Prof. Lwoga, Edda Tandi
Description:
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are important resources for enabling
poor farmers to make informed decision regarding their farming activities, especially in the
rural areas of developing countries. Effective public access ICTs (telecenters and rural radio) based on farmers needs and with farmers’ rural and socio-economic constraints can bridge the knowledge and information divide and contribute to agricultural growth. This paper looks
at the public access ICTs (telecenters and rural radio) in Tanzania, by assessing their
knowledge and information services that focus on supporting farming activities of small-scale farmers, use of telecenters and barriers faced by telecenters in their knowledge and
information services. A qualitative approach was deployed to interview eight telecenter
operators, where two of them provided radio broadcasting services. The study found that
there was low use of internet for knowledge acquisition, while cell phones were becoming
popular for farmers to communicate with telecenter operators and rural radio in case of
emergency or advice regarding farming activities. With consistent government funding and
conducive regulatory environment, telecenters can develop demand led services and sustain their services by strengthening the following: regular information needs assessments; capacity building; knowledge culture; collaboration among farmers and other related organizations; and utilization of multiple sources of knowledge (such as, ICTs and indigenous communication approaches) in order to meet the disparate farmers’ needs.