'Duplicate and Unavailable': How Internet Bypasses Ugandan Farmers

This article traces trends in the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) by farmers in rural Uganda, who make up over 80% of that country's population. Jennifer Bakyawa explains that, in the late 1990s, the notion of enabling these farmers to access agricultural information on the Internet seemed promising and cost-effective, as evidenced by the development and funding of websites and telecentres across the country catering to this group. The strategy here involved enabling the online sharing of information on markets and pricing, which would, in theory, help Uganda's farmers decide what crops to grow - bolstering their productivity and their power to demand higher prices for their products. Another key purpose would be building food security by communicating early warnings of drought. In short, "Experts agree that the lack of access to information is directly related to rural poverty."

However, as Bakyawa reports, what appeared to be a growing trend in the use of the Internet to address hunger and poverty in Uganda does not match on-the-ground realities. According to a paper written by researchers at the International Institute for Communication and Development in The Hague entitled "Fertile Grounds: Opportunities For Greater Coherence In Agricultural Information Systems with case studies of Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda", agricultural information is scattered across the Internet, leaving small farmers, in particular, frustrated by the effort to find and access relevant information in usable formats. The researchers claim that "International services do not always link with national information networks, and therefore information is either duplicated, not available or cannot be found by the intended audience."

Other constraints to farmers' Internet use discussed in this article include:

• Poverty - inability to afford to use the telecentres (farmers are required to pay to become members, or must pay for each visit) or to purchase a personal computer
• Low literacy - 62% of Ugandans are literate, according to the World Bank
• Language barriers - "the main language of the internet is English, whereas there are some 20 indigenous local languages spoken in Uganda"
• Connectivity problems - "Moses Were, 33...who has been growing cocoa, vanilla and coffee for 10 years, is literate but cannot afford to buy a computer - and in any case, there is no electricity in his house."

Emily Arayo, media liaison officer of the Kampala-based non-government organisation (NGO) International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), observes that "Radio moves faster than the internet. It also takes care of the language problem." While the IITA runs a website called Foodnet, the NGO also prepares radio scripts and chat-shows for farmers which are broadcast on local radio stations. The IITA radio service and Foodnet currently cover 32 of Uganda's 56 districts. In addition to radio, one official quoted in the article notes, agricultural officers could use video, music, and drama to strengthen the extension system. Direct interpersonal communication with extension workers and SMS messaging on farmers' mobile phones might be other means of communicating important agricultural information.