How do you increase the number of people who can participate in a two-way exhcnage of information over ICT?Mobile technologies are key, and 50% of the people in the world now have a mobile phone. We are asking for people to innovate to help expand their use in the developing world. Aren’t as intersted in the sector as we are the technology.A pilot for future efforts?
In West Africa, millions face malnutrition and food insecurity. USAID and its partners are responding to an African-led initiative to develop and enhance their trade corridors . The yellow lines here represent the trade corridors. The purple squares are heavily populated areas along the corridors. This slide is a still shot of the range of influence of the corridors over time, as the connections it enables will extend throughout the region to benefit West Africans. This map of West Africa shows the average rice production by country (in tons per hectare) from 2000-2005. Countries represented in dark green have a higher rice production. Several countries in West Africa have a low level of average rice production and are not producing to their potential.
In West Africa, millions face malnutrition and food insecurity. USAID and its partners are responding to an African-led initiative to develop and enhance their trade corridors . The yellow lines here represent the trade corridors. The purple squares are heavily populated areas along the corridors. This slide is a still shot of the range of influence of the corridors over time, as the connections it enables will extend throughout the region to benefit West Africans. On a West Africa map, we can see how the potential area of influence extends over time to communities located further away from the trade corridors. The corridors are expected to optimize the agricultural value chain, connecting producers and consumers. These efforts will help small agricultural businesses across the region become more competitive and help ensure that people have access to food at reasonable prices.
Liberia has the smallest rice yield per hectare in the West Africa region. Yet the areas of dark green here represent regions that are highly suitability for growing rice. Although Liberia has the potential to cultivate high quality, high productivity rice, the country is only producing half of the rice it consumes. The expansion of the trade corridors and investments in infrastructure around them can address this problem to take advantage of the opportunity to locally grow, sell, and profit from Liberian rice. Poor infrastructure is a disincentive to rice production beyond subsistence farming. The expansion of the trade corridor to Liberia has the potential to decrease travel times but it currently utilizes roads that are often inaccessible. As the area of influence expand and investments are made in infrastructure, farmers can also benefit from increased access to inputs and support services. In addition, market information systems that are already established in other West African nations can be expanded to benefit farmers in Liberia.
![Open Innovation at USAID: Mobile Tech and Challenges as Next Generation International Development ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/schmittn2y426may09-090526013104-phpapp01/85/Schmitt-N2Y4-slides-1-320.jpg)
