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

Small scale farmers in Zambia have a low productivity partly due to lack of access to agricultural information. They have to travel long distances to reach researchers. This pilot project will bring research information closer to the farmer in a way that is relevant for them through an improved information flow between the research institute to the rural research stations through internet and e-mail.  In the pilot project research stations in the rural towns Misamfu, Northern Province and Mount Makulu, near Lusaka are included. The Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) owns these stations. The project is supported by IICD since 2005.

During the first contract 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
• 6 PCs were procured, installed and are operational
• Mainstreaming ICTs in ZARI: incorporation of funding for ICTs in the budget of Government of Zambia
• All training incorporated in the training plan was carried out
• 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 internet and e-mail
•  ZARI has also developed a website from their own budget

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.  Most of these operations face poverty, partly due to low productivity levels and an inability to benefit from agricultural research and technologies. ICT can improve access to the knowledge generated by agricultural researchers and transmitted to farmers by extension workers. The application of agricultural technologies generated by ZARI and other institutions could increase the food production and therefore the livelihoods of small scale farmers.

Read more about IICD’s Zambia Country Programme.

The main objectives of the project are:

• To produce client-tailored messages from highly technical research papers and reports
• To improve communication among ZARI agricultural research scientists stationed at each of the nine provincial research stations. Later this challenge is to be extended to cover all agricultural research scientists not only in ZARI but in the entire nation
• To establish partnerships and linkages between researchers, extension providers, farmers, and other stakeholders
• To upgrade appropriate skills of researchers required for ICT-based information management

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, in 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.

Read more about IICD’s approach towards Livelihoods.

• The project experienced delays in procuring project equipment through the government tender system and the procured equipment malfunctioned due to low quality. Procurement officers need to be informed clearly about the specifications of the needed computers so that they can choose for quality and not only pick the cheapest computers
• There were also delays in capacity development. This could have been avoided to plan around the raining season, when there is a peak in work pressure for staff

ZARI is one of the eleven departments in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO). There are three core functions of ZARI namely development of agricultural technologies, crop resource base management, and provision of regulatory and advisory services.

The pilot is done in two of ZARI’s research stations in the rural towns Misamfu, Northern Province and Mount Makulu, near Lusaka

For sustainability ZARI is also incorporating ICT in budget from the government of Zambia and not only in IICD budget. Furthermore, the cost for bandwidth charges are shared with two other organizations and there is a plan to open an internet café at ZARI.