Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing
Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing
Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing
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FIND THE YOUNG FARMER<br />
Isaac Ch<strong>and</strong>a, Zambia,<br />
Southern Africa<br />
I strive to help youth<br />
<strong>in</strong>crease the levels of adoption<br />
of <strong>ICT</strong>s <strong>in</strong> my region <strong>and</strong> the<br />
nation by build<strong>in</strong>g capacity<br />
<strong>and</strong> show<strong>in</strong>g dynamics between<br />
<strong>ICT</strong>s <strong>and</strong> particular sectors of<br />
development.<br />
I am a 24-year-old male Zambian. I am a social<br />
worker <strong>and</strong> <strong>ICT</strong> tra<strong>in</strong>er <strong>and</strong> consultant <strong>and</strong> currently<br />
the Executive Director for Ndola Youth<br />
Resource Centre, an organization that specialises<br />
<strong>in</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>ICT</strong> for youth development. As I grew<br />
up, I came to learn that what separates a successful<br />
youth from another is simply the availability<br />
of relevant <strong>in</strong>formation. My desire is to<br />
have a skilled young generation that rely on <strong>ICT</strong>s<br />
to make well-<strong>in</strong>formed decisions for susta<strong>in</strong>able<br />
livelihood development.<br />
My <strong>in</strong>terests: Rural development <strong>and</strong> youth<br />
development<br />
Contact: www.facebook.com/Isaac.ch<strong>and</strong>a<br />
Essay summary<br />
With high youth unemployment <strong>in</strong> Zambia,<br />
government schemes are offer<strong>in</strong>g young<br />
people <strong>in</strong> the Copperbelt prov<strong>in</strong>ce easier access<br />
to agricultural l<strong>and</strong>, <strong>in</strong>puts, livestock, tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />
opportunities <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> some areas, start-up capital.<br />
But limited market exposure cont<strong>in</strong>ues to be a<br />
serious obstacle for many young farmers, whose<br />
lack of experience makes them an easy target<br />
for unscrupulous buyers <strong>and</strong> middle-men.<br />
One practical solution lies <strong>in</strong> an Internet-based<br />
platform designed to showcase young farmers<br />
<strong>and</strong> their products <strong>and</strong> to l<strong>in</strong>k them to markets.<br />
The F<strong>in</strong>d the Young Farmer website could offer<br />
both audio <strong>and</strong> visual <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> be developed<br />
us<strong>in</strong>g free <strong>and</strong> open source software such<br />
as Dreamweaver <strong>and</strong> easy Php for web design,<br />
MySQL for databases <strong>and</strong> Wikipedia for blogs<br />
<strong>and</strong> wikis.<br />
The platform would serve as a directory for<br />
agricultural commodities <strong>and</strong> services, allow<strong>in</strong>g<br />
young farmers to advertise what they have to<br />
offer <strong>and</strong> consumers to search by agricultural<br />
product, service or location, us<strong>in</strong>g general or<br />
more ref<strong>in</strong>ed criteria. As well as the name <strong>and</strong><br />
contact details of young farmers <strong>and</strong> organizations,<br />
the website would offer space to post<br />
photographs of produce <strong>and</strong> l<strong>in</strong>ks to blogs or<br />
Youtube videos.<br />
| 48<br />
<strong>Emerg<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>Voices</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>ICT</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>agriculture</strong> | PART 3
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