Strategic Planning for using ICT in Extension5th Conference on ICT4D, Accra, Ghana

Md Shahid Uddin AkbarChief Executive Officer

Bangladesh Institute of ICT Development (BIID)

MEAS Project

Framework of the presentation

Strategic Components

Understanding the need

Analyzing Existing ICT & Extension And Future (Expected) Scenario

Assessing the Capacity

Service development & delivery

Evaluation and development

Trends and Examples

Myths and realities

Setting objectives & Approach

Use of new technologies

Missing links

Initiatives

Understanding the Need (Demand Analysis)

Farmer

Awareness and Willingness

Social Behavior, Gender, Crops, Environment, Priorities, etc.

Incentives & Business Model

Technical Status and Readiness

Trust, Acceptability and Credibility

Information Flows and Institutes

Analyzing Existing ICT & Extension And Expected Future Scenario (Supply Analysis)

Mapping existing services, providers & roles

Understand the success factors & causes of failure

Identify the incentives (Business Case)

Capacity of extension dept. & research institutes

Quality and validation of content

• Need based & trust worthy quality content • Packaging (Tool, low cost, access & availability)• Market driven and branded services• Policy and environment friendliness

Expected Future

Scenario

Service Providers• Institutional : Policy & Resources of Government, Research

organizations, NGO’s, Private Sectors to adopt new technology

• HR : Awareness, Willingness and Understanding

Service Recipients • Farmers: Access, Awareness, Benefits/Results, Skills• Extension : Access to technology, Awareness, Skills,

Marketing, Demonstration, Incentives

Policy And Regulatory Environment

Assessing the Capacity

Localization and customization

Validation of content and quality

Update mechanism and incentives

User-friendliness of service delivery (Cost & Technology)

Demonstration of Impact and Sharing Success Cases

Feedback Mechanism and Development

Service Development and Delivery

Learning Exchange by The Farmers

e-Krishok member farmers from different parts of Bangladesh visit places and share their experiences of usage of ICT and its benefits

Process

Were the steps properly followed?

How did it work?

Take measures to improve the steps

Evaluation and Development

Myth vs Reality

ICT can solve

everything

Farmers are not

‘smart’

ICT is for the ‘Elites’

1. ICT is only a ‘tool’ and can become an effective enabler 2. Farmers have access to new technology

3. Focusing more on services not in ‘technology’

Important

Project Driven InitiativesBusiness Case is not the Priority Rather achieving no.s

Financial and Social (Partially)

SustainabilityReplication and

Scaling UpInnovation (Fancy

but not doable)Ownership (Till the

Project life)

Setting objectives and Approach

Market driven approach led by private sector can be a solution to address these issues

Mobilizing and awareness building

Problem specific consultation

BPs

- Recognition of info-

centres as

source of Info

and advice

- Trial of services

by membe

r farmers

- A critical mass of benefite

d farmers

Backend support services like content, promotion, marketing

• BIID has been facilitating proper usage of the first and only (as of now) private sector driven provision info bank (www.ekrishok.com) of agriculture related information and knowledge.

• Based on the experiences of piloting in 10 locations in 2008, BIID is now expanding the service as ‘e-Krishok’ nationwide to induce trial of agricultural extension and market linkage service.

• BIID now introduced short code 16250 to offer voice & SMS service

e-Krishok: An ICT enabled service

e-Krishok: An initiative of BIID

Innovation, Strategy and Business Model (Envisioning the future market of ICT in Agriculture)

Inclusive Business Concept(Service & technology adoption, Scaling up)

• Mobile Phones – Voice, Transaction• VAS (Call Centre, SMS)• ICT enabled Shared Access Points • Internet – Web : Contents– Social Media : Face Book, Twitter, YouTube– Communication : Email

• Community / FM Radio• Television

Using new Technologies

Missing Links

1. Supply driven approach 2. Lack of integrated and coordinated initiative3. Gap in understanding local dynamics and social

behavior4. Respect and partnership among relevant

stakeholders5. Relationship between farmers and service

providers (Input, Market and Extension)6. Flow of information between field and

research

Missing Links

mFarmer: USAID/Gates/GSMA)• Four challenge grantees to reach 2M farmers • Learning, TA, toolkit• www.gsma.com/mfarmer

FACET – ICT and AG• Learning: briefing papers, webinars, toolkit• Short term TA • Workshops• www.ICTforAG.org

MEAS - Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services • Synthesizes lessons learned on extension• Disseminates training materials and good practice• Assists in analysis and design of extension investments• www.meas-extension.org

USAID’s Work in ICT and Extension

Thank You

Terms of Use

© Author, Institution, MEAS project. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Users are free:• to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work• to Remix — to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:• Attribution — Users must attribute the work to the Andrea Bohn but not in any way

that suggests that she endorses the user or the user’s use of the work).

Disclaimer

This presentation was made possible by the generous support of the

American people through the United States Agency for International

Development, USAID. The contents are the responsibility of the

author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the

United States Government.

Consortium Partners

SAFE

MEAS

Project Objectives: to define and disseminate good extension management strategies that will help establish efficient, effective and financially sustainable extension and advisory service systems in selected developing countries.

This is a Leader with an Associate (LWA) Project funded by

Goal: to help transform and modernize extension and advisory systems, so they can play a key role in both increasing farm incomes and enhancing the livelihoods of the rural poor, especially farm women.