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Bridging the Rural Digital Divide Programme - Outputs

 Main report (2003) - (PDF)

 Literature update (2004)

 Eight policy framework elements:

A principal activity in the Programme was the analysis and appraisal of the issues for ICD initiatives derived in the joint studies (and documented in the Main Report). Based on this, eight critical success factors, sometimes called the "Eight Pillars", were recognized:

  1. Adapting Content to Local Context 
  2. Building on Existing Systems and Working with Existing Policies
  3. Addressing Diversity 
  4. Building Capacity
  5. Ensuring Equitable Access and Empowerment
  6. Building Partnership Networks 
  7. Adopting Realistic Approaches to Technology 
  8. Information Costs 

Detailed information about each of the "Eight Pillars" can be found here: http://www.e-agriculture.org/bridging-rural-digital-divide-programme-policy-framework

 Case studies
 
Several case studies were contributed by FAO and other sources, offering specific examples of how the generic approaches discussed in the main report had been implemented by stakeholders throughout the developing world. The case studies analyzed the role of information and communication in rural livelihoods, and mapped specific experiences across the "Eight Pillars". They offer experiences and lessons learned for ICD stakeholders to draw on, and to integrate successful practices into their own activities related to information exchange and communication. 
 
While dating from 2004-7, the case studies remain an important resource, underpinning the Eight Pillars and providing a snap shot of ICD from that period. These cases and other resources can be found below:

POSTS ABOUT THE TOPIC: BRIDGING THE RURAL DIGITAL DIVIDE

15/10/2008

Created in 2000, Agriwatch is an internet-enabled information service that provides subscribers with agricultural market and technical information in the form of newspapers, magazines, SMS, and a website. The objective of Agriwatch is to address and overcome the lack of information available to...

 
e-Agriculture
15/10/2008

Dimitra is a participatory information and communication project which contributes to improving the visibility of rural populations, women in particular.   The goal of Dimitra is to highlight the role of women and men as producers, so that their respective interests are better taken into...

 
15/10/2008

AGRIS is concerned with the collection and sharing of documents in the agricultural sciences and technology. AGRIS is a global public domain Database with 2671980 structured bibliographical records on agricultural science and technology. 82.11% of records are citations from scientific journals. The...

 
15/10/2008

The leading source of information on food production and food security for every country in the world GIEWS is a system that continuously reviews the supply and demand for world food, issues reports on the situation, and gives early warnings of potential food crises. It is a conceptual model of an...

 
e-Agriculture
15/10/2008

CountrySTAT is a web-based information technology system for food and agriculture statistics at the national and subnational levels. It provides decision-makers access to statistics across thematic areas such as production, prices, trade and consumption. This supports analysis, informed policy-...

 
15/10/2008

GeoNetwork opensource allows to easily share geographically referenced thematic information between different organizations. GeoNetwork is concerned with the collection and sharing of maps and spatial data. It is a conceptual model for an institutional information and communication system, and is...

 
e-Agriculture
15/10/2008

FIVIMS is a framework of systems to collect, analyse and disseminate information on threats of food insecurity, causes of vulnerability and affected populations. It is a conceptual model of an institutional information and communication system, which is also the basis for an international...

 
15/10/2008

Access to Global Online Research on Agriculture (AGORA) is concerned with access to articles in scientific journals. The AGORA program, set up by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) together with major publishers, enables developing countries to gain access to an outstanding...

 
e-Agriculture
15/10/2008

EASYPol is an on-line, interactive multilingual repository of downloadable resource materials for capacity development in policy making for food, agriculture and rural development. EASYPol materials are developed and maintained by the Agricultural Policy Support Service of the Food and Agriculture...

 
15/10/2008

A response to the need of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to implement a communication strategy for combating drought and desertification Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT) is a partnership coalition that aims to mobilize communities and rural service...

 
15/10/2008

Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) is an International NGO that facilitates information and knowledge exchange to and between extension workers or infomediaries and arid lands communities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The information exchange activities focus on small-scale sustainable...

 
15/10/2008

The LEAD (Livestock, Environment and Development) initiative is an inter-institutional consortium with the secretariat located within FAO. The work of the initiative targets the protection and enhancement of natural resources affected by livestock production while at the same time alleviating...

 
15/10/2008

TARAhaat is an e-business created to bring the benefits of the Internet to India's rural population. The business combines a mother portal, TARAhaat.com, with a network of franchised village Internet centers, or TARAkendras. TARAhaat delivers education, information, services, and online market...

 
28/04/2008

VERCON is a system that uses the internet to connect researchers and extension agents to make extension agents more capable of answering farmers'questions and increase the diffusion of researchers' discoveries. The attached case study examines and analyzes the first field implementation of this...

 
e-Agriculture
28/04/2008

e-Choupal - Services reaching out to more than 3.5 million farmers in 31,000+ villages e-Choupal is a web based initiative of ITC's Agri Business Division, offering farmers of India information, products and services that they need to enhance farm productivity, improve farm-gatee price realisation...

 
28/04/2008

Indiagriline.com is an agricultural information portal that was created as a means of reaching out to farmers and disseminating relevant and timely information to them. Indiagriline's physical portals, known as "Parry’s Corners" are franchised to local entrepreneurs and are involved...

 
15/11/2007

Center for Research on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development.  Developed with the support of the IDRC, Canada   M S Swaminathan Research Foundation is a non-profit research organization and was established in 1988. M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) has all along been...

 
25/09/2007

Author: Zhong Yongling Edited by: Michael Riggs, Malcolm Hazelman, Li Weike The Association Model of information service provision, as practiced in Fuyu, China, is a model in which a group of farmers focusing on the same commodity establish and manage an autonomous association to provide them...

 
25/09/2007

Author: Zhong Yongling Edited by: Michael Riggs, Malcolm Hazelman, Li Weike The service station model is a type of information service centre, used in Jinyun, China, that is government driven and provides a little bit of information on a wide range of topics. It links government offices...

 
25/09/2007

A collaborative Programme for Knowledge Systems in Support of Rural Livelihoods This is an assessment of ICT use in Armenia and the policy environment that affects it. The study was conducted by the World Bank, UK Department for International Development (DFID), Food and Agriculture Organisation of...