New ICTs , a boon to the development of the agricultural sector ?November 1 , 2013 By Editor ICT4Ag With no comments yet Tagged with: ICT4Ag13 , ict4d , m4d , risk managementA farmer with his cell phone , which he uses to communicate on agriculture.
A farmer with his cell phone , which he uses to communicate on agriculture.
According
to the World Bank ( 2011) , among the main priorities of the agenda for
the development of agriculture include climate change and "green
growth" . The
constraints on resources, population growth, unemployment, price
volatility as well as the preservation of the environment are all
challenges nowadays in the world and Africa.
Africa
, considered the breadbasket of the world and the future of the globe
by eminent observers , has a huge potential for it to contain these
expectations. Agriculture is at the center of all the economic policies of governments today.
In
Senegal, the government has made agriculture a top priority in order to
accelerate growth, reduce poverty and create decent jobs with a 45%
increase in the budget of the agricultural sector in 2013. An agricultural bank is announced in Cameroon , migration to agriculture second generation is entering its materialization .
In relation to ICT , Today it is no longer possible in our cities to take a step without observing a cyber cafe . 3rd generation phones pilulent in our markets and the optical fiber is gaining ground. The
lack of roads and the virtuosity of the equipment and the motivation of
our farmers are defects in the development of the agricultural sector
in Africa.
Deployment of new technologies and communication is an opportunity for the producing sector added value. We can find all levels of the value chain, from production to harvest , harvest processing , processing the circulation market .
There are particular three areas of intervention ICT our attention :
ICTs and environmental sustainability
Through
new technologies, it is possible to set up a website , a software able
to inform the farmer's choice of fertilizer to use depending on soil and
its composition. This can help reduce production costs.
Use of ICT for data collection and yield optimization
Mobile technology offers farmers the opportunity to become involved in the data collection at the local level . They will be informed in real time ( such as migration of parasites , for example) . This information could in turn be used to alert other farmers.
ICT and risk management
In
developed markets , the major producers generally have access to
sufficient information to enable them to anticipate potential risks (
weather warning systems , information on price volatility , etc. ) . However,
supplying small farmers early warning systems to mitigate risk remains a
major challenge in a highly fragmented environment.
Major
challenges must be addressed by governments and all other disciplines (
sociology, economics, chemistry , etc. . ) Regarding the identification
of ICT that will allow access to the most reliable way to relevant
information and more profitable agriculture. Topics
will also inform farmers about the existence of these tools (eg through
extension services , community radio , SMS etc. . ) And the development
of technical acceptance of these tools ( changes social behavior in the long term ) by the latter.
