Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing

e a powerful tool for increasing agricultural
output. Mapping markets for various products
could help farmers decide where best to place
their products. The same service could supply
information on re quire ments for accessing particular
markets, especially for export.
Ineffective extension services pose major difficulties
for Nigerian farmers, and here too, ICTs
can help. Distance learning can offer valuable
information to producers. Farmers living anywhere
in the country can go to ICT centres to
sign up for online courses that will give them
the technical knowledge they need to adopt
sound agricultural practices, as well as business
management skills such as book-keeping. Manuals,
containing practical information about production
and marketing methods, can be offered
online or as CDs. Video podcasts offer farmers
an easy way of learning about crop and livestock
production. Instead of the top-down system,
why not use a two-way extension service
method? The ask-the-expert approach, successfully
used in a number of countries and known
by various names, enables producers to ask
specific questions and receive answers via a
feedback platform, generally a website. Farmers
can use Internet blogs to share their experiences
with other farmers, swapping problems
and solutions with each other.
In order to set these kinds of services in place,
changes will have to be made at policy level.
Local government will need to do more to
en sure the provision of basic ICT facilities for
communities. One idea is to form partnerships
with private organizations to set up ICT centres
in rural areas. With 65% of Nigerians under the
age of 25, youth will be a powerful force in
developing the country’s agriculture sector.
Youth interest in the sector could be stimulated
by forming young farmers’ clubs in secondary
schools, while the National Youth Service Corp
(NYSC) – a mandatory one-year scheme for
graduates in Nigeria – could be an effective tool
for fostering ICT development in rural communities.
Who better to pass on ICT skills and training
than young educated members of NYSC? And
what would be a better gift for the new generation
of farmers?
Leveraging the national youth
service corp
An online database, containing names, phone
numbers, websites, email and contact addresses
for all agricultural extension centres, would be
a useful service, especially if supplemented by
details of community focus groups, NGOs, credit
suppliers and development partners. Communication
between these groups would open
the door to more opportunities for introducing
high-yielding and innovative practices and linking
farmers to markets.
Based on the original essay:
“Using ICTs to bridge the agricultural extension
Gap and improving market access for rural farmers
in Nigeria: A practical approach” by Itodo
Samuel Anthony.
Shaping the future of ACP rural development using ICTs... 27 |