Access to ICTs for Agricultural Development

According to this article, using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to connect rural agricultural producers to markets through global information networks is key to helping advance rural development in developing countries. Currie believes that improved access to global information networks and adequate capacity building are essential for African agricultural producers.

The worldwide effort to have ICT's brought to rural areas is in part being addressed by The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which declared in 2003 that it would seek to have more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach by 2015. Another phase of this process will take place in November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia where three questions will be addressed. One: what is the overall picture of access to global information networks? Two, what is the current state of global ICT policy and governance (and are all stakeholders involved?) Three, what financial mechanisms exist for providing universal ICT access to global information networks, and should new ones be created?

Currie refers to specific provisions of WSIS which seek to ensure that ICTs are used to disseminate information in areas of agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and food. There is a belief that as long as agricultural producers in developing countries do not have access to global markets through global information networks that they remain at an unfair disadvantage.

Currie describes governments as overly focused on ICT infrastructure issues. He points out that working toward having half the world's population with access to ICTs by 2015 means that an investment in human capacity is as essential as setting up physical connectivity. Creating the capacity of agricultural producers to use ICTs effectively in respect to production, distribution and marketing is one step. Having information and content developed in local languages is another important step as well.