Question 4 (opens 20 Nov.)
Question 4: Does ICT empower or marginalize women or smallholders in producer organizations? Support examples with specific reference to an organization, the technology tool(s), and content delivered.
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Interesting to note Fatima that companies (Sonatel and Manobi) (not Government) provided additional services for women to access internet!!
The following are some of the technology tool(s) and/or content delivered to empower and benefit women or smallholders using ICT through the initiatives of Toro Development Network (ToroDev) which were discussed in this website http://www.kabissa.org/blog/empowering-rural-women-ict4d-and-small-scale.... ToroDev is an NGO established in 2005 to promote the use of appropriate ICTs for sustainable and gender sensitive socio-economic community development of both men and women in Western Uganda.
1. Involvement in community ICT4D awareness programs using two community radios, holding sensitization workshops and writing ICT4D articles in local newspapers and bulletins with special attention on building the lobbying capacity of the marginalized youth and women to access and use relevant community information on their own and communicate their development needs to local leaders or local government and eventually influence ICT policy formulation at central government level.
2. Established an ICT4D Research and Resource Centre in the Toro community. The centre support its research, documentation, lobbying and advocacy; train rural men and women; and facilitate knowledge sharing for best production practices among small-scale farmers and help them to access quality marketing opportunities at local, regional and international levels. The project has brought together ten (10) main community based NGOs in the region to contribute resources and establish a bigger community owned telecenter facility "Kabarole Information Centre" whose one aim is to train 700 women community development workers.
3. Improved small-scale agricultural production in the region using customized, affordable and relevant Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). These are tools that efficiently facilitate cheap and instant access to information from community, regional, national and international level streams. The partnership of ToroDev with institutions like SATNET (Sustainable Agricultural Trainers Network), IMARK (Information Management Resource Kit) group in collaboration with FAO, CTA and APC, paved the way to pilot the strategy of "Building Electronic Communities and Networks" through training community workers how to use simple modern Web 2.0 Tools to produce and manage agricultural information in the two districts of Kabarole and Kyenjojo. This information is needed by local small scale farmers to improve their production practices, add value to their products and have opportunities to access regional, national and international markets. Over 80% women living in these two rural districts make their livelihood out of small scale farming. Effective use of simple ICT4D (Web 2.0) tools reduces production and post harvest costs like transportation of agricultural produce to nearest market places, increase rural women farmers total revenues and therefore, improve their livelihoods and those of their community members.
Source: Retrieved November 20, 2012 http://www.kabissa.org/blog/empowering-rural-women-ict4d-and-small-scale-agriculture
Dear All,
Whether ICT can empower or marginalize even more already marginalized people in an organization depends a lot upon the type of technology being used, i.e whether the technology requires a good level of education and is costly to acquire or not (ie computers and web pages, or radios and mobile phones).
One of the problem with that women and the poorest face when participating in an organization is their ability to participate in meetings where discussions take place, information is shared and decisions are taken. Women have little time to spare, the poorest cannot afford to leave their economic activities, and for both it requires being able to afford the cost of transportation. Not attending meetings, they also miss the opportunity to communicate their concerns/needs which are often different from that of the richer or male members. POs can use simple technology that most rural people own and know how to use, such as cell phones and radios, to communicate information, and also to gather information from them.
One of the POs' weakness is often the lack of transparency about the functioning of the organizations and lack of communication between leaders and members. This is even more the case with marginal members precisely because they do not attend meetings and cannot participate much in the life of the organization. As Pierre pointed out, ICT can be a tool to improve transparency and accountability as well as bringing marginal members and leaders closer via two way communication. As a number of forum participants pointed out for question #2, ICT can help empower the most resource-poor members and women.
The result is obviously different when information is communicated via more sophisticated ICT tools.
Does any of you have examples of either cases?
Marie-Hélène
Hi Marie, one example is the case reported by Huyer and Carr (2002) on Radio for Development in Zimbabwe (recognizing the radio as an important aspect of information technology) records village meetings among women who discuss local issues and concerns. These meetings are broadcast on the national radio broadcaster, and have increased women's influence on local and national policy considerably (Source : http://gtd.sagepub.com/content/6/1/85.full.pdf+html).
Our agency uses both the traditional media and the new media (quadmedia - radio, television, print, internet) to reach out to almost everyone especially those living in the far-flung areas. Last 2009, a Farmers' Contact Center was established to take charge of the information needs of the producer organizations and their members including the rural women. All they have to do is text/SMS their queries through the use of mobile phones and immediately they have a reply to their questions. The question may be about the appropriate fertilizer to be used, the amount of fertilizer to apply, and other agricultural information. Aside from text, voice call is also allowed. Or email through the internet. - Joyce Wendam
Research conducted by World Agroforestry Centre scientist Kenneth Masuki on the use of mobile phones in Uganda confirms that the use of mobile phones enables farmers to have greater access to markets and build social capital. The study sought to assess the effectiveness of mobile phones for agricultural information dissemination and natural resource management
As part of the study, a base station was established in a county telecenter and farmers in the participating parishes were given mobile phones. Mobile phone usage was tracked and recorded either as social, market, natural resource management or agricultural. Some of the key results of the study:
While the study confirmed the benefit of mobile phone use, it needs to be replicated at a wider scale, perhaps at a regional level so it can present results that are robust enough for use by NGOs to lobby for further support by governments, donors, and private sector telecommunications providers.
It is worth noting that women's role and use of mobile phones to access more information on natural resource management is cited in they survey, showing how in this instance ICT is empowering women and giving them voice in agricultural production process.
(Source: Chris Mesiku, World Agroforestry Center; http://www.worldagroforestry.org/newsroom)
We have used electronic handheld scales which then relay the data via GSM or Bluetooth to mobile storage devices for onward processing in a farmer organization’s data processing facility. The accuracy and tamper proofing perspective in the digital weighing ensures that clerks procuring produce do not cheat illiterate women and youth who deliver produce to the buying/aggregation centre. In our assessment this has been empowering to both women and youth, whether literate or illiterate. Furthermore, since the producer cooperatives using the technology are able to establish consumer outlet shops, women are able to procure items on credit on the basis of their digital weights rather than wait for the pay-day and deductions to be done when everybody gets their pay for the delivered produce. On the same basis, women are able to get cheques paid directly to schools for school fees on the basis of the produce they have delivered to their collective and which is held in the computer systems of the collective. What this has meant is that women and of course their children, have the ability to spend money earned from their sweat , for the household necessities and by taking consumables and household items, including fees on the basis of their produce (on credit) leaving the remainder to the men…many of whom use the money to ‘feel good’! In my view, the technologies that we promote empowers the communities where we have seen incomes exceed $200 per month before dividends are paid at the end of the year for the dairy sector. For tea, we have not been able to do the household economic/financial benefit assessment. We are now linking them to the for produce not marketed jointly reducing the layer from production to market/consumption using a market linkage website and through mobile phones for information, again benefiting those who have been marginalized. BUT of course there are technologies that disenfranchise the women and children, those we do not touch! Regards, Kiringai
Lucy,
A very interesting study highlighting the gender and women's empowerment implications of mobile phone use. I fully support your recommendation that more of these studies should be conducted in more countries. The findings would be extremely useful for extensionists as well as producer organizations that have or want to attract more women members
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<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">We have used electronic handheld scales which then relay the
data via GSM or Bluetooth to mobile storage devices for onward processing in a
farmer organization’s data processing facility.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">The accuracy and tamper proofing perspective in the digital weighing
ensures that clerks procuring produce do not cheat illiterate women and youth
who deliver produce to the buying/aggregation centre. In our assessment this
has been empowering to both women and youth, whether literate or illiterate.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Furthermore, since the producer cooperatives using the
technology are able to establish consumer outlet shops, women are able to
procure items on credit on the basis of their digital weights rather than wait
for the pay-day and deductions to be done when everybody gets their pay for the
delivered produce.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">On the same basis, women are able to get cheques paid directly
to schools for school fees on the basis of the produce they have delivered to
their collective and which is held in the computer systems of the collective.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">What this has meant is that women and of course their children,
have the ability to spend money earned from their sweat , for the household
necessities and by taking consumables and household items, including fees on
the basis of their produce (on credit) leaving the remainder to the men…many of
whom use the money to ‘feel good’!</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">In my view, the technologies that we promote empowers the
communities where we have seen incomes exceed $200 per month before dividends
are paid at the end of the year for the dairy sector. For tea, we have not been
able to do the household economic/financial benefit assessment.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">We are now linking them to the for produce not marketed jointly
reducing the layer from production to market/consumption using a market linkage
website and through mobile phones for information, again benefiting those
who have been marginalized. </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">BUT of course there are technologies that disenfranchise the
women and children, those we do not touch!</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Regards,</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Kiringai</span></p><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Nov 21, 20