Presented as part of the seminar: Can mobile phones improve agricultural productivity, resilience and food security?
29th May 2012, 08.30 – 12.30
Hörsalen, Sida, Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm
Daniel Ninsiima, Mobile Specialist, L3F Uganda
Traditional Agricultural Extension Services (AES) intended to serve smallholder farmers in Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa at large have failed to make significant impacts (Jones, 2007), due partly to the lack of knowledge-sharing practices to disseminate timely agricultural information.. A key problem has been inadequate access to information due to weak linkages and interactions between agricultural research, extension and education, including, 1) the lack of knowledge and information articulating best practices and addressing interconnected socio-economic development issues such as agriculture, education, health, culture and the environment; and 2) a deficiency of relevant research information presented in easy to understand ways and localized to the needs and language of farmers. However, the growing ubiquity of mobile phones presents an excellent opportunity to put timely agriculture information into the hands of small holder farmers which will ultimately make them more productive and increase their income levels.
The associated presentation slides can be found under Related documents.