ubicación geográfica, condición social, raza, género o impedimento físico, tengan la oportunidad de aprender y usar la computadora y acceder al internet. “Es decir, se pretende cerrar o llevar a su mínima expresión la brecha digital dominicana, además de dar cumplimiento al principio del acceso universal y avanzar hacia el servicio universal”, precisó.

Leer el artículo completo

Philippines: Agricultural Training Institute Launches Farmers' Contact Center

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap led the unveiling of the hotline numbers of the FCC and delivered a keynote speech during the launching on November 28, 2009 in Tagbilaran, Bohol.

The FCC is an alternative delivery channel in providing timely information and extension services. Through the FCC, people can inquire on agri-related concerns via voice (call), short messaging service (SMS or text) as well as emails and other online communication such as instant messaging and fora.

Read more ...

Hogares rurales en Perú: 36.5% cuentan con celular y 0.1% con Internet

El Informe Técnico "Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación en los Hogares" trimestre: abril-mayo-junio 2009, revela que el 36,5% de los hogares del área rural tienen celular, es decir, aumentó 12,3 puntos porcentuales, respecto a similar trimestre del año anterior que fue de 24,2%.

El Informe también indica que en el área rural, sólamente 0,1% tienen acceso a Internet en sus hogares.

Lea el artículo completo

Mobile Applications in Agriculture and Rural Development

The World Bank recently convened a workshop to discuss 'Mobile Innovations for Social and Economic Transformation'. One of the sessions looked into applications in agriculture and rural development.

Read a report from the session; download presentations by Kerry McNamara (PPTx format), David Edelstein (Grameen Foundation) and Aparajita Goyal (World Bank).

In November, the 2009 CTA Observatory meeting on ICTs for Development will discuss mobile devices in agriculture; a recent issue of ICT Update. is focused on mobiles.

Can new mobile phone services in rural India promote economic empowerment?

The Wall Street Journal has published an extensive article on how new mobile phone services can promote economic empowerment in rural communities of India.

The company NOKIA says that much of the growth in India is coming from outside the major urban centers and the Nokia Life Tools (NLT) service's development has happened through partnerships that Nokia has forged locally. This includes a content-sharing agreement with partners. This partnering strategy isn't confined to agriculture. "But it's in agriculture that the entire ecosystem is coming together," as D. Shivakumar, of Nokia India, puts it.

Nokia dials rural market with new services in India

A recent announcement said that Nokia Corporation aims to tap the fast-growing rural market with various new services. It would also look at lowering the affordability barrier for mobile phones by providing micro-financing facilities.

“We estimate 500 million people will have the benefit of mobility by 2010 and the telecom sector would be the biggest contributor to GDP. We also believe that much of the growth will take place in the non-urban markets, where penetration is still low at 13 per cent,” said Mr Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO, Nokia Corp. He added that India is the second biggest market in terms of revenues for Nokia.

The company also announced the national roll-out of Nokia Life Tools services, which would eventually cover 17 States. Targeted at the rural customer, Nokia Life Tools provides useful information on weather conditions, farm inputs and market prices. Nokia also announced that it plans to offer a micro-financing facility for its phones across 12 States, for which it is currently in talks with few institutions. This facility would be aimed largely at women in rural areas.

Asian irrigation must be revitalised - mobile phones could help

A recent article indicates that Asia's run-down irrigation systems need to be updated if the continent is to meet the challenge of feeding an extra 1.5 billion people by 2050.

Researchers from IWMI and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) modelled the water requirements of three different ways of feeding the booming population: importing food, expanding and improving rain-fed agriculture, and enhancing irrigated agriculture.

Investment is needed to encourage farmers to use new technologies, says Chartres (DG of IWMI). "The farmers themselves are using old-style systems, there's very little adoption of high-tech or efficient irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation or sprinklers ... there's a lack of capacity for the adoption of new technologies across the whole farming system."

Other new technologies could help. "There's a tremendous need for knowledge. But most farmers have a mobile phone in India and China and more and more have access to the Internet, so there's much more opportunity to get information out there."

Mobile phones alone can’t empower rural women in Pakistan

An article in The News reports that the "availability of network coverage and mobile phones alone cannot ensure that the potential of ICTs would reach female users in rural areas and contribute to their empowerment."

These findings are part of a study on ‘The Gender Digital Divide in Rural Pakistan’ by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

The presentation by Karin Astrid Siegmann concludes:

• Revised IT Policy/interventions for women’s empowerment to stress role of ‘old’ ICTs such as radio, TV for development & women’s empowerment in particular: accessible & potentially empowering
• Implies (public) investment in related infrastructure & (localised) contents
• Social norms crucial factors determining women & girls’ access to & use of ICTs, to be addressed if universal access to ICTs is policy objective
• ICTs not silver bullet for development: Basic development issues, e.g. livelihood insecurity, physical infrastructure, to be addressed first.