IICD supported project: Agriculture Information and Monitoring Systems in the Valleys of Santa Cruz

Countries: Bolivia [BO]
Sectors: agriculture livelihood

Summary

Since October 2001, ICO experimented with the introduction of Internet based radio programes including price information on the market of Santa Cruz for farmers in the Valleys of Santa Cruz. The positive impact of the project hitherto resulted in the preparation of a deepening/expansion project in the same region, including price information on national markets (actual prices and trends) provided by other organisations and information on local production volumes and production inputs to allow for a better planning of productoin and marketing on local level. The project will operate via one central office in Santa Cruz and three rural information centres. The centres are initially managed by ICO, but over time local communities are to take over management of the centres, seeking self-sustaining sales of services to the farmers and the wider community.

Update

Updated: 2005-08-05

NGO ICO is implementing a project with ICT features similar to the
AOPEB projects, including three information centres in the region of
Vallegrande. They are feeded by information from the headquarters in
Santa Cruz. The project builds on the experience gained in the earlier
started project ‘Ondas Libres’. The focus is on the marketing and
production information on the principal products produced in the region
of Vallegrande. In addition, a very successful radio programme promotes
the information services provided through the information centre.
Currently, most farmers in the region listen to the program on a daily
basis, using it to enhance their negotiation power with market
intermediaries. The project has gained important interest abroad,
placed in the finals of the ICT Stories Award. <br />
<br />
Project is run by an experienced NGO, which works directly with a small
producer organisation CAPA, thereby guaranteeing a strong participation
of the small farmers in the region.

Objectives

Farmers and communities in the Valleys of Santa Cruz improve their income by means of access to information assisting in a more optimal planning of production and marketing of agriculture products.

Planned outputs

• Providing access to agriculture information centers for producers in the Valleys of Santa Cruz;
• Producers improving their price negotiation capacity;
• Producers increasing capacity to plan and manage production;
• Enabling communities to manage production and marketing capacity in their area.

Development Impacts

The project will assist in reaching poor farmers in rural areas, thereby directly contributing to the mission of IICD. It will also deepen the initial experience gained through the IICD/HIVOS Ondas Libres, and will provide in a good learning project for IICD, partners in Bolivia and elsewhere through Local IN and Thematic Networks. The project owner has a long and solid track record in implementation of local projects. The project is expected to contribute to an combination of traditional (printed boletins and local radio) and modern ICTs (Internet) to reach poor and rural end users with ICTs.

Project Owner : Instituto de Capacitacion del Oriente (ICO)

Contact Organisation : IICD