This report prepared by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) examines how information related constraints in poor rural areas are being overcome and how information technology is being employed to the benefit of people in South Asia.
Poor people are constrained by limited access to information and poor communications technology. The research looked at the use of ‘information communications technologies’ (ICTs) in providing agricultural extension services, getting timely market price information, finding out about rural wage labour opportunities, helping rural communities to build a sustainable asset base and understanding crop diseases and soil nutrition.
The results of the research bring together rigorously tested practices and methods of applying ICTs for improving rural livelihoods. Each research study has investigated how and to what extent a specific ICT intervention made a difference. Together it shows how ICTs have empowered rural people and transformed livelihoods in agriculture: by filling information gaps, raising awareness, building skills and extending social networks.
The focus was on agricultural communities, as Asia’s poor and middle-income countries have primarily agriculture-based economies. However, a broader ‘livelihoods’ approach has been taken to ensure that we observe the variety of ways ICTs can have an effect on rural communities. The scope of the research took into account the range of on-farm and off-farm productive and reproductive activities that support farming households and communities.
Through evaluations of existing projects in Asia, many of which focused on enabling farmers to access the price of produce in local markets in real time, local researchers were able to shed light on the relationship between ICT usage and improvements in rural livelihoods. It is of no surprise that mobile phones figure prominently in much of the discussion of this report. In conclusion, this report makes an important, and much needed, contribution to understanding the ways in which ICTs influence rural livelihoods.
The report has six case studies from China, India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka -
- Price transparency in agricultural produce markets: Sri Lanka - Sriganesh Lokanathan, Harsha de Silva and Iran Fernando
- A crop nutrient management decision support system: India - Daniel Anand Raj, A. V. Poo Murugesan, Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya,S. Olaganathan and K. Sasikumar
- LifeLines: livelihood solutions through mobile technology in India - S. M. Haider Rizvi
- Connecting to work: non-agricultural livelihood opportunities for rural wage labour in Sri Lanka - Amila Balasuriya and Nilakshi de Silva
- Impact assessment of the e-AGRIKultura project: Philippines - Erniel B. Barrios, Joseph Ryan G. Lansangan and John Carlo P. Daquis
- Evaluation of a rural information project in Ningxia in China - Nie Fengying, Zhang Li, Bi Jieying, Liu Fujiang and Tian Xiaochao
The case study from India - "A crop nutrient management decision support system" begins with how mobile phone growth over the last few years has made it a ubiquitous device and how it can help reach out to a large number of farmers. Through this action research, a system was designed, developed and implemented at the farm level to answer the question whether providing customized crop cultivation and nutrient management practices to farmers can improve livelihoods, and if so, what are the implications of such an effort. This study has shown that information and communications technologies (ICTs) when appropriately harnessed can increase farmers’ access to information. Tailor-made information to individual farmers can improve farm productivity. This study also indicates the importance of socially embedding the technology with the help of local institutions to effectively address the information needs of farmers.
Download the report here