New and Emerging Technologies Research Competition: Phase 1 call for proposals
Email completed application to
by 17.00 12th July 2010
Title of the Proposal
A model for developing ICT based services for Agriculture ExtensionDetails of Applicants
Organisation where the funding would be held
Organisation name / CAB International (CABI)Address / CABI Head Office, Nosworthy Way, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8DE
Country/region / England
Organisation website / www.cabi.org
Organisation type (Place ü in relevant box. If other, please specify)
Government agencyNGO
Research body / think tank / university
Other (Intergovernmental Organisation) / ü
Legal status
What is the organisation’s legal status (e.g. nationally registered NGO)? / CABI is an international not-for-profit, intergovernmental organization established by a UN Treaty-level agreement among its member countries, with its headquarters in the United KingdomIs the organisation legally eligible to receive DFID funding? / yes
Primary contact details
First name / Elizabeth / Last name / DodsworthDesignation / Global Director – Knowledge Management / Telephone / 01491 829473
Address / CABI Headquarters
Nosworthy Way
Wallingford
Oxfordshire
OX10 8DE
E-mail /
Signatory on contract (if different from above)
First name / Last nameDesignation / Telephone
Address
References
Please provide details of 2 referees that DFID can approach for references (as needed). / Dr Aslam Gill, Commissioner Minor Crops, Ministry of Food & Agriculture, B-Block, Pak Secretariat, IslamabadTel: 92-51-5957 762 , Cell: 92-334 5008 112, email:
Mr Mohammad Iqbal, Chief Operating Officer, Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Company, 2nd floor, 126-Y Commercial Area, Phase-III, DHA, Lahore.
Tel: 92-42-99232210- 7 lines, Cell: 92-300-2361 660. Email: , www.phdeb.org.pk
CVs of participating individuals
Please attach CVs (each no more than 3 pages) of all individuals who may work on this programme and outline their suitability. Please identify the principal research contact for this work. / Elizabeth Dodsworth: overall Quality Assurance of the project. She has 23 years in information dissemination, publishing and editorial business, most recently directing and managing project and business development in CABI where she leads the CABI-wide Knowledge Management theme. She has experience of being the Project Executive for large Knowledge Management projects covering rural knowledge systems through to access to research information. She brings her experience of being Chair of the Board of Governors of the International Food Information Service (IFIS), a registered charity which produces databases and information products in food science and technology and a member of the Board of IAALD, the global association for agricultural information scientists.Mahrukh Siraj: Project Manager. She is experienced in management of projects and is a certified PRINCEII practitioner. She has many years experience in IT and technology management, and a special interest in applying ICTs for development. Of late she has been involved in studying the use of ICTs for the improvement of agriculture.
Dr M R Shafique: several years experience at the senior most levels in the Punjab Agriculture Department. He brings a wealth of experience, knowledge of the extension system of the Punjab province and an insight into the pros and cons of the current model.
Dr Kauser Khan: a qualified agricultural economist. He has been conducting training of trainers using participatory methods. Has is also experienced in knowledge gap studies of farmers for horticulture crops.
Akifa Ahmed and Ambreen Siddiqui: marketing and social research consultants mainly involved in
• Social and Developmental Research;
• Consumer Research;
• Qualitative Research.
These team members will provide an insight into the consumer behaviour in adoption of new technologies, factors in taking decisions with regards to farm profitability, etc.
Z Ahmed: currently a Senior Lecturer at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi, in the Computer Science Department. He is a teacher, software engineer and researcher. His role is to support the research in developing application definitions for the delivery the identified content in accordance with consumer behaviour. He will be working closely with the team members involved in business model definition and content definition.
Previous relevant experience
Please list details of previous successful research projects relevant to this work area. / CABI’s previous relevant experienceDFID’s R4D web portal www.research4development.info
CABI leads a consortium which has developed this portal and its associated communication functions for DFID. Part of the service delivers a current awareness service through identifying research news items and broadcasting themed services using RSS feeds. It has over 10,000 subscribers to around 100 themed alerts.
ICTs in India - Specialist Agricultural Q&A Service
CABI is focusing on setting up linkages with local service providers to provide specialist Q&A services to up to five million farmers in 17 states. Working with IKSL, a commercial joint venture offering products and services specifically designed for farmers over the mobile network, the aim is to promote good agricultural practice and improve productivity through better management of nutrients and pest problems in crop production and animal husbandry. During the trial period the project will identify the skills and expertise required, quantify demand for expert advisory and scientific backstopping; define the operational requirements for running a knowledge management centre; and explore further business opportunities.
ICTs in China – Making Research Findings Accessible
In China CABI aims to use ICTs to empower farmers in Western China by making research findings more accessible to them. CABI is exploring the feasibility of delivering rural knowledge services in earthquake-stricken areas in Sichuan Province. Mechanisms of transforming scientific and technical information age into knowledge services in these rural areas are being identified. Discussions with Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences are taking place to select sites for a project proposal on rural knowledge transfer facilitated by ICTs. The project aims to integrate the rural knowledge delivery by ICTs with the Technical Task Force initiative, an innovative mechanism of rural technology extension.
KAINet and AGRIS
The Kenya Agricultural Information Network (KAINet) is a forum to enable sharing of information across the agricultural sector. CABI provides the technical backstopping for the AGRIS project, to establish a pilot agricultural electronic repository. In Kenya this focuses on the establishment of a pilot implementation of an agricultural electronic repository as part of the Kenyan national science and technology information system in relation to the Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture.
Combating Hunger and Rural Poverty through Increasing Access to Knowledge: Participation of IFAD in the Global Compendium Programme
This project focuses on the development and utilization of electronic knowledge management tools relating to livestock, including aquaculture in Tanzania. The specific objectives include transformation of scientific and technical information and local content development; information exchange; developing training programmes and materials; awareness raising; and impact assessment. With more courses planned and a network of compendia users being built up, the programme is set to grow in content and accessibility and play a role in the improvement of many poor people’s lives. The processes for knowledge transformation and training and use of baseline knowledge bases has been adopted.
SARNISSA
CABI is part of the consortium delivery an EU FP7 programme: The Sustainable Aquaculture Research Network in Sub Saharan Africa (SARNISSA): the network now numbers 1000 individuals; 42 African countries and 43 other countries. The network supports academia and industry in sub-Saharan Africa share aquaculture information with Europe and Asia. The bilingual (English and French) ‘wiki’ style website – www.sarnissa.org contains articles, papers and reports by users, which are being validated, documented, stored and made available on the world wide web through the Aquaculture Compendium adn trhough the SARNISSA wiki.
Global Plant Clinic
CABI’s Global Plant Clinic team and partners have established plant health clinics to bring accurate, up-to-date information to farmers in developing countries, enabling them to care for their crops in the most effective way. The clinics provide technical assistance in identifying the causes of diseases on all crops, and work with extension agents, agronomists, NGOs and farmer organisations. More than 80 locally run clinicshave been established in Bangladesh, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Vietnam. Since 2001 the clinics have been involved in the discovery of 41 plant diseases. These ‘new disease records’ are peer reviewed and published in international journals, helping researchers around the world identify and keep a check on new and emerging diseases, their spread and their effect on farmers' crops.
Sri Lanka Telecentre Pilot Project
CABI worked in partnership with Sarvodaya NGO and other Sri Lankan stakeholders in a pilot project to evaluate the agricultural knowledge needs of poor farmers. Interviews and surveys were carried out and it was recognised that Sri Lanka has an extensive network of government and NGO managed telecentres which were not being fully exploited. Partnerships between Sarvodaya, the University of Peradeniya, and the Department of Agriculture led to workshops with stakeholders, including farmers, focusing on rural knowledge systems, working methods, planning for sustainability, measurement and evaluation. The aim of the project was to set up and run agriclinics in ten villages, staffed by qualified agricultural scientists: with communication by mobile phone networks and provision of backstopping electronic reference resources. This pilot research activity is now sustained from local funding and a specialist service, Fusion, has been established. See http://www.fusion.lk/?p=38.
Mobile Agricultural Information System Pilot Project in East Africa
CABI is coordinating the system development and pilot testing of the Mobile Agricultural Information System (MAIS) pilot project. This focuses on implementation of a web-based knowledge management system which uses web-access; email and mobile technologies such as mobile phones and personal digital advisors to promote access to information and sharing of knowledge among the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) network stakeholders who include researchers; extension workers; agro-input suppliers; farmers and agro-industry processors. The system which will be accessible to registered members only, is currently being piloted with stakeholders of the Coffee Research Network of ASARECA and the Regional Agricultural Information Network. The system is based on wireless technologies and it has potential to serve users in remote areas of the East African region and beyond.
Conflicts of interest
Please list any potential areas of conflict of interest and how you intend to deal with these. / NoneUnderstanding of the project brief
Please state your understanding of the aims and objectives of this programme and provide details of the specific research area you propose to pursue. This should include evidence of the demand for the research from key stakeholders in developing countries, an outline of how these stakeholders will be involved in the research and recognition of any risks associated with the development of any particular technology and its use in a developing country.(No more than 1000 words) / DFID’ s research strategy 2008-2013 aims at finding ways that new and emerging technologies can be implemented to directly reduce poverty. The main challenge lies in the uptake of these technologies by the poor. These technologies need to be useful, safe and affordable in order to generate interest. The programme aims to identify the challenges to the uptake of new technologies and identify appropriate solutions for addressing these challenges. Information and Communication Technologies have been recognized as one of the platform technologies to achieve the above objectives.
Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy and continues to be the single largest sector employing 48.4% of the total workforce, contributing almost 24% to the GDP. The Provincial Agriculture Extension Department is the main source of information for farmers on productivity issues. The Agriculture Extension Department is a huge enterprise with the Punjab province spending approximately £14.34 million in 2009. The Government’s extension services do not reach poor farmers due to their small holdings, geographical spread and low motivation of the extension staff in serving them.
Agriculture faces key challenges such as stagnating yields, wide gaps in yield between progressive farmers and average farmers etc. Research information exists that could help increase productivity but the farmer is unable to use it. This is due to any or all of the following factors; a) the farmer does not know about its existence, b) does not have access to it, c) does not have the means to interpret it, and finally, d) cannot pay for a, b &c combined.
Investment in agriculture should be a priority as investment in this sector is four times more effective than investment in any other sector in terms of its impact on poverty alleviation (World Bank, WDR 2008).
This research proposal aims to test the hypothesis that using ICTs to provide actionable information to the farmers on a timely basis and at a low cost increases their ability to improve yields and thus their earning capacity.
CABI-South Asia will collaborate with the Department of Agriculture Extension and Adoptive Research of the Government of Punjab, Department of Agricultural Information Government of Punjab, Punjab Economic Research Institute. The pilot survey study population will be centred around 20 villages in Punjab. The aims of the research proposal are in line with the Mid-Term Development Framework, 2005-2010 and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. The methods used to test the hypothesis include; surveying farmer groups and supporting institutions in the use of enhanced agricultural technology and identifying what specific knowledge is required for integrating production and marketing and value addition activities.
This research proposal complements the existing Extension services by focussing on discovering:
- Specific knowledge requirements of the farmers.
- Technologies that can be used to process and deliver this knowledge.
This research proposal recognises that mobile phones and mobile applications are emerging as technologies that can reach the poorest of the poor. Major factors contributing to this: the extremely competitive air time pricing structure in Pakistan makes the mobile phone air time charges comparable with the land line charges. The availability of second hand phones and low cost phones from China has made them affordable. Almost the entire country is covered by at least one operator. The combined tele-density of cellular phone, fixed land line and Wireless local loop is 63.4%, of which the contribution of cell phone 59.8% (http://www.pta.gov.pk). The local IT industry is providing world class solutions to the export industry and to the local government and private sector. Thus human resources required for such operations is fairly developed and cost effective.