Download - Overview of Initial Ag-ICT Trip to Ethiopia
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Exploring ICT’s potential to help smallholder farmersEthiopia
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• Funded by the Gates Foundation• Looking for high-impact ways to apply ICT to
small-holder agriculture to improve farmer livelihoods
Project Goals Introduction
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What We Did Introduction
Our team: •Traveled• Observed• Interviewed• Brainstormed
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• The only country in Africa that was never colonized• Lucy, Salem, Arc of the Covenant• Second most populated country in Africa• Ongoing war with Eritrea• History of famine and civil war – Conflict between the Communist party, “The Derg,” and
the Democratic Liberation Front, 1974 to 1991– Tigray people currently in power
• Half Christian, half Muslim• Has the greatest water reserves in Africa
Ethiopia Interesting Facts Introduction
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• People– Over 80% of Ethiopians are farmers– The majority of them are barely at subsistence– Government has organized farmers into cooperatives and unions
• Land– No land ownership: land use rights– 4% of arable land is irrigated
• Crops– Teff, wheat and maize are the most common crops– Coffee and oilseeds (sesame) are most valuable exports– Other high-value crops are fruits (oranges, bananas) and vegetables
(tomatoes, onions, green beans)
Ethiopian Agriculture Overview
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• Regions– Generally broken down by language
and ethnicity– 5 major languages but 50-80 total
• Woredas– Most farmer programs are managed at
district level
• Kabele– Villages or Peasant Associations are
the level at which extension, coops and Farmer Training Centers are organized
– Many are large enough to be split into sub-villages
Ethiopian Agriculture Government
Regions
Zones
Woredas (Districts)
Kabeli
(Village, PA, Tabia)
Sub-Village
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• Trust– Bad experiences with gov programs (esp during Communism) and even some NGOs
have created a culture of distrust
• Relevance– Many “best practices” are not properly contextualized for specific areas– Farmers need to see that it will help them before buying in
• Inertia– Many farmers have been working the land for generations and don’t understand why
they need to change
• Access– Many farmers don’t have access to improved seed and fertilizer, or don’t have access to
finance to purchase them
• Stability– One bad year can cause a farmer to slip into poverty– Few programs to help them get out – become aid dependent
Ethiopian Agriculture Culture Challenges
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• Sporadic electricity nation-wide• Government monopoly of communications infrastructure
– Cell phones• Even when full coverage, network often busy / non-responsive• SMS turned off for 2 years during last election• Certain websites blocked (Skype, Blogspot)• CDMA just introduced
– Data Network• Extremely slow, even in the capital city on a good day• Quality and quantity of cables very poor / sparse
– Radio permits• CB Radio permits difficult to obtain• Radio broadcasting expensive (national and regional radio – not much local
radio)
• Woreda NET• Ubiquitous use of flash drives
ICT in Ethiopia Introduction
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CASE STUDIESLearning from what already exists
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Rift Valley Children and Women Development
Case Study #1 Irrigation Cooperative
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• Actions– Irrigation Infrastructure Developed
• RCWD initially funded canals, pumps• Land redistribution process
– Supported extension activities– Facilitated green bean market linkages (EthioFlora)– Encouraged household to save individually– Helped start a revolving fund
• 10% of farmer proceeds re-invested for all maintenance
• Results– Food secure, able to buy oxen, iron roofs,
improved community spirit
Case Study #1 Irrigation Cooperative
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• Challenges– Required significant initial capital investment– Perceived lack of bargaining power with single buyer
• Takeaways– Immediately establishing that the coop is financially
responsible for community infrastructure– Significant effort needed to:
• build coop skills and convince them to pool resources • convince farmers to change growing practices
Case Study #1 Irrigation Cooperative
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REST, Oxfam America, DECSI, Nyala
Case Study #2 Micro-Insurance
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• Actions– Initial investment (irrigation infrastructure developed)
• Oxfam America funded river diversion project• Land redistribution process
– Agricultural Extension• Heavy use of demonstration plots• Community nursery• REST “tissue culture” facility
– Risk minimization• Crop diversification (fruit, vegetables, and teff) • Micro-Insurance (Nyala)
– DECSI Financing• Fertilizer and Input supplies
Case Study #2 Micro-Insurance
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• Challenges– Irrigation Cooperative Capacity
• No community fund, no consensus on pooling resources• Other farmers at the periphery could potentially benefit
– Micro-insurance• Educating farmers about insurance; managing risk
• Takeaways– Even in drought-prone areas, farmers can protect
themselves– Establishing understanding of community savings is critical
Case Study #2 Micro-Insurance
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Micro-Insurance Details• Swiss RE is the re-insurer• Requires a premium 22% of what they want to insure• Most farmers insured several hundred birr of their crop• Could enroll by paying labor (PSNP) or through cash• Payout determined through rain level• Major education initiative
– Chance games– Drama (acting out scenarios)
• 200 farmers signed up
Case Study #2 Micro-Insurance
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JICA
Case Study #3 Farmer Field School
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• Actions– WaBuBs (Walda Bulchiinsa Bosonaa)
“Forest Management Association”• Participatory Forest Management• Organic / fair trade certification• Management training
– Farmer Field Schools• Learn by doing / experimentation• DA or “graduated farmer” teacher• Mandatory attendance• Meet once a week for 3-4 hours• Learn by doing
Case Study #3 Farmer Field School
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• Results–Motivated farmers– All farmers take what they learn and apply it
to their homesteads
• Challenges– Difficult for FFSs to learn from one another– FFS exchanges are extremely popular, but only
happen once a year– Decentralization makes monitoring hard
Case Study #3 Farmer Field School
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• Takeaways– Importance of:• Taking ownership of the curriculum• Learning experimentation and
troubleshooting– Farmers learn by doing– Farmers are responsive to being taught by
one another
Case Study #3 Farmer Field School
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Jimma
Case Study #4 Oromia Coffee Union
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• Actions– Single-product focus– Building market leverage through high-volume transactions– Certification to earn a premium price– Engage in value-added services (washing, packaging)– Sell directly to exporters– “Triple Payout”
• Results– Dividend payments– Community Infrastructure projects– Sufficient revenue to re-invest in business and community
Case Study #4 Oromia Coffee Union
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• Challenges– Organizational capacity of cooperatives varies
according to:• Leadership / business savvy• Planning• Reporting
– Traceability needed to ensure continued certification
Case Study #4 Oromia Coffee Union
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• Takeaways– Large-volume unions build market leverage and
give higher premiums to farmers– Community savings can lead to further income
increases in the future through investment– Major incentives exist that entice farmers to join
• Open Questions– Can this success be replicated for other cash
crops?
Case Study #4 Oromia Coffee Union
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ILRI, CEDA
Case Study #5 IPMS
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• Actions (4 Pillars)– Knowledge Management
• IPMS Knowledge Portal• Regional and local “Knowledge Centers”
– Agricultural training materials– TV & DVD players– PC & phone line / CDMA-based modem
• Knowledge exchanges – farmer field days, field trips, etc.• Experimentation with training curriculums to farmers
– Capacity Building• Training and short courses for DAs
– Innovation & Commodity Development• Production techniques• Market linkage
– Research
Case Study #5 IPMS
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• Results – Still being evaluated, but preliminary feedback:• DVDs and “farmer field days” are wildly popular• DAs interviewed reported using Internet – connectivity
surprisingly fast using CDMA
• Challenges– Computer literacy– Access to electricity– Network
Case Study #5 IPMS
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• Takeaways– Farmers learn from each other’s successes– It is possible to have supplementary ICT at the FTC
level– Could be an initial platform for enhanced 2-way
communication
Case Study #5 IPMS
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Meki and Wonji
Case Study #6 Catholic Relief Services
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• ActionsCRS uses an integrated approach– Education– Food Security
• Extension Work• Provision of Improved Seeds• Fertilizer
– Health• Promoting Savings & Credit groups through
Metamamen• Supplementing traditional extension and coop/union
system
Case Study #5 Catholic Relief Services
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• Results– Access to new seeds and fertilizer– Improved farming techniques
• Challenges– Will investment in Haricot bean value chain improve
farmers’ livelihoods?– Limited access to finance– Water supply issues– Under-developed irrigation– Organizational Capacity
Case Study #6 Catholic Relief Services
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• Takeaways– Organizing Coops focused on high-value crops can
improve farmer livelihoods– Creating a new value chain is very difficult and
costly– Need proper incentives to achieve quality
improvements– Access to finance and water are critical for any
program
Case Study #6 Catholic Relief Services
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TAMPA and the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
Case Study #7 Market Prices
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TAMPA - Tigray
Case Study #7 Market Prices
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ECX
Case Study #7 Market Prices
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CHALLENGES, STRENGTHS, AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Summarizing Field Observations
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Summary Challenges
Financing & Inputs
• Lack of access
• Shortage of supply
Agricultural Training
• Lack of resources
• Demonstration of relevance
Organizational Capacity
•Leadership capacity of cooperatives, unions, and farmer groups•Farmer participation
Communication
•Limited infrastructure•Lack of two-way communication
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Summary Field Observations
RCWD
REST Micro-Insurance
JICA FFS
Oromia Coffee Union
IPMS
CRS
Strengths Challenges
•Organizational capacity•Incentives for participation•Community savings and investing
•Market linkages•Reliance on single buyer•Quality control
•High-value crop production•Access to household loans•Financial protection
•Community decision-making ability•Little community investment
•Strong education program•Farmer ownership of curriculum•Emphasis on experimentation
•Short-term pilot•Dependence on government
•Well organized union and coops•Emphasis on value-add services•Substantial community investing
•May only be possible with Coffee•Scaling and management training
•Advanced ICT infrastructure•Centralization of knowledge•Farmer to farmer connections
•Short-term pilot•Heavy investment requirements•ICT impact is mostly at DA level
•Integrated development approach•Building organizational capacity•Forging market linkages
•Access to credit / financing•Capacity of coops / unions
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Question Adiha Tabia River Diversion
Project (REST & Oxfam America) How do we convince members of
the cooperative to save collectively to invest in community infrastructure?
Answer Haleku Melka TessoIrrigation
Cooperative (RCWD) Members have agreed (by
consensus) to give 10% of their profits back to the cooperative!
Challenges Address Organizational Capacity
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Question Farmers in Meki and Wonji
(CRS) How do we provide a buffer
for our farmers when drought is endemic to our area?
Answer Adiha River Diversion Project
(REST & Oxfam America) Invest in crop insurance
based on rainfall measurements.
Challenges Address Financing
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Question Farmer Field Schools – Jimma How do I build a
“modern”beehive with local materials?
Answer IPMS – Gondar We’ve already produced a
photo essay / case study outlining how to do this!
Challenges Address Agriculture Techniques
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Question Haleku Melka Tesso Irrigation
Cooperative How do we organize into a
like-minded cooperative union to get higher prices?
Answer Oromia Coffee Union We engage in value-add
services and export directly to International buyers!
Challenges Address Sales & Marketing
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IDEAS FOR ICT IN ETHIOPIAEducation platform and streamlining finance
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• Farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing using multimedia for things like– agricultural practices– how financing works– how community savings works– how value-added services work
• Expanding access to micro-finance using handheld devices to enhance:– Efficiency in coverage– Data entry & reporting– Transparency
ICT Ideas Overview Potential Ideas
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• Enhancing field-to-office and office-to-field communication using structured communication tools using synchronization software. Example:– Field collects GPS coordinates, photos, and data about
drinking water– Data is saved in a standard format (using some software)
and put onto a USB thumb drive (automatically)– Thumb drive is driven to headquarters, synchronized with
the central GIS repository (automatically)– Everyone has access to the data -- if every field office did
this, large, integrated databases could be compiled relatively easily
ICT Ideas Overview Potential Ideas
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Farmer to Farmer Video Sharing
A grassroots peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing network
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• Farmers learn best from other farmers
• Farmers are risk averse• Farmers believe
demonstrations• Farmer, empowered by
experts, are ultimately the most effective teachers
• Farmers are capable and eager to learn when they perceive information as relevant
Knowledge Sharing Lessons Learned
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• Agricultural Extension– New agricultural practices improving productivity– Moving beyond subsistence farming
• Business– Exploring market linkage opportunities– Certification– Value-added post-harvest techniques– Insurance and risk-minimization
• Organizational Capacity– Conflict resolution– Allocating community resources– Financing
Knowledge Sharing Existing Innovations
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• What if there were a way to easily empower model farmers to be teachers?
• What if farmers in one village could quickly benefit from innovations in a similarly-situated village?
• What if newfound knowledge could quickly be put into action using information on how to obtain inputs and finance?
Knowledge Sharing Developing a Tool
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• Supplementing agricultural extension using DVDs
• Participatory content production– DAs followed template and film:
• Farmers demonstrating techniques
• Farmers giving testimonials
– Footage shipped to regional video editor
– Footage edited, annotated, indexed, and submitted to central repository
Photo taken from http://www.digitalgreen.org, courtesy of Rajesh Veeraraghavan
Digital Green A Story from India
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• Disseminating Content– DVDs mailed from central repository to target field
schools– DVDs are publically screened with minimally trained
mediator (3x / week)– Relevant input supplies are made available for purchase– DVD content coordinated according to seasonal
relevance • Results / Effectiveness
– 10 times more effective (per dollar spent) than traditional extension (according to their data and assumptions).
Digital Green A Story from India
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• Applying Digital Green in Ethiopia– Videos (farmer to farmer)– Photos and audio– Audio (broadcast over radio)
Digital Green Applying it to Ethiopia
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Handhelds for MFIs
Increasing access to financing through digital forms
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Addressed Challenges
•Farmers do not have access or education about financial services•Many have to walk long distances to local branches
Limited Coverage
•Usage of DAs as intermediary is problematic•Interferes with education role and strains relationshipsUse of DAs•Many MFIs manually track records in Excel•Large amount of required labor and opportunity for error due to data entryLack of MIS
•There is more demand for loans than supply of capital•Borrowing from commercial banks can cost up to 8%
Capital Shortage
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Proposal Field Agent
• Handheld device with interactive forms requiring minimal training
• Questions to determine loan packages that are available for individual farmer
• Collect enough data to process loan application
• Field Agent can quickly process dozens of farmers
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Proposal Internal Processing
Downloading •All data is downloaded directly into an electronic data management system•Applications can be processed immediately
Integration •Data can be sent electronically (via flash drive or email) to central branch•Data can be formatted to work with any software
Reporting •Preset reports can be instantly generated from electronic data•Monitoring can also be fully integrated
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• Eliminate DA involvement
• Each agent could cover ~10 sub-villages per week
• Monthly contact with every sub-village
• 1 branch with 5 agents can cover 200 sub-villages
Impact Coverage
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Impact Efficiency
• Low cost field agents given large potential coverage area
• Reduced data entry time, labor and errors
• Improved tracking and reporting
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Impact Capital Raising
Increased Attractiveness to Investment
ROI• Increased efficiency
reduces costs• Lower costs increase ROI
Transparency• Handhelds facilitate
monitoring• Electronic data
management improves reporting
Growth• Handhelds increase
farmer access to loans• Increased access creates
strong portfolio growth
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Traceability Tool for Certification
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• Certification can add up to a 25% premium on the sale price of a commodity
• Could entice greater participation in coop / union value chain
• Requires the ability to trace produce to the farmer, no basic farmer attributes (land owned, amount earned, assets, etc.)
• Much of this information is already collected by the DA
Traceability Tool Introduction
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• Collection– Data, such as quantity produced, farmer who
produced it, basic farmer attributes, could be entered into a small handheld or PC form.
• Transmission– Data could be transmitted to central repository over
the network, by flash drive, or by paper form• Storage– Data could be kept in a central database (hosted by
the cooperative union)
Traceability Tool Proposal
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• Corresponding grain from the farmer could be labeled as it is given to the primary cooperative
• Could also provide a quality feedback mechanism – ACOS could flag producers by shipment, which could be traced to the individual farmer.
Traceability Tool Proposal
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• Internal inspection and traceability system evaluated in coffee cooperative in Mexico (UC Berkeley project – Digital ICS).
• Results:– Deployed with over 2,000 farmers– 30% reduction in inspection time– 71% reduction in evaluation time– $4,000 yearly savings for cooperatives– Feedback from farmers used to inform decision-
making and governance
Traceability Tool Success in Mexico
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Structured Two-Way Communication
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Architecture FTC Communication Network
File Transfer•New content files added•New FTC files uploaded
Headquarters
File TransferNetwork/US
B FTC
Client Software•Arrange views•Select content•Input data•Synchronize
Server Software•Content Repository files• Training materials• Accessing inputs• Stories
•Database•Synchronize
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• Could be used for information dissemination– Training materials for crop diversification– Farmers group organizational tools
• Or structured communication– Request for farm inputs (packages)– MFI Application Form– Farmer asset data tracking
Modules FTC Communication Network
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The same modules could be packaged in different ways…
• Farmer View – Graphics, visualizations, and photos– MP3s & recordings of radio broadcasts– Videos– “How to” training materials
• DA View– Training materials– Forms / Worksheets
Views of the Information FTC Communication Network
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Rift Valley Water Cooperative
Narrative View FTC Communication Network
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TeffMaizeWheatOnions & TomatosHaricot Beans
Media •Video•Audio
Financing •Information•Application
Markets •Buyers•Cooperative Union
Keys to Success
•Lessons Learned•Favorite Tools
Telling a Story FTC Communication Network
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Questions?Thank you to CRS, Oxfam America, REST, RCWD, IPMS, JICA, IDE, Oromia Coffee Union, and everyone else for helping us learn and giving us perspective