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ACP joint media network for agricultural and rural development presented at the WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY 2003
The Project ACP joint media network for agricultural and rural development Strengthening Civil Society Organisations in Agriculture and Rural Development by Regional Integration of Information Systems and Services in ACP countries Provide information for improved decision making Due to population growth and environmental change food security and rural development can only be achieved if production and distribution systems are constantly intensified and improved. This depends to a large extent on a society's capacity to generate and transfer knowledge and know-how, to provide information for improved decision-making, to acquire resources and to motivate change. Food security and rural development is at risk if the innovation process is too slow.
Linking communication services The aim of this project is to speed up the innovation process by developing and linking various ACP information and communication services to support producers, traders and policy-makers involved in production and distribution systems.
Regional integration of a price information system to form an active network Price information on commodities is essential to all parties involved in the agricultural sector. Therefore most countries have established networks to monitor prices. As a first step, the project will work to join these national systems together in order to provide regional price information to ACP civil society (producers, NGO's etc) and small scale traders. To achieve regional integration, the project will seek to harmonise procedures between countries and to improve the efficiency of national systems by exchanging and upgrading technology for data collection, processing and dissemination via SMS, Print, Rural Radio and the Internet. As a result of the regional integration process, a network of rural nodes will emerge. This network will be used to establish a common online platform for the existing question and answer services in the regions. Subsequently, the network will be used to develop and provide additional services for collecting and disseminating development statistics, marketing agricultural products and inputs and strengthening civil society organisations. The project will be demand driven, with a broad network to respond to the needs of the target group. The project will be based on an "open source" philosophy - the technologies, services, content and network developed by the project will be accessible to the public. Service providers and development agencies in particular will be encouraged to support and use the network. To lower transaction costs and to assure that the services provided are driven by demand, the project will use an innovative funding mechanism - the "voucher system". The Voucher System is the means by which the beneficiaries will gain access to information services (questions and answers, market prices and analysis etc.) trough various media (radio, internet-based platform, SMS). The voucher system has been tested in a pilot project in Benin and has had successful results. It assures equitable access to services, facilitates verification of outputs and favours the development of networks that have a decentralised and dynamic organisational structure.
Initiators Organisations in ACP countries will play the central role. As operators of the price information and the question and answer services, they will be the driving force to achieve regional integration of the two services and to promote the project through their networks. CTA will facilitate co-ordination and networking activities, support capacity building and provide technical information for the question and answer services. The German Centre for Documentation and Information in Agriculture (ZADI) will provide technical and conceptual support to develop and improve services, provide training, assist southern partners during the establishment phase and assure technical co-ordination. The Global Forum on Agricultural research (GFAR) will contribute to awareness-raising and to assuring effective linkage to other projects. You are most welcome to join our initiative and to support the network. Please feel free to contact us for additional information or to discuss opportunities of collaboration. Please contact:
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