Final background report - e-agriculture strategies in ACP

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)
Background Report
on
e-Agriculture Policies and Strategies in ACP Countries
In preparation of the CTA’s 2013 ICT Observatory
Working document
.
Report prepared by Benjamin Kwasi Addom, PhD
January 2013

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CTA’s ICT Observatory was set up in 1998 as an instrument to advise the institution and ACP
partners on ICT strategies and applications relevant to ACP countries ARD and to identify ICT
policy issues, experiences and projects. The Observatory has taken the form of a two to three
day expert meeting, delivering recommendations shared within CTA and with the wider public.
Since 1998, several themes have been discussed; among them are: Introduction of ICTs in
agricultural information systems (1998); Gender and agriculture in the information society
(2002); ICTs – transforming agricultural extension? (2003); “Giving Youth a Voice” – ICTs for
Rural Youth Livelihoods (2004); and the potential of mobile applications to deliver rural
information services (2010).
The 2013 ICT Observatory will review and discuss the needs, formulation processes, and
strategic actions to be put in place to strengthen the implementation of effective and inclusive
ICT for agriculture (e-agriculture) strategies in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
CTA Officer in charge: Ken Lohento, ICT4D Programme Coordinator
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of CTA.

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LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................. V
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................VI
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 1
SECTION I: GENERAL INTRODUCTION.................................................................................. 6
1.1 The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).............................................. 6
1.2. Background to the study..................................................................................................................... 6
1.3 The purpose and scope of the report ................................................................................................. 7
1.4 Methodology.......................................................................................................................................... 7
1.5 Organisation of the rest of the report ................................................................................................. 8
SECTION II: E-AGRICULTURE ................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Definition of e-Agriculture.................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Historical evolution of the e-Agriculture movement ....................................................................... 10
2.3 The e-Agriculture community of expertise....................................................................................... 11
2.4 Overview of international e-Agriculture applications & initiatives ................................................ 11
2.5 e-Agriculture applications in the absence of policies or strategies.............................................. 12
SECTION III: E-AGRICULTURE POLICIES & STRATEGIES............................................13
3.1 Overview of experiences by international organisations ............................................................... 13
3.1.1 FAO ..............................................................................................................................................................14
3.1.1.1 Experiences with e-Agriculture policies & strategies.............................................................................14
3.1.1.2 Perspectives on e-Agriculture policies & strategies...............................................................................14
3.1.2 IICD ..............................................................................................................................................................15
3.1.3 UNECA ........................................................................................................................................................17
3.1.3.1 Experiences with e-Strategies................................................................................................................17
3.2 National experiences with e-Agriculture policies & strategies...................................................... 20
3.2.1 RWANDA - Africa.......................................................................................................................................20
3.2.1.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Rwanda ....................................................................................................20

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3.2.2 GHANA - Africa ..........................................................................................................................................23
3.2.2.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Ghana.......................................................................................................23
3.2.3 IVORY COAST - Africa .............................................................................................................................25
3.2.3.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Ivory Coast ...............................................................................................25
3.2.4 SAINT LUCIA - Caribbean........................................................................................................................28
3.2.4.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Saint Lucia................................................................................................28
3.2.5 FIJI - Pacific ................................................................................................................................................31
3.2.5.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Fiji.............................................................................................................31
3.2.6 INDIA - Asia ................................................................................................................................................32
3.2.6.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in India .........................................................................................................32
3.2.7 BANGLADESH - Asia................................................................................................................................35
3.2.7.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Bangladesh...............................................................................................35
3.2.8 BOLIVIA – Latin America ..........................................................................................................................37
SECTION IV: KEY FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION......................40
4.1 Key Findings........................................................................................................................................ 40
4.1.1 Experiences from international institutions.............................................................................................40
4.1.2 Experiences from country cases..............................................................................................................40
4.1.3 Issues and challenges...............................................................................................................................43
4.1.3.1 Stakeholder involvement and policy ownership....................................................................................43
4.1.3.2 Multi-stakeholder partnership for policy development process ...........................................................43
4.1.3.3 Lack of understanding of the role and potential of ICT in agriculture ...................................................44
4.1.3.4 Lack of interest in e-Agriculture policy in most countries......................................................................44
4.1.3.5 Poor collaboration between the ministries in charge of ICTs and agriculture.......................................45
4.1.3.6 Institutional and political malfunctions .................................................................................................45
4.1.3.7 Regulatory issues ...................................................................................................................................45
4.1.3.8 Other implementation challenges .........................................................................................................45
4.1.4 Key orientations and target areas............................................................................................................45
4.1.5 Expected areas of support........................................................................................................................46
4.2 Recommendations to CTA and allied stakeholders........................................................................ 47
4.2.1 Include discussion of the report and the conclusions of the ICT Observatory in the WSIS forum in
May 2013...............................................................................................................................................................47
4.2.2 Case studies ...............................................................................................................................................48
4.2.3 Identification of related policies within agriculture and information sectors.......................................48
4.2.4 Creation of e-Agriculture policy or strategy development task force and committees.....................48
4.2.5 National e-Agriculture policy or strategy toolkit......................................................................................49
4.2.6 Lessons from ICT strategies and other e-sectoral strategies..............................................................49

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4.2.7 Lessons from existing ICT projects should inform the policy development process........................49
4.2.8 More emphasis should be directed at implementation and M&E stages...........................................50
4.2.9 Involve government officials from the outset..........................................................................................50
4.3 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................... 50
Endnotes.................................................................................................................................................... 53
List of Tables
Table 1: Experiences of international organisations with e-Agriculture policies &
strategies ..................................................................................................................................... 19
Table 2: Country experiences with e-Agriculture policies & strategies.............................. 39
Table 3: List of Respondents.................................................................................................... 52

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List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
ACP………………………………………..…………………….Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific
AISI……………………………………………………….African Information Society Initiative
AMIS…………………………………………..Agricultural Management Information System
ARD……………………………………….………………Agriculture and Rural Development
CAADP………………………...Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program
CGIAR………………………….Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
CILS……………………………………………………………….Crop Import License System
CPMMR………………………………….Crop Production Monitoring and Market Research
CSO…………………………………………………………………Civil Society Organisations
CTA…………………………..The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
DESA…………………………………………….Department of Economic and Social Affairs
EAWG…………………………………………………………….e-Agriculture Working Group
ECAMIC…………………………………..Eastern Corridor Agro-Market Information Center
FAO………………………………………………………...Food and Agriculture Organization
FASDEP…………………………………..Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy
FIMS……………………………………………..Fisheries Information Management System
FMIS…………………………………………………Forest Information Management System
GAINS………………………………………Ghana Agricultural Information Network System
GIS…………………………………………………………….Geographic Information System
GFAR…………………………………………..……..Global Forum on Agricultural Research
GTZ……………………………………….…..Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit
IAALD……………………..International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists
ICT………………………………………………Information and Communication Technology
ICKM……………………………Information Communication and Knowledge Management
ICT4AD……………………………………………………...ICT for Accelerated Development
ICT4D………………………….Information Communication Technologies for Development
IDRC…………………………………………….International Development Research Center
IICA…………………………………..InterAmerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
IICD……………………………….International Communication and Development Institute
IFAD…………………………………………International Fund for Agricultural Development
ISPs…………………………………………………………………..Internet Service Providers
ITU…………………………………………………….International Telecommunication Union
LCQIS…………………………………Livestock and Crops Quarantine Information System
LRD……………………………………………………………………Land Resources Division
MAAR………………………………………….Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources
MDGs…………………………………………………………..Millennium Development Goals
METASIP…………………………………Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan
MIS…………………………………………………………………Market Information Systems
MISTOWA………Market Information Systems and Traders’ Organisations of West Africa
MNOs………………………………………………………………..Mobile Network Operators
MOFA…………………………………………………………Ministry of Food and Agriculture
NIC………………………………………………………………….National Informatics Center
NICI………………………………...National Information and Communication Infrastructure
PDSIS…………………………………..Pest and Disease Surveillance Information System
PMIS………………………………………….Production and Marketing Information System

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REDACI………………………National Agricultural Documentation Network of Ivory Coast
SIMA……Système d’information sur les marchés agricoles/Agricultural Market Information
System
SIA…………………………Système d’information agricole/Agricultural Information System
SLARIS………………………………….St. Lucia Agricultural Resource Information System
UNECA…………………………………….United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
UNCTAD…………………………..United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
USAID…………………………………United States Agency for International Development
WHO…………………………………………………………………World Health Organization
WRMIS…………………………………..Water Resource Management Information System
WSIS……………………………………………….World Summit on the Information Society
YPO……………………………………………………………Young Presidents’ Organisation

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Executive Summary
This background report reviews the general state of e-Agriculture policies and strategies1
in
selected ACP and non-ACP countries. It is a desk research that has been developed in
preparation for the 2013 ICT Observatory meeting and only aims at providing a quick overview
on the issue. The nature of the research and the limited timeframe did not allow for a detailed
analysis on the status of e-Agriculture strategy processes in the selected countries.
The report identifies some of the key challenges, target orientations, and key areas of support
for national e-Agriculture policies or strategies’ development as reported by the various
stakeholders. Consultations with stakeholders took place between October and December 2012
mainly through Skype and phone calls, and supplemented with email interviews and analysis of
policy documents. Below is a brief summary of the findings and recommendations. (Detailed
findings and recommendations of the study are presented in the body of the report).
I: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
A) Overview of national e-Agriculture policies and strategies: The results show that there
are initiatives (at various stages) in a few countries to develop such strategies or policies.
However, the consultation reveals that in most ACP countries, there was no interest or
understanding of the need for e-Agriculture strategies or policies even though the
importance of ICT in agriculture is generally recognized. Reports from some UN
organisations, such as ITU and UNECA, recognize little progress has been made on e-
Agriculture strategies, whereas e-strategies in other sectors such as governance and health
do exist. Below is the state of national e-Agriculture strategies or policies from countries
examined.
• Ghana (Africa): The Ghana ICTs in Agriculture Implementation Strategy was developed in
2005, certainly as a follow-up to ICT provisions in the 2003 national ICT for Accelerated
Development Policy document, and a draft report on Implementation Strategy and Action
Plans for Modernisation of Agriculture and Development of Agro-Business Industry in Ghana
was released in 2007 for review and implementation. It was not clear during the study
whether the plan has actually been implemented and evaluated.
• Ivory Coast (Africa): A recent development in Ivory Coast shows a joint effort by the

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Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Post, Information Technology and Communication
to develop a national e-Agriculture policy. According to a press release on the Ministries’
website, a national strategy document for “e.Agriculture” has been developed and is
currently with the Council of State for approval.
• Rwanda (Africa): Consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources
(MAAR) in Rwanda revealed current efforts in formulating a national strategy to integrate
ICTs into agriculture and natural resource management programs across the country. It is
being described as a “Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation”, with a key component
on the institutional development of an agricultural knowledge and management system.
• Mali and Burkina Faso: Through contacts made by CTA, it appears that UNECA has been
collaborating with these two countries to develop a cyber-strategy for agriculture or rural
development in 2011. (Note: Mali and Burkina Faso were not among the countries selected
for the study).
• Saint Lucia (Caribbean): In Saint Lucia, there is no evidence of efforts to develop a
national e-Agriculture policy or strategy. However, the study found that the country’s national
ICT policy document has recognised the role of ICTs in the development of the agricultural
sector, which is one of the pillars of its economy. The St. Lucia Agricultural Resource
Information System (SLARIS) therefore has specific target areas for integration of ICTs into
agriculture and rural development.
• Fiji (Pacific): No evidence was found in Fiji for the existence of a national e-Agriculture
policy or strategy. Analysis of the National IT Policy of Fiji shows no mention of the
agricultural sector. However, one of the goals of the 2011 National Broadband Policy for the
country is to develop lead applications in agriculture and fisheries to assist in efficient
production, marketing and logistics in the primary industries, including agriculture.
• India (Asia): In India, while it has not been specifically described as a national e-Agriculture
policy, there are efforts to create awareness about the need to develop a “National
Agricultural Informatics Framework”. Also, the country has a national ICT policy within which
agriculture is a key component; moreover, in the national agriculture policy, the role of ICTs
for extension and dissemination of agricultural information is well recognised.
• Bangladesh (Asia): Not much progress has been made in developing a national e-
Agriculture policy and a recent initiative between the private and public sectors to develop a
policy guideline for public-private interaction in the area of agriculture information
dissemination has been stalled due to political changes. The proposed national ICT policy of
the country, however, recognises the importance of ICTs in agriculture and has a

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comprehensive section devoted to the agricultural sector. Also, with the “Digital Bangladesh”
agenda of the current government, there is hope for such an initiative in the future.
• Bolivia (Latin America): In addition to the above selected countries, the study found that in
Bolivia, an “ICT Strategy for the Agriculture Sector” was developed with support from IICD in
2002. The current status of this document could not be identified.
B) Issues and challenges: Below are some general experiences shared by stakeholders that
can inform future initiatives aimed at supporting ACP countries in developing national e-
Agriculture policies or strategies.
• Policy ownership: Experiences in ICT policy and other sectoral policy development show
that national ownership is critical in the entire process. The involvement of international
organizations, if needed, should be limited to awareness creation, and technical and
financial support.
• Multi-stakeholder partnership: The study found that multi-stakeholder partnership involving
the public sector, the private sector, civil society and international organisations is needed
for successful policy development, implementation, and monitoring. With respect to the
national e-Agriculture policies or strategies, a strong collaboration between the two key
ministries – the ministry in charge of agriculture and the one in charge of ICTs - is critical at
the national level. Strong collaboration between ICT-focused and agriculture-focused
international organisations (ITU, UNECA, FAO, CTA, IICD, etc.) is also needed on this issue.
• Other challenges recalled by stakeholders include the general lack of interest or
understanding of e-Agriculture policies or strategies by many stakeholders at the national
level; the sheer lack of understanding of the role and potential of ICTs in agriculture, even at
the senior official level; issues with institutional and political structures; regulatory changes in
the absence of formal policies; poor collaboration between ministries in charge of ICTs and
agriculture; among others. Other implementation challenges mentioned by the respondents
include: scarcity of electricity supply; poor ICT infrastructure; low ICT literacy; lack of
relevant content; non-integration of services; lack of advisory services; issues of localisation
of ICTs; and resource mobilisation.
C) Orientations and target areas: Respondents also identified some key target areas expected
to be covered in their national e-Agriculture policies. These include: local content, weather
services, farm health management informatics, infrastructure and equipment, universal
access, training and capacity building, post-harvest management, forest management,

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general production system, marketing and market research, commodity specific focus such
as livestock, crops, fisheries etc., water resource management, R&D, and risk management.
D) Expected areas of support: Among the few areas identified for support is capacity building
for national actors in the entire policy development process. While some of the international
organisations argued that the financial cost should not exceed the capacity of the national
governments, national stakeholders did ask for budgetary support for policy development,
implementation, and monitoring.
II: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CTA AND ALLIED PARTNERS
The key recommendations made for CTA and other international organizations, to be
implemented in partnership when required, are introduced below and presented in the last
section of the report.
• Include discussion of the conclusion of this report and of the ICT Observatory
meeting in the WSIS forum in May 2013: It has been acknowledged during the
consultation that the issue of national e-Agriculture policies and strategies transcends the
boundaries of ACP countries. Since the concept of e-sector policies emerged out of WSIS
2003-2005, a first target for CTA could be to present the outcomes of this study and the
stakeholder consultation to be held later, for consideration by the global stakeholders at the
May 2013 WSIS forum.
• Commission a more detailed case study: It is also recommended that a broader survey
study (this can include a formal survey covering most ACP countries), and a more detailed
analysis of on-going processes in a few countries be undertaken.
• Create a global level task force and national level committees: It is recommended that a
global level task force and national level committees be created, in collaboration with other
regional bodies within the ACP and international institutions with interest in the sector. These
new global and national bodies shall consist of a network of policy experts from the
agricultural and ICT sectors and shall act as the backbone for developing, implementing and
evaluating the national e-Agriculture policies or strategies.
• Build a national e-Agriculture policy toolkit: This toolkit can take the form of a living and
interactive database with various components of e-policy, to enable countries to explore
options based on their specific situation. Lessons and best practices from other sectors such
as health, education and governance shall be utilised to understand the models,

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approaches, successes and failures, etc. in these sectors, to prevent repetition of the same
mistakes.
• Awareness creation and monitoring of the policy process at national level:
Campaigning and awareness creation should be undertaken by relevant actors to sensitise
stakeholders about the importance of e-Agriculture policies. In the process, more emphasis
shall be directed at implementation and M&E stages and senior government officials shall be
involved from the outset, to ensure a high level of political endorsement and a pledge for
future implementation of the policies.
• Ensure local leadership in the entire process: CTA and allied institutions may be
responsible for raising awareness and providing guidance, but acting upon these
recommendations may rest on the national governments. In doing so, national governments
may be encouraged to allocate the responsibility for e-Agriculture policy or strategy
development to a specific directorate, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, and then be
guided by the national e-Agriculture policy committee.
• Factor in the why, which, how, and what questions of e-Agriculture: The success of the
national e-Agriculture policies or strategies program in ACP countries will depend on the
demand for ICTs by actors within the agricultural value chain. This is very high at the
moment across the regions. Therefore in supporting ACP countries in e-Agriculture policy or
strategy development, CTA shall ensure the policies aim at addressing: why the
stakeholders should use ICTs; what kind of ICTs should be recommended for use; where
should ICTs be applied within the agricultural sector; and how should the ICTs be applied for
agriculture and rural development in these countries?

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Section I: General Introduction
This introductory section gives a brief background to the Technical Centre for Agricultural and
Rural Cooperation (CTA), its role in supporting Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) and
Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) in Africa, Caribbean,
and Pacific (ACP) countries, the background to the study, the goal and scope of the report, the
method used to carry out the study, and the organisation of the remaining sections of the report.
1.1 The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)
CTA was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the ACP countries and
European Union (EU) member states. Since 2000 CTA has operated within the framework of
the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement with a mission to strengthen policy and institutional capacity
development and information and communication management capacities of ACP agricultural
and rural development organisations. It assists such organisations in formulating and
implementing policies and programs to reduce poverty, promote sustainable food security and
preserve the natural resource base, and thus contributes to building self-reliance in ACP rural
and agricultural development. One of the three goals of CTA’s new Strategic Plan 2011–2015,
adopted by CTA in 2011, is to support favorable agricultural policies in ACP regions.
1.2. Background to the study
In Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, the UN General Assembly endorsed the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) which encouraged governments, as part of the implementation of
the Tunis Agenda, to establish before 2010, “comprehensive, forward-looking and sustainable
national e-strategies, including ICT strategies and sectoral e-strategies, as an integral part of
national development plans and poverty reduction strategies” (Para. 85), in order to unleash the
full potential of ICT for development. Seven years after WSIS, little is known about e-Agriculture
policies or strategies. The WSIS Plan of Action (2005) called for measures to put in place
strategic actions on e-Agriculture.
The next CTA ICT Observatory meeting, being planned for 2013, will therefore discuss the need
and requirements for adopting and implementing adequate e-Agriculture policies or strategies in
ACP countries, and analyse their level of implementation, lessons learned, best practices, as

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well as ways to strengthen these processes. It will also provide further orientations to CTA (and
key partner organisations) for specific targeted actions, including the production of a reference
publication.
1.3 The purpose and scope of the report
The purpose of this background report is to serve as an introductory resource for the 2013 ICT
Observatory workshop as well as a background note for an e-discussion to be organised prior to
the workshop. The report gives a general overview of e-Agriculture, the historical evolution, and
the current state. It covers issues relating to experiences and perspectives from international
institutions supporting agriculture, rural development and ICTs for development and the
progress at national level from a number of ACP and non-ACP countries in visioning,
formulating, developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating e-Agriculture policies or
strategies. The report also outlines some of the key challenges either experienced or anticipated
with e-Agriculture policies or strategies, some target areas for integrating ICTs within the
national e-Agriculture policies, and some of the expected areas of support for the policy process
by the countries. It concludes with a number of recommendations for CTA and its partner
organisations for promoting e-Agriculture policies and strategies in both ACP countries.
1.4 Methodology
The study gathered broad experiences from across a number of ACP and non-ACP countries,
by comparing, analysing and identifying common and differing themes, concepts, issues and
lessons in the context of e-Agriculture strategies and policies. This was done in collaboration
with the CTA official in charge of this project as well as selected country representatives in
ICT4D and ARD sectors. Given the timing and budget constraints, the study focused on
gathering the experiences through three basic techniques: i) document review and analysis, ii)
email consultations, and iii) Skype and phone calls. In all, twelve (12) stakeholders were
consulted from the public sector, the private sector, and international organisations 2
.
Respondents came from the Ministries of Agriculture, Information, Communication, ICTs, and
other related sectors; and also geographically from ACP and non-ACP countries. Time
constraints and the unavailability of stakeholders did not permit the gathering of full details on
the achievements or future plans in the countries under discussion.

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1.5 Organisation of the rest of the report
The remainder of the report is organised in three further sections. Section II gives an overview
of the concept of e-Agriculture, the historical evolution of its international dynamics over the
years, the progress made through the e-Agriculture Community of Expertise, and some
examples of e-Agriculture applications across the world. The section concludes with comments
on the need for policies to guide the implementation of the applications. Section III then looks at
the issue of e-Agriculture policies and strategies through national, regional, and international
lenses. It covers experiences and perspectives from regional and international institutions in
supporting nations in formulating, implementing and evaluating sector policies, and the nature of
support given to the national governments. The section also presents experiences,
perspectives, key challenges in the policy process, key orientations in the policy documents,
and expected areas of support for e-Agriculture policy development from eight countries (5 ACP
and 3 non-ACP). The last section (Section IV) then gives a summary of the key findings from
the study, recommendations for action, and a conclusion.

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Section II: e-Agriculture
This section gives an overview of the concept of e-Agriculture, its historical evolution over the
years, progress that have been made through the e-Agriculture Community of Expertise and
some experiences with e-Agriculture applications across the world. It concludes with the need
for policies to guide the implementation of the applications.
2.1 Definition of e-Agriculture
As with most contested terms, there seems to be no agreed definition for “e-Agriculture”. A 2006
survey conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations found
that half of those who replied identified “e-Agriculture” with information dissemination, access
and exchange, communication and participatory process improvements in rural development,
compared with less than a third that highlighted the importance of technical hardware and
technological tools.
FAO proposes a definition for “e-Agriculture” as:
An emerging field in the intersection of agricultural informatics, agricultural development and
entrepreneurship, referring to agricultural services, technology dissemination, and information
delivered or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies (The Food and Agriculture
Organization)3
.
But the concept of e-Agriculture goes beyond technology to embrace models that integrate
knowledge management practices aimed at improving communication and learning processes
among relevant actors in agriculture at different levels. It targets information access gaps
through effective dissemination techniques and tools between knowledge generators and users.
It emphasizes new and innovative communication technologies and the social media without
ignoring the traditional mass media such as radio and TV, and rural community telecentres. It
focuses on the enhancement of agriculture and rural development through improved information
and communication processes. It involves the conceptualisation, design, development,
evaluation and application of innovative ways to use ICTs in the rural domain, with a primary
focus on agriculture4
. It is the use of ICTs to improve agriculture, food security, and rural
development5
.

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2.2 Historical evolution of the e-Agriculture movement
The concept of e-Agriculture emerged out of WSIS in 2003/2005 when e-Agriculture was
identified as one of the key action lines to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Paragraph 21(a) of the WSIS Plan of Action C.7 ICT Applications, e-Agriculture called for
measures to ensure the systematic dissemination of information, using ICT, on agriculture,
animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and food, in order to provide ready access to
comprehensive, up-to-date and detailed knowledge and information, particularly in rural areas.
At the end of WSIS 2005, FAO was designated to lead the development and subsequent
facilitation of activities that would truly engage stakeholders at all levels. In June 2006, FAO
hosted the first workshop on e-Agriculture in Rome that brought together representatives of
leading development organisations involved in agriculture. This led to the creation of the e-
Agriculture Working Group (EAWG)6
. The mandate of the EAWG includes the creation of multi-
stakeholder, people-centered, cross-sectoral platform(s) that will bring together stakeholders
representing relevant constituencies of e-Agriculture. The EAWG members decided that the
definition of e-Agriculture contained in the WSIS documentation on Action Line C.7 was
inadequate and required revision7
. The first major activity by the EAWG therefore was to
establish an initial engagement of stakeholders through an open survey on e-Agriculture, which
was implemented in October-November 2006. This led to the definition of e-Agriculture on the
previous page.
In September 2007, an “e-Agriculture Week” was held in Rome which highlighted the role of
information, communication and knowledge management in agriculture and rural development,
and allowed more than 300 participants to interact in discussions related to technologies, policy
and sharing of expertise. One of the highlights of the week was a conference on Web2ForDev:
Participatory Web for Development initiated by CTA and organised by FAO and a number of
collaborating organisations8
. In December of the same year, the International Institute for
Communication and Development (IICD) and CTA announced a collaboration agreement in the
area of ICTs for agricultural and rural development. The agreement aimed at capacity building
of stakeholders in ACP countries, which was expected to take place through in-country training
events, as well as through the use of distance learning tools in order to increase the number of
people that could be trained.

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2.3 The e-Agriculture community of expertise
The e-Agriculture Community9
was also launched in September 2007 by a group that believes in
the potential of ICT to empower agricultural development and bridge the rural digital divide. The
e-Agriculture Community of Expertise is a global initiative to enhance sustainable agricultural
development and food security by helping stakeholders to share experiences and best practices
on information exchange, communication and the use of associated technologies in the sector.
The Community reinforces the value of global dialogue and cooperation to address emerging
issues around the role of ICT as an instrument of sustainable development. Today, the e-
Agriculture Community of Expertise is growing and supporting its members by sharing
experiences and best practices. According to the 5th Anniversary Newsletter published by the e-
Agriculture Community10
, the Community has remained strong over the years, with members
sharing information and exchanging content. There are now over 490 resources in the
knowledge base, 1600 news items, 450 events and 97 blogs. Community members also interact
through the Community's social media channels: e-Agriculture has over 9,700 followers on
Twitter, more than 1,400 Facebook supporters and 1,200 LinkedIn contacts.
2.4 Overview of international e-Agriculture applications & initiatives
The history of ICTs in agriculture (e-Agriculture) dates back to the era of the use of radio for
dissemination of extension information to farmers. With the emergence of the new technologies
and social media, the need to deliver accurate and timely information to smallholder farmers has
rocketed. Globally, the proliferation of ICT applications across the agricultural value chain is
mind-boggling. e-Agriculture applications and initiatives such as OakMapper (North America),
Rural Universe Network (RUNetwork) (Africa), eRails (Africa), AGORA and TEEAL (LDCs) are
facilitating agricultural research and development. Access to inputs such as fertiliser, seeds and
insurance are also being facilitated by applications like E-Voucher (Zambia), the Agrian Mobile
Information Center (USA), and Kilimo Salama (Kenya). Other production applications being
used across the globe include Crop Calendar (FAO), iCow (Kenya), NEXT2 being piloted in
Kenya and Nigeria, and a host of traditional radio programs. For market information,
applications such as Agriculture Price Alert (North America), M-Farm (Kenya), Regional
Agriculture Trade Intelligence Network (RATIN) (East Africa) and the Africa Commodities and
Futures Exchange (ACFEX) (Africa) are all currently operating. There are also a host of
applications such as SourceTrace (USA), ScoringAg (Globally), Harvest Mark Food Traceability
(USA), and Reliable Information Tracking System (RITS) (Mexico) that are being used for

12
traceability and quality assurance in support of marketing. Meanwhile, applications such as
iFormBuilder (Globally), Mobenzi (South Africa), PoiMapper (Globally) and EpiSurveyor
(Globally) are being used to collect data for monitoring and evaluation.
2.5 e-Agriculture applications in the absence of policies or strategies
While countries around the world have made significant progress in terms of national ICT policy
development and implementation, sector policies are generally still at the teething stage. As
noted above, e-Agriculture applications continue to multiply in the absence of sound policies,
strategies and plans to guide their development and implementation. While this lack of e-
Agriculture policies may not necessarily be an impediment to the current growth of ICT for
agriculture, the future presence of appropriate policies or strategies could help in a number of
ways. National e-Agriculture policies, for example, could help nations clearly argue their position
or stance on a number of challenges currently being experienced within the sector. Well-
developed policies may outline procedures for the implementation of ICT projects, operations of
service providers, enforceable or advisory guidelines by governments for users and
implementers, and the code of conduct for all actors.
The next section thus shares experiences and views from stakeholders with respect to e-
strategies in general, and specifically e-Agriculture policies and strategies, in some ACP and
non-ACP countries.

13
Section III: e-Agriculture Policies & Strategies
In order to clearly present the current state of e-Agriculture policies and strategies, the
consultation included views, perspectives and experiences from other sector policy
developments. The findings presented here are therefore organised under two main sub-
sections. The first sub-section presents perspectives and experiences on e-Agriculture policies
and strategies from international institutions such as FAO, IICD, and UNECA that have been
involved in this area. The second sub-section presents national overviews drawn from selected
countries in the ACP and non-ACP regions.
3.1 Overview of experiences by international organisations11
The sectoral e-strategies are often national plans for the strategic application of ICT in specific
sectors of a country’s economy. These strategies, even though formulated and implemented at
national level, have strong links with the international community. The Tunis Agenda for the
Information Society encourages governments that have not yet done so to take appropriate
steps in developing sector strategies for their national development agenda.
Significant progress has been made in other sectors such as governance, business, health,
learning/education and science in formulating and implementing e-strategies. A recent report by
ITU on National e-Strategies for Development – Global Status and Perspectives12
cited the
progress made with the governance sector by India, Denmark, Abu Dhabi and Algeria in
developing comprehensive e-Government policies to modernise their administrative activities
through digitisation programs. Guyana acknowledges the role of electronic commerce in
facilitating a range of services such as legal, accounting, medical, educational, financial, data
processing, retailing and tourism in transforming its economy, and subsequently highlighted e-
Business in its national development strategy. Successful e-Health strategies have been seen in
Australia, Lithuania and Ghana. With support from the World Bank, Lithuania developed and
adopted an e-Health Strategy for 2005-2010 based on a modern, patient-centered and
comprehensive approach to telemedicine, clinical decision support, distance learning and
patient awareness. The ITU report13
has acknowledged the shortfalls in some other sectors,
including the agricultural sector, in developing national e-Agricultural strategies.
In a 2008 UNECA report that outlined trends and experiences in implementing WSIS outcomes
at regional level in Africa, ICT applications such as e-Government, e-Business, e-Health, e-

14
Learning and e-Science were covered14
. The report outlined successes made within other
sectors but did not mention any experience or progress with the agricultural sector. The next
sub-section thus presents specific experiences from international institutions working on ICTs
for development, policies, agriculture and rural development issues.
3.1.1 FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) is the lead agency for
the coordination of e-Agriculture initiatives at global level in the framework of the post-WSIS
process. Its consultation was therefore critical on this issue.
3.1.1.1 Experiences with e-Agriculture policies & strategies
It was observed during the consultation that the focus of FAO since WSIS has been more on
promoting ICT applications through the e-Agriculture Community of Expertise. Very little, if
anything, has been done in promoting and supporting the development of national e-Agriculture
policies or strategies. According to the FAO’s respondent, there is a range of national
agricultural policies and strategies that integrate the new communication tools to facilitate
access to agricultural information, just as most national ICT policies have components dealing
with application of ICTs for agriculture. The respondent cited specific initiatives, such as policies
that require the communication of outputs from research centres to farmers. In Ghana, for
example, FAO is working with the national research institutes to create a new national research
policy about the dissemination of information, and making certain types of data accessible to be
repackaged for mobile distribution. In this case, ICTs are key in supporting the dissemination of
agricultural information to users. Another example is where national policies require
telecommunication companies to provide a certain amount of coverage in rural areas, such as in
Thailand. The role of Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development
(CIARD), in utilising ICTs to make agricultural research information publicly available and
accessible to all, has also been mentioned. These specific policies, the respondent argued,
should be seen as part of an enabling environment for e-Agriculture at the national level.
3.1.1.2 Perspectives on e-Agriculture policies & strategies
The consultation with FAO revealed how important e-Agriculture policies and strategies could
be in the effective implementation of the WSIS Plan of Action on e-Agriculture. According to the
FAO respondent, experiences from the work of the e-Agriculture Community with other

15
stakeholders over the years have shown that there are major policy gaps and disconnects in the
area of e-Agriculture policies at global level. These policy gaps and other reasons might have
contributed to the absence or late adoption of national e-Agricultural policies and strategies. The
respondent believed that attacking the issue from a different angle might better help in
addressing it, and questioned whether focusing on developing and implementing national e-
Agriculture policies and strategies would provide a solution. There might, the respondent
argued, be several initiatives, strategies or plans at national level that aim at integrating ICTs
into agriculture without necessarily being labeled as e-Agriculture policy or strategy. It might
therefore be necessary at this time to focus on identifying these existing ICT and agricultural
policies at national level and try to piece them together, the respondent concluded.
3.1.2 IICD
As an international organisation, the International Institute for Communication and Development
(IICD) focuses on implementing programs as well as sector policy advice in developing
countries. In this capacity, IICD has been supporting countries in formulating and implementing
both national ICT policies and sector policies. The perspectives and experiences expressed in
this study therefore cut across sectors such as agriculture, health, education and governance.
The study found that IICD has supported countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda
and Benin with e-policy development over the years. This was done in collaboration with
UNECA and the Canadian e-Policy Resource Centre (CePRC). From past experiences, IICD
places emphasis on the process rather than developing policy papers. Making the process a
priority helps in making an easy transition to implementation. The process involves identifying
the sectors prioritized by the countries. With cases that IICD has worked on so far in Africa, the
health, education and governance sectors, in addition to the general communication policies,
were in high demand. These activities were undertaken about four years ago (around 2008/09).
Within the agricultural sector, there was no outspoken need at the time for e-policy development
by the countries (West African Regional Manager, IICD).
The process continues by involving multiple actors. While identifying actors for the policy
formulation, IICD ensures local ownership. The local ownership of the policy has been
determined as a key factor in the success of the policy process. In addition, the intentions

16
behind the policy development by the government and its partners are made clear to the
beneficiaries from the outset. IICD’s experience also shows that real demand on the side of the
government, and the commitment of ministers and deputies, etc. help the process to go beyond
formulation, to enforcement of the policy and the development of appropriate strategies for
implementation. The case of Bolivia described later in the report has been one of the successful
experiences by IICD in supporting e-Agriculture strategy development. Bolivia developed an ICT
strategy for the agriculture sector in 2002, with a focus on small-scale farmers and indigenous
groups.
Our consultation with IICD also confirms the need for national e-Agriculture policies, but the
question was whether the sector policies should inform the national policy or vice versa.
Respondents also believed that the ICT sector policies should be part of the national ICT policy
of the country but not a separate policy. This, they argued, will help with the management of
resources – budgeting, human resources, etc. Also, to efficiently manage the limited resources
at the disposal of these countries, the sector policies should be developed directly from the
sectors, when the need for update or review of existing policies becomes necessary.
Respondents from IICD also shared their perspectives on the various stages of policy
development process. It was argued that, before the implementation stage, it is critical for users
to acknowledge and understand the value of ICTs in facilitating their daily activities rather than
just having computers in the office. This calls for the need for training and capacity building at
the senior level in order to fully implement the policy. It also calls for the continuous professional
development of ministry staff, and sufficient resources to maintain equipment for effective use.
Another option would be to bring ministers and their deputies together, to provide the right
environment for these staff of the same calibre to be comfortable and learn the technology.
In Uganda, for example, staff of the ministries are brought together regularly to go through
professional training in the use of ICTs (East Africa Regional Manager, IICD).
Another experience acknowledged by IICD is that these policies must be forward looking to
keep up with the growth of new technologies, and must be flexible to accommodate future
adaptation and modification. Such sector policies should also aim at giving guidelines, rules and
principles as to how to use ICTs, but not be too specific with applications and platforms. While

17
IICD believes in the overarching experience of global knowledge exchange, it also values and
uses local, country-specific experience, knowing that infrastructure and facilities at national level
differ from country to country and even within a country.
3.1.3 UNECA
The mandate of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as a regional body
transcends a single sector and therefore the views and perspectives expressed here are not
limited to the agricultural sector. Also the perspectives expressed here resulted from our
consultation with a stakeholder from the ICT, Science and Technology Division of UNECA.
3.1.3.1 Experiences with e-Strategies
UNECA’s policy development process was guided by the National Information and
Communication Infrastructure (NICI) framework but also depends on requests from member
states. While ECA has focused over the years on national ICT policies and plans, national
governments identify key priority areas, usually referred to as pillars, such as infrastructure
development, human resource development, ICT for education, ICT for health, ICT for
agriculture, e-government, legal and regulatory issues, content development and e-applications
for further development. The e-sectoral policies and strategies therefore get their priority focus
during implementation, if identified as one of the pillars of the policy. Accordingly, several
countries have moved from policy formulation to implementation and started developing and
implementing e-strategies in sectors such as government services, education, health and
agriculture.
UNECA’s experience also covers multi-stakeholder consultations involving actors like
parliamentarians, academia, government agencies – ministries and state enterprises - NGOs,
private sector, telecom operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Chambers of Commerce
and Industry. Specific roles of each of these stakeholders are utilized during the policy
development, implementation and monitoring. For example, the public sector may take
responsibility for a right legal and regulatory framework, the private sector for investing in
innovative applications and solutions, and international organisations for technical and advisory
support, and strengthening institutional and human resource capacities.

18
It was identified through some contacts made by CTA that since 2011, UNECA has been
working with a few countries, such as Mali and Burkina Faso, to develop cyber-strategies for
agriculture or rural areas.
Given that ICT is a crosscutting sector, it is difficult to see the e-sector policies as ‘stand-alone’.
As such the e-sector policies and strategies need not be seen as ‘stand-alone’ if they have to be
successfully implemented (ICT for Development Expert, UNECA).
Experiences from UNECA show that the ministry in charge of ICTs currently leads the e-sector
policies and strategies with support from the respective sector ministries. The perspective from
UNECA is that the ICT ministry should play a strong leadership role in the development of the
sector policies. This perspective, however, differs from some other respondents who see the
need for the agricultural sector to play the leadership role in the development of national e-
Agriculture policies or strategies. The expert also argued that these sectoral policies should not
stand alone but be components of the national ICT policies, as pointed out by IICD respondents.
Table 1 below summaries the key experiences and perspectives of the experts from the
international organisations consulted during the study.

19
Table 1: Experiences of international organisations with e-Agriculture policies &
strategies
Institution Perspectives and views from experts
consulted
Experiences
FAO i) Sees the need for national e-
Agriculture policies.
ii) But wonders whether they should be
labeled as such.
iii) Identify existing specific policies
dealing with ICTs and agriculture and
put them together.
i) Agriculture sector experience.
ii) At the moment, has no record of “national e-
Agriculture policy or strategy”.
iii) Policy gaps at the global level in e-
Agriculture, which might have contributed to the
lack of the sectoral policies.
IICD i) Sees the need for national e-
Agriculture policies.
ii) The sector policies should be
components of the national ICT policy.
iii) Build capacity of government
ministers to value the technology.
iv) Regular capacity building of
ministers is also a key factor to
consider.
i) Cross-sectoral experience.
ii) Places emphasis on process rather than end
products.
iii) Lack of interest in the agricultural sector from
the national governments supported four years
ago.
iv) Multi-stakeholder involvement was key.
v) Policy ownership by the countries drives
implementation.
vi) Local experience is essential to supplement
global best practices.
vii) Experience with Bolivia on developing an
ICT strategy focused on agriculture
UNECA i) Sees the need for e-sector policies
and cyber-strategies on agriculture.
ii) But may be difficult to see e-sector
policies as stand-alone.
iii) ICT ministry should play the
leadership role in the sector policy
development.
i) Cross-sectoral experience.
ii) Multi-stakeholder involvement is necessary.
iii) Public sector for enabling environment, lead
policy development, and infrastructure
development.
iv) Private sector for investment in innovative
applications and support infrastructure
development.
vi) International organisations for capacity
building, and strengthening institutional and
human resources.
v) Another source mentioned that UNECA is
currently engaged in a few e-Agriculture
strategy developments.

20
3.2 National experiences with e-Agriculture policies & strategies
The main component of this background report is to understand the current state of national e-
Agriculture policies and strategies in ACP countries. This sub-section presents the national
overview drawn from selected ACP countries (Rwanda, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Saint Lucia and
Fiji) and non-ACP countries (Bolivia, India and Bangladesh).
3.2.1 RWANDA - Africa
3.2.1.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Rwanda
The agricultural sector in Rwanda accounts for more than 90 percent of the labour force and
has been one of the core sectors contributing significantly in the last ten years to the country’s
economy15
. According to the Government of Rwanda’s Vision 2020 document, agriculture was
the major engine of growth representing more than 45 percent of GDP until 2010, and
contributed 37.4 percent to GDP in 201116
. The agriculture policy under the Vision 2020
document notes the role of Science and Technology, including ICT, as one of the crosscutting
issues and stipulates the need to intensify and transform the sector’s subsistence status into a
productive, high value, market oriented sector, with forward linkages to other sectors.
In 2000, the Government of Rwanda (GoR) launched an ICT4D policy designed in four 5-year
phases. The first Phase, NICI I (NICI-2005 Plan) emphasised the creation of an enabling
environment by establishing an institutional framework for ICT policy, putting in place the
necessary legal and regulatory mechanism for effective implementation and coordination. The
NICI II (NICI-2010 Plan) focused on providing world-class communications infrastructure as a
backbone for current and future communications requirements with projects. The third phase
(NICI-2015), which focuses on service development and delivery where all institutions will work
together using the already existing infrastructure was launched in the middle of 2011.
Rwanda is poised for e-Agriculture with its success in creating the enabling environment and
building the necessary infrastructure. The Rwandans’ e-Soko project is an electronic platform
which provides farmers, consumers and traders with up-to-date market price information for
commodities, using mobile phones. The project, implemented in collaboration with the Ministry
of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MAAR), is a vital economic tool that increases access to
market information for farmers and consumers, thereby increasing efficiency and preventing
price gouging. Other e-Agriculture initiatives include the Agricultural Management Information

21
System (AMIS), and a land use management and information system, implemented to ensure
proper usage, planning and management of land.
Consultation with MAAR revealed that while the country has well developed national ICT and
agriculture policies, it is yet to develop a national e-Agriculture policy. The state of the e-
Agriculture policy in the country can therefore be described as being at the ‘formulation’ stage. It
is being led by the MAAR in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, including the Ministries
of Trade and Industry, Infrastructure, ICTs, Justice, Finance, and Natural Resources, and the
Private Sector Federation. At this stage, a strategic plan for agricultural transformation is being
developed, with key components on the institutional development of an agricultural knowledge
and management system. The policy will bring together e-Soko and other e-related applications
and systems already in place, to guide future implementation of ICTs for agriculture in the
country.
The following are some of the key challenges being anticipated in the national e-Agriculture
policy development process in Rwanda.
i) The level of farmers’ knowledge in ICTs: Even though the penetration of mobile phones has
had significant impact on access to information by farmers, it also has limitations due to the
inability of some users to access certain types of information. Farmers are yet to have a
good level of understanding of most of the ICT applications for agriculture.
ii) Lack of user-friendly applications: Most of the applications currently in the market have
limited use with the phones owned by the majority of the farmers. The smart phones and
tablets, which have capability of delivering more applications due to their advanced features,
are of a higher standard than used by most farmers.
iii) The high cost of the applications: While the private sector companies, mobile network
operators (MNOs), and Value Added Service (VAS) providers are ready to deliver their
services, the high cost is preventing the effective utilisation by most farmers.
iv) Disruptive characteristics of ICTs: It is also becoming more and more difficult to combine the
use of social media without interrupting work. The right policies must be in place to ensure
innovative use of the technologies without affecting productive work by staff.

22
Rwanda has recognised the need for national e-Agriculture policy and strategy, and efforts are
in place to ensure its development. According to the contact person, the MAAR is expected to
lead the process, with collaboration from other ministries.
The need for a national e-Agriculture policy was clearly stated as a key weakness in the
country’s effort to integrate ICTs into agriculture when approached by the Comprehensive
African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) (Director General, Planning and Policy,
MAAR).
Some of the challenges being experienced currently with ICT for agriculture applications in the
country have been attributed to the lack of e-Agriculture policy or strategy. The inability of policy
makers to effectively follow the market trends of agricultural products, lack of up-to-date
information to develop and build farming businesses for smallholders, and limited exploitation of
the potential of mobile technologies may be due to the absence of a national policy guiding the
implementation of the technologies.
Based on the national agricultural policy and the current potential of ICTs, some of the areas
deemed fit to be included in the national e-Agriculture policy are;
i) Production: Use ICTs in conducting: crop assessments; electronic data collection; monitoring
of veterinary services during vaccination; and mapping of activities and in making such
information available online for easy access.
ii) Risk management: Index-based insurance and other innovative applications will be explored
to mitigate risk associated with erratic weather and natural disasters.
iii) Post-harvest and marketing: Post-harvest produce management and related marketing
activities, such as monitoring market prices, dissemination of prices for farmers and traders,
and eventually the development of an Agricultural Commodity Exchange.
iv) Research and development (R&D): Integration of ICTs within the agricultural research
systems for researchers to utilise the technologies for innovative research.
v) Private sector federation: Public-private partnership will also be a key component of the
national e-Agriculture policy, through the engagement of the private sector federation in
Rwanda. The existing relationship with partners such as MicroEnsure and Syngenta will be
highlighted and strengthened.

23
3.2.2 GHANA - Africa
3.2.2.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Ghana
Agriculture still dominates Ghana’s economy, contributing about 35 percent to its GDP17
. The
growth of the sector in the past two decades, with an annual growth of around five percent,
positions Ghana to become the first Sub-Saharan African country to achieve the first Millennium
Development Goal (MDG 1) of halving poverty before the target year, 2015. But agriculture in
Ghana remains highly dependent on rainfall, with less than three percent of total crop area
under irrigation, and is largely subsistence in nature. Access to modern technologies and
technical information, and application of proven research, innovations and agronomic practices
are still a challenge. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) through the Medium Term
Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP), is currently implementing the Food and
Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP II).
Ghana’s ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy, released in 2003, projects the
vision for Ghana in the information age and sets out a roadmap for the development of the
country’s information society and knowledge economy. The policy is aimed at “engineering an
ICT-led socio-economic development process with the potential to transform Ghana into a
middle income, information-rich, knowledge based, and technology driven economy18
.” The
specific objectives of the policy include, among others, the improvement of agricultural efficiency
and productivity through an ICT-based modernisation of the sector. According to the policy
statement, ICT will be utilised to modernise the agricultural sector to substantially improve
agricultural value-added products and develop a dynamic and vibrant export-oriented agro-
business industry.
Ghana has a long history of ICT application within the agricultural innovation system. This dates
back to a USAID sponsored project, the Market Information Systems and Traders’
Organisations of West Africa (MISTOWA), a unique and exemplary partnership with the private
sector software company BusyLab, to develop a platform - “Tradenet” - which is now called
Esoko. Other e-Agriculture related applications include the Ghana Agricultural Information
Network System (GAINS); the Eastern Corridor Agro-Market Information Center (ECAMIC)
project; Farmerline; and CocoaLink.

24
As noted above, the role of ICTs in Ghana’s agriculture was given prominence in the national
ICT4AD policy document. ICTs are expected to be used to support various activities of the
agriculture sector, including:
i) Geographic information system (GIS) applications to monitor and support sustainable usage
of natural resources
ii) Food insecurity and vulnerability information
iii) Creating ICT awareness for all types of farmers
iv) An agriculture information system
v) Market research
vi) Linking farmers and farmers’ groups and associations
vii) Linking agricultural education, research and development, farming, agro-industry and
marketing
viii)Improving research competency and promoting the application and transfer of new
technologies
ix) Creation of agricultural export production villages
x) Improving rural infrastructure development and encouraging irrigated farming
xi) Supporting the private sector to add value to traditional crops while strengthening the
production of non-traditional export commodities (Ghana ICT4AD Policy Document 2003).
To ensure the implementation of the above, the “Ghana ICTs in Agriculture Implementation
Strategy” document was developed in 2005, and a draft report on “Implementation Strategy and
Action Plans for Modernisation of Agriculture and Development of Agro-Business Industry in
Ghana” was developed in 2007. This current draft plan of action has the following five target
areas:
i) Apply ICTs for development of effective agricultural production systems, such as improving
rural infrastructure, identifying and addressing land ownership and tenure issues, improving
research competence to promote the application and transfer of new technologies,
strengthening research-extension-farmer linkages, developing new agricultural non-
traditional export products, encouraging the production of cash crops such as cashew, and
encouraging mechanised and modernised large-scale plantations.
ii) Applying ICT to facilitate capacity building in agriculture by strengthening and revitalising
agriculture extension services to farmers, establishing clear forward and backward linkages
between agricultural education and research and development, and removing inequalities to

25
enhance women’s access to modern technologies.
iii) Use of ICTs to promote processing, preservation and storage of agricultural products
thereby ensuring reduction of pre- and post-harvest losses in agricultural production, and
supporting the private sector to add value to traditional crops such as cocoa.
iv) Applying ICTs to develop information systems for increased agricultural productivity through
the development and application of GIS, developing food insecurity and vulnerability
information mapping systems, linking farmers and farmers’ groups to required resources and
services, and delivering real-time information to users.
v) Use of ICTs to develop effective marketing mechanisms for agricultural products to
encourage market research, promote the creation of agriculture export production villages
(EPVs), facilitate the commercialisation of the key sub-sectors of the agricultural sector and
industry to improve their competitiveness in external markets, and strengthen the production
of non-traditional export commodities to enhance the foreign exchange earnings of the
country.
Attempts to speak to some key stakeholders (including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and
the Ministry of Communication) to have details and perspectives on the draft document were not
very successful during the timeframe of the study. But the efforts made far back in 2005 to
develop such a strategy attest to the importance attached to e-Agriculture policy in Ghana’s
agricultural development agenda.
3.2.3 IVORY COAST - Africa
3.2.3.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Ivory Coast
Agriculture is the backbone of Ivory Coast’s economy, employing about 68 percent of the labour
force, and accounting for 28 percent of GDP, and 70 per cent of export earnings19
. After the
post-election crisis in 2010, the country remains fragile and unstable. In spite of this, recent
studies show that for at least the next 15 years, the agricultural sector will remain the engine of
the economy. For example, cocoa reached its highest production ever with a record crop of 1.5
million tons, with rubber production rising to 230,000 tons, and palm oil production to 350,000
tons in 2011. However, Ivory Coast currently produces insufficient food to meet its domestic
needs, due to low productivity, high cost of inputs, considerable post-harvest losses, inadequate
use of modern farming techniques, and the ageing of coffee, cocoa and oil palm plantations.

26
These shortfalls of the agricultural sector and the potential of the new ICTs have led to the
commitment of the government to develop a modern and competitive agriculture by 2020. The
integration of ICTs into the agricultural sector is expected to be based on the National
Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Plan, which was adopted in 2000 with the
involvement of national experts from the government, civil society, private sector, professional
organisations, and research and training institutions20
. Focus areas identified by the plan include
agriculture and natural resources. But just as in other countries, coverage of agriculture in the
plan is limited. The government is therefore putting in place programs of capacity building that
will allow users to benefit in the implementation of projects to modernise the agricultural sector
through ICTs. The government believes that ICTs are essential tools to revitalise the agricultural
sector that has suffered from the lack of private sector investment and poor quality of
governance over the years.
Access to information within the agricultural sector in Ivory Coast has been the mandate of the
National Agricultural Documentation Network (REDACI). The collection and dissemination of
agricultural information has been done traditionally by REDACI, which plays the role of
depository of agricultural knowledge and references. In addition, the growth of the internet and
mobile technologies has led to various experimentations in using ICTs to increase access to
agricultural information. The National Association of Agricultural Producer Organisations of Ivory
Coast (ANOPACI) started using the Tradenet (now Esoko) mobile-based agricultural market
information exchange for individuals and businesses for distribution of market information. Other
applications include Frontline SMS (text messaging system, both inbound and outbound) for
sharing information on the world market for the cashew value chain, and Manobi (a market
information system with related agriculture information services).
With the on-going reconstruction processes taking place across the country, a national strategy
document for e-Agriculture was recently initiated through the collaboration between the Ministry
of Post, Information Technology and Communication, and the Ministry of Agriculture. In
November 2012, a three-day workshop was convened that brought together over 150 experts
from a number of sectors to validate the National Strategy Document for e.Agriculture.
Recommendations that emerged from the workshop include cheaper access to the internet and

27
ICT equipment, improving Ivory Coast’s National Agricultural Documentation Network
(REDACI), improving services for documentation of information in the Ministry of Agriculture, a
better legal framework, and a strong commitment from the State to provide financial resources
for the implementation of the document. The National Strategy Document for e.Agriculture is
expected to provide an agricultural information system that takes into account the real time
information of all actors. It will put in place tools to improve distribution of food products,
information platforms for scientific research stakeholders, systems of monitoring soil,
geographic information systems, and an internet portal of the agricultural world. It comprises
planning components for the implementation of an agricultural information system and the
establishment of mechanisms for strengthening capabilities of users.
The new document is currently with the Council of State for approval and implementation. The
national strategy document has a three-year duration and seven strategic directions, namely;
i) Infrastructure and equipment
ii) Agricultural Market Information System (SIMA)
iii) Agricultural Information System (SIA)
iv) Services and Applications
v) Capacity Building
vi) Legal Strategy
vii) Communication Strategy of the agricultural sector.
This progress in Ivory Coast shows the country’s realisation of the need for, and preparedness
to develop and implement, a national e-Agriculture strategy for the growth of the sector.
There was no successful consultation with stakeholders from Ivory Coast but the government
has the ambition of transforming the country within a decade into an economy that is based on
knowledge through a solid and sustainable deployment of ICTs. It is believed that ICT
permeates every sector of the economy, including agriculture, industry and services. The
government therefore intends to take advantage of its relatively strong, dynamic and intelligent
youth and make ICT a tool that contributes to economic development, beyond the traditional
aspect of communication to trade, train, purchase and sell. In order to extend ICT solutions to
remote populations that might not be profitable enough for private operators, a national

28
telecommunication fund was set up ten years ago through a two percent tax contribution from all
telecom operators.
3.2.4 SAINT LUCIA - Caribbean
3.2.4.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Saint Lucia
The agricultural sector plays a major role in the country’s economy, accounting for a significant
number of jobs, some 21 percent of employment, and contributing five to eight percent of the
GDP21
. The primary commodity is banana, with other products of economic importance being
cocoa, coconut, citrus fruits and livestock. The production of bananas continues to fluctuate as a
result of climatic conditions and plant disease. Other challenges to food, agriculture and natural
resources management in St. Lucia include ways to transform risk averse, resource-deficient
farmers into efficient and competitive entrepreneurs; attracting young and appropriately skilled
technical and professional labour in the production and marketing of goods and services;
declining preferences in the traditional markets; and an increasing competition from an ever-
widening array of countries in the major export markets of Europe and the Americas.
Considering the above challenges, a national drive is underway to build a diversified agricultural
sector, with several initiatives to provide greater support to farmers and other workers in the
sector.
The National ICT Strategy (2010-2015) of St. Lucia outlines a plan of action to harness the skills
and creativity of its people through the potential of the new ICTs, to enable sustainable social
and economic development and to support the country’s national development agenda. The
plan is multi-sectoral and focuses on ways in which technology can be used for the
development and well-being of each sector.
Currently, GIS systems are being utilised for land planning and these systems are also being
enhanced in collaboration with utility and service providers. An Agricultural Information System
called SLARIS is currently being used by the Ministry to collect and provide statistical data.
Plans exist to extend the capabilities of SLARIS to include more modules and more robust
reporting capabilities to support decision-making and policy formulation. The information
provided by the system will assist farmers to be more consistent with their production methods
and techniques. Better information and record keeping will also allow St. Lucia to meet the
export requirements of international markets, further boosting of its export capabilities22
.

29
The consultation on the subject in Saint Lucia took a regional approach since the contact person
found it easier to talk about the Caribbean region instead of one country. According to the
respondent, Saint Lucia’s experience may be able to represent the region since none of the
countries have made any significant progress in the development of a national e-Agriculture
policy. As discovered in Saint Lucia, most of the islands have agriculture as a core sector for
their economic development. With support from CTA, the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) in Canada, and other regional bodies, ICTs have been part of the agricultural
sector for some years now. At the same time, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the
United Nations ICT Task Force also created the Digital Diaspora Network for the Caribbean
(DDN-C) as the culmination of the “Meeting on Bridging the Digital Divide for the Caribbean”.
The DDN-C proposed the creation of an ICT Steering Committee for the region and a 10-
component action plan, including an ICT policy framework for the Caribbean, and developing
agriculture with information23
. Also a 2010 draft of the Regional Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) for Development Strategy for the region, more or less referred to as the
Regional Digital Development Strategy (RDDS), acknowledges the agricultural sector as one of
the key sectors for integrating ICTs for the development of the region24
.
The national ICT strategy of Saint Lucia acknowledges the critical role information could play in
reviving the agricultural sector. The agricultural component within the national ICT strategy
requires the use of ICTs to enable effective and efficient supply chain management (from
production to sales and marketing) and thereby promote the economic viability and
sustainability of agriculture related activities. A robust and integrated Agricultural Information
System to promote diversification, better farm management and expanded export capabilities is
expected to be the bedrock of the strategy. The Agricultural Information and Integration
Program, involves greater access to information by the St. Lucian community to facilitate
sustainable development of the agricultural sector and to improve information flow among
agricultural agencies, supply chain partners and other stakeholders.
The St. Lucia Agricultural Resource Information System (SLARIS), which was established to
service the agricultural industry, will be strengthened through the following programs:
i) Forest Management Information System (FMIS) that supports the planning, implementation

30
and monitoring of multi-objective forest management activities.
ii) Production and Marketing Information System (PMIS) to collect prices of food crops,
livestock and livestock products, that would assist public officials with the monitoring of data
of the country’s main food crops.
iii) Livestock and Crops Quarantine Information System (LCQIS) to provide timely and accurate
information through the monitoring and surveillance of livestock and crops to address the
problems of weeds in crops and insects in animals.
iv) Fisheries Information Management System (FIMS) to enable data collection and analysis
necessary for creation of information to support management of fisheries.
v) Pest and Disease Surveillance Information System (PDSIS) to ensure monitoring of pests,
diseases and invasive species through surveillance, insecticide resistance management and
educational outreach.
vi) Water Resource Management Information System (WRMIS), web-enabled GIS applications
that allow users to access, integrate, query, and visualise multiple sets of data for water
resources information.
vii) Bio-diversity Clearing-House to contribute to the implementation of the Convention on
Biological Diversity through the promotion and facilitation of technical and scientific
cooperation.
viii)Crop Production Monitoring and Market Research (CPMMR) to facilitate data collection and
analysis for monitoring of production levels and farming techniques for producers to manage
their land and crop production more precisely.
ix) Crop Import License System (CILS) to enable the import and transit of agricultural products
to guard against the spread of damaging pests and diseases.
x) Training and Development Project to support training of all participants, within and external
to the public sector, to strengthen the information management capabilities of the central
ministry and other agencies and organisations.
The view from the respondent is that, even though taking a national approach to e-Agriculture
policy development in the region will be appropriate, it will be more suitable to take a regional
approach, based on the existing, regionally focused approach to policy development. In other
words, any support for e-Agriculture policy development should take a regional approach and
then inform the subsequent national policy development in each of the islands.

31
3.2.5 FIJI - Pacific
3.2.5.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in Fiji
Agriculture is the mainstay of Fiji’s economy, contributing around 28 percent to total
employment in the formal sector, and directly and indirectly employs around 65 percent of the
total population25
. In 2010, the sector contributed 8.2 percent of the nation’s GDP, with sugar
and subsistence farming dominating the sector’s contribution. Other major contributors to
exports in agriculture are fruits and vegetables, including taro, ginger, cassava and papaya.
Growth in the sector, however, has been variable. Key among the challenges includes the lack
of agricultural information being disseminated to needy farmers, and the reluctance of small-
scale farmers to commercialize production. Consequently, agricultural focus has now shifted
towards diversifying into high-value cash crops for the domestic and export market, according to
the Agriculture Strategic Development Plan 2010 – 2012.
The telecommunications system and its broadband capability in Fiji appear to be by far the best
in the Pacific Islands. Over 90 percent of households are estimated to have a radio and over
half the population has access to television. Mobile penetration is high with Vodafone, the
leading mobile company, having over 90 percent coverage, while Digicel has over 70 percent
coverage26
. The traditional electronic media of radio and television still have greater than 80
percent coverage across the islands. The use of the internet is also increasing, with more and
more citizens accessing the net through their mobile phones. The Fiji Information Technology
Policy (2001-2011) has a vision of harnessing the country’s ideal geographic location,
competent workforce and world-class information technology infrastructure to promote its
international competitiveness and create a dynamic, vibrant and well-connected e-society27
. The
document clearly identifies three key functionalities, namely e-Government, e-Business, and e-
Community.
In terms of e-Agriculture applications in Fiji, the Land Resources Division (LRD) of the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is implementing a Market Information System (MIS) with
the Ministry of Primary Industries to improve the provision of quality market information to
stakeholders. Also, Digicel Fiji recently announced a partnership with F1 Mobile Solutions to
create a mobile-based 'buy and sell' platform called “Fiji Makete.” The application uses

32
unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) technology to send information between a
mobile phone and an application on the network28
.
Attempts were made to consult with stakeholders from Fiji with no success. Also, analysis of the
National IT Policy of Fiji shows that it has no mention of the agricultural sector. However, one of
the goals of the 2011 National Broadband Policy for Fiji is the development of lead applications
in agriculture and fisheries to assist in efficient production, marketing and logistics associated
with the primary industries including agriculture29
.
No specific view was gathered on the subject from Fiji but consultation within the regional
context shows the need for e-Agriculture policy or strategy at regional level, taking into
consideration the existing regional strategies.
3.2.6 INDIA - Asia
3.2.6.1 Overview of e-Agriculture in India
Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy with about 65 percent of the population
depending directly on agriculture, which accounts for around 22 percent of GDP30
. Indian
agriculture is characterised by small and marginal operational holdings. About 85 percent of
total cultivated land is fragmented into plots of less than 10-hectares. Some of the challenges
being faced by Indian agriculture include extensive pressure on land due to urbanisation,
frequent failure and uneven distribution of rains, depletion of ground water due to over-
exploitation, declining nutrient status of soil and soil health due to intensive cultivation,
inadequate infrastructure, inadequate market support, weak linkages between farmers and R&D
institutions, inadequate post-harvest infrastructure, processing facilities, research and extension
support, paucity of resources for large investments with long gestation periods, ineffective pre-
harvest and post-harvest supply chain models, and inadequate ICT diffusion and infusion31
.
These challenges are more than enough to trigger actions to explore ways of supporting
smallholder farmers across the country to improve their lives through quality agricultural
production.

33
The growth of the ICT sector in India has been very significant in the past decade, building
enormous confidence for itself in global markets. The country has emerged as one of the fastest
growing telecom markets in the world, with the second largest wireless network after China. The
total number of telephone subscribers in India has reached 944.81 million, with the total wireless
subscriber base standing at 913.49 million, and overall teledensity reaching 77.79 percent by
the end of July 201232
. A recent National Policy on Information Technology 2012, approved by
the Cabinet, identifies the promotion of innovation and R&D in cutting edge technologies, and
the development of applications and solutions as critical. Some of the areas to be considered
are location based services, mobile value added services, cloud computing, social media and
utility models.
India has been one of the leading countries in articulating ways by which ICTs can support
agriculture and rural development. This could be due to the success achieved in the field of
information technology over the past decades and the principal role agriculture plays in the
country’s economy. However, the majority of smallholder farmers in Indian still suffer from lack
of timely access to agricultural information for production and marketing. Notwithstanding, many
ICT-based applications and platforms for agriculture such as Reuters Market Light (RML),
IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited), Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), Lifelines,
Digital Green, e-Sagu, eArik, eKrishi, and aAqua (Almost All Questions Answered) have
emerged from India. Mobile applications, successful public-private partnership models, potent
business approaches, applications addressing the needs of social groups such as women and
youth, and specific applications for irrigation, weather, etc. are some of the examples of
progress made so far.
Consultations with stakeholders from India show that the country is yet to develop a national
strategy to guide the implementation of ICT for agriculture projects and programs. In the
absence of an official policy guiding the implementation of ICTs for agriculture, the Government
of India (GoI) has taken steps to provide the basic infrastructure in rural areas by ensuring that
all telecommunications network providers site their towers also in rural areas to achieve
universal coverage of mobile network. Secondly, a policy framework that ensures high speed
internet connectivity in rural areas is also in place. In achieving this, public-private partnership
has been emphasized in the past few years with various models being used for the application

34
of ICTs in agricultural extension and advisory services across several states. India has a
national ICT policy and agriculture is a key component, and within the national agriculture
policy, the role of ICTs for extension and dissemination of agricultural information is also
recognised. While it has not been specifically described as a national e-Agriculture policy, there
are efforts to create awareness about the need to develop a national agricultural informatics
framework.
The National Informatics Center (NIC) has taken the task of creating awareness about the need,
and has been promoting the concept in a number of national forums for some time now. NIC is
currently implementing the agricultural component within the National ICT policy. Some of the
key areas expected to be covered in the national e-Agriculture policy document are:
i) Local language: To ensure that farmers have the full benefit of the ICT applications, a local
language requirement for all ICT solutions shall be recommended and enforced.
ii) Weather services information: This is to ensure that farmers have accurate information on
the weather and climate to improve production.
iii) Farm health management informatics: This component will consider plant, animal, fisheries,
land and water quality management through the use of ICTs.
iv) Infrastructure: This will ensure that ICT infrastructure development will be tailored to meeting
the needs of smallholder farmers, so that even those in the remotest communities will have
access to up-to-date agricultural information.
v) Universal service and access: With the growth of end-user gadgets (mobile phone), the
policy will ensure that services such as the internet and mobile networks are available and
reliable for users. Creation of a comprehensive national database of farmers, with emails as
a form of identity numbers, can help in reaching out to them.
vi) Agricultural schools and polytechnics: In India, there are agricultural universities and
colleges that lack strong foundations, in terms of schools and polytechnics. The national e-
Agriculture policy will outline the role of strong educational foundations through the
establishment of these schools.
vii) Post-harvest management: The policy will also make provision for adequate transportation,
cold storage facilities, processing and marketing of agricultural products through the new
ICTs, to minimise post-harvest losses by farmers.

Final background report - e-agriculture strategies in ACP

Final background report - e-agriculture strategies in ACP

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Final background report - e-agriculture strategies in ACP