Plantix
February 14, 2024
Digital Services for Agriculture 3
April 26, 2024Projects
Digital Services for Agriculture 2
Project Overview
The UK Government Digital Access Program (DAP) through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded Digital Agriculture for Accelerated and Inclusive Post COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Laikipia County was a eight--month project implemented between December 2021 – July 2021. The project was envisioned to enhance access and utilization of relevant digital agricultural content for sustainable agriculture and food security.
The project responded to the digital needs and gaps identified in an initial project conducted between December 2019 and October 2020 funded by UK Government DAP. Findings showed that while there was high interest in digital agricultural content and related information, only 1% of farmers relied on digital content as the source of useful agricultural information. There was a general lack of basic digital literacy skills to access online content, limited awareness and abilities of existing online opportunities for Agricultural content/information. Gender digital divide/disparity in internet access and digital literacy skills and use was evident, with more men likely to have used the internet for agricultural information than women. Over 52% of women lacked basic digital literacy skills compared to 37% of male farmers.
Partners
Engagement of Farmer Value Chain Players on Digital Literacy and Agriculture
Signing of non-financial MOUs
In pursuit of promoting access to relevant content to farmers and network coverage, five partners on content development and six (6) partners on internet provision were engaged. The initial needs assessment conducted in Laikipia County mapped the partners as potential and critical players in providing relevant content and internet services, respectively.
Following the engagement and consensus meetings, 4 out of the five partners (Acre Africa, CABI, Digi Green and KALRO) have signed MOUs on content development, and 3 out of 6 partners (Airtel Kenya, Liquid Telkom, Mawingu Networks and Telkom Kenya have signed MOUs on Internet service provision,
Key partnership outcomes
Following the partnerships, huge strides were made by the project in enhancing access to digital information to farmers in Laikipia County of Kenya;
- Close collaboration with the County Government of Laikipia resulted in buy-in and ownership, ultimately a smooth project implementation process. Engagement with the county started with consultations that culminated in the identification of the project contact person. Subsequent talks resulted in co-development/co-design of the ICT for Agriculture curriculum and its validation, co-development of criteria for identifying TOTs, planning and roll-out of cascade training and farmer sensitization, identification of priority value chains to develops apps. By doing this, the project not only ensures that farmers' needs and priorities were effectively addressed but also ensures project buy-in and ownership.
- Fifteen priority farmer value chains were identified and subsequently developed with the support of KALRO. All fifteen are available in English and Kiswahili, while five have been translated into Kikuyu and Maasai Local languages.
- Partnership with ISPs enhanced network coverage in areas not covered before. Following the mapping exercise for areas with no network in Laikipia, Liquid Telkom and Telkom Kenya provided internet hotspots in three (3) and one (1) areas of limited internet access in Laikipia County. The effort will allow farmers in the area to access online digital content.
- Content developers agreed to provide content in one platform resulting in development of the “bundled services platform’’. The platform will enable farmers to access information and services without navigating through various online avenues thus saving time and costs.
- Project discussion with partners enabled partners to commit to improving digital content in their platforms linked to the bundled services platform. For instance, Digi Green has spearheaded the process of recording educative videos of some identified value chains in Laikipia County to be posted in the bundle services platforms. Content on pesticides by CABI and Insurance by ACRE Africa has been developed and shared. Subsequently, CABI published an article depicting the partnership on their website; https://www.cabi.org/news-article/cabi-and-acwict-partner-to-enhance-digital-agricultural-resource-use-by-women-and-young-farmers-in-kenya/
Engagement of Farmer Value Chain Players on Digital Literacy for Agriculture
The project conducted forum to engage private sector players in the county on digital literacy. Those targeted include those involved in farmer inputs, and markets including pertinent department in Laikipia County. The objective of the private sector engagement activity was to sensitize the stakeholders on the importance of using ICT in their day-to-day work with farmers and discuss opportunities for leveraging ICT to enhance service provision to farmers. The meeting held in May 2021 saw representation from the following partners and government officials;
- The county department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
- County Department of Trade
- Mawingu Networks
- Laititu Mutoro Beekeepers Cooperative
- County ICT Department
- Ngarua Dairy Value Chain Cooperative
- Laikipia Maize Value Chain Cooperative
Through the forum, a key approach on enhancing farmer digital literacy through farmer groups and cooperatives emerged as a key strategy. The need to train input supplies on the use of ICT and accessing online content was pointed out as a key approach to ensuring farmers' needs are always addressed.
Others :
- KARLO
- CABI
- The county government of Laikipia
- APDK
Stakeholders
- Smallholder farmers
- Internet service providers
- Champion farmers
- The county government of Laikipia
- Digital content creators
- Platform Providers
- Community networks
Objectives
The African Centre for Women Information Communication and Technology (ACWICT) implemented the project to increase access and use of locally relevant digital agricultural content by addressing the study gaps identified. The Digital for Agriculture Project aims to promote sustainable agriculture and food security through digital enablement, thus contributing to Laikipia County priorities for Agriculture and the overall country vision 2030. The specific objectives include:
- To enhance farmer's digital literacy skills in accessing and utilizing digital resources for sustainable agriculture and food security in Laikipia County.
- To provide access to local relevant digital agricultural content aligned to priority information needs identified as farmers' pain points.
- To create awareness of the existence and benefits of agricultural content digital platforms among farmers in Laikipia County.
- To facilitate the establishment of agricultural information resource Centre in partnership with Laikipia County Government department of Agriculture.
- Strengthening partnerships and collaborations are critical to the realization of the project objective.
Highlight of key project activities
The Key project activities planned were:
- Advocating for increased access to internet services through advocacy for a well-developed supportive digital infrastructure, especially in rural areas for sustainable digital agriculture and food systems.
- Building digital skills (basic internet skills, intermediate - digital money transactions, and platforms usage) for farmers in Laikipia.
- Supporting the digitization of relevant digital agricultural content aligned to priority information needs identified by farmers taking into consideration the need for diverse language options (Kiswahili and other local languages)
- Creating awareness around the existence and benefits of accessing agricultural digital platforms and promote digital content-seeking culture for farmers in Laikipia county.
- Facilitating the establishment of agricultural information centre in Laikipia County to take the agricultural information and services closer to the people.
- Building agricultural information seeking and utilization behavior among the youth and women to enhance inclusive agricultural productivity in Laikipia county.
- Building partnerships and collaborations with government and private sector players/organisations within the agricultural value chain including digital platform owners, digital access infrastructure providers, agricultural extension service providers/officers, agricultural input players, the county government coordination to support realization of project objectives.
Outputs and Outcomes
Results
This section presents the project achievement through the implementation period and enumerates outcomes presented according to the project objectives. It also highlights key challenges and lessons learnt throughout the implementation process.
Achievement at project kick-off period
Following the project award by UK DAP through FCDO, the project undertook the following activities and concretised plans for roll out and establish pertinent partnerships:
- Conducted an inception workshop with the project: The inception workshop aimed to orient staff to the program, mapping project stakeholders and developing a stakeholder matrix. Critical project timeline guided the implementation and also translated into a detailed work plan while tracking the achievements. Key outputs from the inception workshop were; stakeholders map and engagement strategy, comprehensive project work plan, project M&E plan and risk matrix. The respective components fed into the project inception report which was disseminated to FCDO and guided project implementation.
- Development and roll-out of monitoring and evaluation plan and tools: In addition to the work plan, thorough monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (MER) ensured key processes and lessons documentation. The MER plan mapped critical results for the project and specified data collection methods and tools, responsibilities, and the method for packaging and reporting results. A detailed monitoring and evaluation plan was developed at the initial phase of the project to guide project implementation. Borrowing from the project Theory of Change, The M&E plan detailed specific project indicator to track, M&E roles and responsibilities, guidance on data collection, management and flow, specific M&E activities and data collection tools. The M&E plan was disseminated to the project implementing team, and its components shared with FCDO in the project inception report.
- Initial project consultative meeting with FCDO: The virtual meeting with FCDO held on 3rd December 2020 provided an opportunity to present the detailed project implementation and MER plan for feedback and discuss all start-up issues. This approach resulted in consensus on the project delivery strategy, project work plan activities and timelines, feedback meetings and reporting structure, timelines for project reports, and the project communication plan, among other implementation tools. A detailed inception report was developed and submitted to FCDO.
