IICD supported project: Development of an Effective Information Flow System - Zambia

Countries: Zambia [ZM]
Sectors: livelihoods

Summary

Supported by IICD and PSO, this pilot project, focusing on the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) research stations in the rural towns Misamfu, Northern Province and Mount Makulu, near Lusaka, aims to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers by enhancing information flows between researchers, extension providers and farmers through the use of ICTs. In order to improve the information flow and the availability of information services, as well as the sustainability of material, it is necessary to address the issues of access, content and ICT skills. This project empowers farmers to make better informed decisions that will increase the quality and amount of their produce.

Update

Updated: 2008-02-26

<p>The project which was implemented in December 2005 is negotiating an extension contract. The reasons for the proposal to extend the funding period of the project are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>Only a handful of ZARI staff has been trained in the development of information products. The training of staff in content development and proper dissemination of information products is a continuous process. </li>
<li>The project has embarked on improving the research/extension/farmer linkages by bringing together senior management staff and practitioners in the Ministry of Agriculture, National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) and ZARI. This kind of support has come at the right time in ZARI when issues of outreach are being discussed. </li>
<li>ZARI discussed at length with IICD on the importance of bringing NAIS on board. Now that NAIS is part of the IICD livelihood projects it will play a big role of testing the information products developed by ZARI. Therefore, ZARI needs to be supported by IICD in the continuous development of information products.</li>
<li>The process of storing and retrieving agricultural information is not yet fully developed. ZARI will need the support of IICD in this area. The staff managing the thematic divisions will need orientation and training in data capture, storage and sharing.</li>
<li>One of the major outputs of the project is the development of a fully functional website. In the last meeting at Mount Makulu between the IICD Capacity Development Officer and ZARI Senior Management, it was agreed that the project has now reached a level where this activity can commence because there is some progress in content development.</li></ul>

Introduction

The agricultural sector has become a main source of income in Zambia, with 80-90% of Zambian farmers involved in small-scale and subsistence operations – but most of these face poverty, partly due to low yield levels and an inability to benefit from agricultural research. ICTs can improve access to the knowledge generated by agricultural researchers and transmitted to farmers by extension workers. However, links between researchers and extension providers are weak; in addition, extension officers often judged that research was not relevant to the needs of local farmers. The three main problems in the information flow are difficult access, inappropriate content, and the lack of ICT skills to ensure that information is managed and packaged effectively.

Objectives

The project aims to increase the efficiency of ZARI by improving the accessibility and relevance of research findings to farmers by enhancing the information and communication processes between ZARI and its key stakeholders, including extension workers and farmers. Specifically, these objectives involve:

• Improving the accessibility of agricultural technologies developed by ZARI to farmers, extension agents, collaborating institutions, and other stakeholders.
• Enhancing the relevance of ZARI's research results and information products to the needs of the small scale farmers, extension agents, and other stakeholders through ICT-enabled feedback mechanisms.
• Catalyzing internal knowledge creation and management through the networking and sharing of specialist information among ZARI researchers.
• Upgrading appropriate skills of researchers required for ICT-based information management.

Development Impacts

Enhanced information flow would help increase food and export crop production, thus creating greater security for the food supply and higher incomes for farmers. In addition, this work may reduce environmental degradation by improving soil management, instructing farmers in the safer use of pesticides, and reducing the indiscriminate cutting of trees. ZARI intends to expand the information networking of research stations and key stakeholders to other provinces, n the process identifying specific information needs and development partners in the targeted areas. In addition, ZARI may use this experience to expand its services to assist commercial and export-oriented farmers, thus stimulating Zambia’s agro-industry.

Results

During the first contract (2005-07) the following results were achieved:

• The information needs assessment was carried out to find out what information was not yet readily available: information on soil improvement and plant protection.
• All ICT hardware was procured, installed and is operational.
• Mainstreaming ICTs in ZARI: incorporation of funding for ICTs in the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) budget.
• All training incorporated in the training plan was carried out:
• Trained project staff in information management.
• Trained fourteen ZARI staff in development of information products.
• Ninety-five documents categorized into pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, crop production guides, recommendations, manuals, posters and research reports have been collected for development into information products for various stakeholders.
• Information exchange and sharing among ZARI Researchers has tremendously improved with the introduction of ICTs.

Lessons learned

• The project experienced delays in procuring project equipment through the government tender system.
• Malfunction and subsequent replacement of some project equipment delayed implementation.
• The training programme for the Project Implementation Team took a lot of time to implement, thereby constraining implementation of other equally important project activities.
• Omission of a budget line for needs assessment during formulation brought about variation in the budget and caused delay in the implementation of this and other related activities.
• Time limitations of staff at the peak of experimental work during the rainy season also made it difficult to devote sufficient time to developing information products.
• Difficulties faced by ZARI in recruitment and retention of the Content Manager who is the main player in development of information products adversely affected implementation of the project.
• Lack of experience within ZARI in development of information products for end-users slowed down production of information products by researchers.

Budget

Euro 99,600.00 (2005-07)

Project Owner : Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI)

Project Partners : Senior management staff and practitioners of ZARI and National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative collaborate to improve the research/extension/farmer linkages. PSO and IICD are financial supporters.

Project Contact : IICD