Question 1 for discussion Monday 17 Nov.

In Uganda the Agric sector is comprised of illiterate, semi illiterate and literate people. Mobile technology is widely used by everybody that can afford a handset. Product Prices: Due to price fluctuations in agricultural products,mobile telephone service have been so useful to farmers, they can easily find out the current prices on the market which has reduced exploitation of farmers by business people. Exposure: Mobile technology has made it easy for farmers to get in touch with the market and the business world and viseversa. However, there is less mechanisation in Agriculture in Uganda besides being the leading revenue earner for the country.[/quote]

Is literacy a prerequisite for mobile telephony utilization?

Most usage of mobile telephony in rural area in Israel is the same as for all other sectors, i.e. for verbal communication. Because internet connections are available and commonly used by the agricultural sector, then very little, if at all, is for data transfer. As I described in my introductory remark, we have tried to take the cellular system a bit further and to use the devise as a data-logger with optional two-way communication. We have implemented cellular data collection for pest scouts, and counting dates fruit (which is part of the growing protocol). The recognition of the farmers on the need to maintain information was part of the shift in global marketing towards maintaining traceability. Nowadays, when discussing the issues with farmers, they understand and even raise the need for data collection and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in situ. For example, when visiting a green house, the farmer needs to write notes, schedule activities, such as spraying, while being able to see previous activities in that plot, what chemicals could he spray etc. Our model to implement cellular data collection and dissemination include the clients that are: farmers, organizations, and contract workers; data maintenance services; and support. The user will buy his/her own cellular units and will pay for the data services. We need to remember that because cellular phones are so common, we actually not paying for the unit because we already have it, and if necessary all we have to do is replace the unit we are using with a different one. The quality of service for mobiles is such that we practically using a unit that will not fail. Amots Hetzroni <[email protected]>

Dear Michael It is really great to find you at this virtual platform with a new agenda. With reference to your very relevant question, I submit herewith a few examples, tata chemical ltd, a leading corporate house in India has started smart krishi initiative where throgh mobile SMS thay will be delivering the following information to farmers: Commdity arrivals at mandis Commodity prices at mandis weather information Another new initiative called Dr. SMS has been set up in ditrict khozikode of Kerala state, where through mobile SMS, the people living in rural areas are delivered services related to health such names of doctors. hospitals, facilities such as emergency vans/ventilators etc. by calling a special no. and by return SMS , they will get to know the information on health services in their vicinity. This is an example of very specific and custyomised type of service in this field But in my view, these services should not be limited to only agriculture related information rather than be extended to medical and education services, as in one of my study, it has been found that rural people are devoid of the information on these two aspects regards

Hi Jimmy, This sounds fascinating. I am really interested to learn more about use of mobile telephony for services related to agricultural production. Most of the experiences I am aware of focus on market information so I would be really interested to know more about your experiences. One of the key challenges that we face in the research into use programme is identifying mechanisms to capture demand for services and your applications interest me as they address various stages in the agricultural supply chain. I look forward to hearing back from you Louise

Dear all I think there are some critical success factors for the success of mobile telephony projects in rural areas. cost effctive technologies and solutions Networking among all stakeholders as well as govt. institutions providing timely and relevant information training and capacity building of all involved Building telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas

I would be very interested to hear any accounts of mobile phone applications that are successful in rural Kenya. We hear much about how mobile services are very developed in Kenya but that did not necessarily tie with what we have found in 2 rural communities. We are working with 2 communities in different rural areas in Kenya and we found that nearly all use of phone was for calls (virtually no SMS). In the farming communities we met phones did not seem to be being used very much to find out about market prices though certainly the middle men were using phones. Phones were being used sometimes to arrange pick up points and time for transportation. The safaricom "SMS Sokoni" service, which provides daily agricultural commodity prices by text did not appear to be in use by these farmers. Obviously, these are rather subjective impressions and quite probably not generally true. Does anyone have good information about who in rural areas is using SMS services in Kenya, where and what for?

Dear All, Like Brenda refer in Africa. One of the main issues are related with network coverage. Most of the rural areas are not with the disarable network connection. Even in a smal country like Portugal, some parts of the rural areas have lack of network connection Jorge Maia