SEARCH
Agriculture and Rural Development
The World Bank Group
More resources from the World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Development division.
Featured Applications
For case studies on innovative solutions to agricultural challenges, click here.
Research & Impact
For the latest in assessing the impact of ICTs in agriculture, click here.
What's New
ICT-related news updates from organizations.
CTA's ICT Update
E-Agriculture
MobileActive
ICT-KM of CGIAR
IICD
Feed aggregator
The Raspberry Pi: a shift of ICT4D paradigm and a tool for field-based agricultural sensors
IICD Presents Lunch Session about Burkina Gender Radio
Jean Pierre Boussim, Station Director of Radio Pag la Yiri, is visiting The Netherlands and will be IICD's guest and speaker. Women’s organisation Pag la Yiri, located in Zabré, Burkina Faso, set up their community radio station in 2009 and has since been developing and airing programmes that benefit surrounding communities. Since 2011, Radio Pag la Yiri has been exploring how the radio and moderated listening clubs can best contribute to equity in gender relations and opening up space for debates in the communities.
The lunch at IICD will be an informal opportunity for a behind-the-scenes look into Radio Pag la Yiri’s experiences with engaging community members in dialogue and debate, developing relevant radio programme content, and using low-tech digital recording tools to get community voices and perspectives on air. Join IICD for free food and to deliberate what the potential is of such community radio initiatives, and what role (Dutch) NGOs could play to support community-informed gender programming?
The programme is devided in three bite-sized sessions
Entree: A short introductory film about Radio Pag la Yiri’s work on gender
Second Dish: Q&A with Jean-Pierre Boussim
Third Dish: Bits n Bites, Chit Chat with Jean Pierre at the various tables!
The lunch is at IICD's office in the Hague, Raamweg 5, 2596 HL and starts at 11.30 CET, November 8. There are only a couple of more spots left for this free lunch. To register, please contact IICD's Woutine van Beek: wbeek(at)iicd.org
Improving communication between Indian Ocean islands through an agriculture web portal
“Mobile is a Survival Device in Africa”
Henk Sol is the chaired professor of business and ICT at the University of Groningen and has experience with guiding African PHD students in setting up ICT-driven projects in Africa. His motto for supporting projects and making sure that they are successful is ‘forget about global, you have to earn it locally’
What do you mean exactly with this local and global earning?“The gobal village is all around us. Internet and mobile phone connections are everywhere. But if we’re talking about global thinking, people often think in very abstract terms, such as ‘innovating a region’. This means that for instance when a lot of new agricultural information systems are developed in Africa, they are one-way systems. Weather information is broadcasted and people look it up. But in a project in Gulu, Uganda we saw that if these services are more closely linked to the community, they become truly successful. Women in a farmer cooperation are not just looking up weather info, but also use a chat feature that is linked to their community and are using this informally to discuss things such as ‘I am going to a farmers market to sell my produce, do you have a truck or know of anyone who goes there?’”
And this all happens through mobile phones?“Of course! I believe that all these e-something words such as e-health or m-something are disappearing. In a few years time, everything will be mobile. But it shouldn’t be about the mobile or m-something or whatever. We had e-nough of e-things. We will be hopefully move to c-health or c-agriculture, where the c stands for community.”
What sparked your enthusiasm for mobile phones?“About fifteen years ago, I was in South Africa and they just started to roll out mobile phone coverage and I was one of the first with a mobile phone there. I then received a phone call from my children while I was close to the Kruger National Park. They said ‘Happy birthday dad,’ and I told them to be quiet, because there was a lion next to me. That’s when I first saw the possibility for a mobile phone as a safety device and even a survival device. And now you see that this really turned out to be this way. During the drought on the border of Uganda and Sudan, for instance, people received vouchers for food and water on their mobile phones.”
You are one of IICD’s new members of its advisory board. What do you like about IICD and where do you see challenges?“IICD and its work in ICT for development is relevant in many countries and situations. This wide range of possibilities is great and I think this can be exploited more to further increase IICD’s fame. What I also like about IICD is that just like I am, they also are convinced that ICTs are a means to an end, rather than a goal. And that when applying ICT for development, it's about people first and then the technology.”
Women entrepreneurs benefit from improved access to mobile communication technology - Zimbabwe
Three Interesting “Old” Digital Games for Education
G compris is not really one game, but a collection of games that allows children to learn some basic science (they can do experimental activities such as creating and simulating an electric schema), but also how to read and write, basic maths and even braille. Teachers can easily alter this game, even without having any programming skills and it’s possible to keep track of student’s scores.
This is a Linux-based program that also runs on mac’s operating systems and windows. For Windows and Mac, there’s a catch though: you can’t play all games unless you pay. But no worries, there are still plenty of free educational games that you can play and that are a great addition to regular classes.
2. Tux TypingThis is a game that teaches children how to type on a computer with easy minigames starring Tux, a penguin (and the Linux mascot). With Tux Typing, you have the option to type words or just practice the positioning of your hands with random letters. Fish come down with letters and if you type in the right letters, Tux will eat the fish.
Tux Type is a game developed by the open source software organisation Tux4Kids that develops high quality educational games for kids. The programming code is available which means that anyone is allowed to alter and create new games and it runs on most systems. Released in 2007, but still very playable, educational and addictive.
3. Tux of Math CommandIn Tux of Math Command, which is also developed by Tux4Kids, children learn the basics of mathematics/arithmatics. Comets fall from the sky, but if you type in the correct answers to the calculations that are shown on the comets, Tux the penguin breaks the comets with a laser. Games can either be played in groups on one computer, linked on several computers or by just one student.
Here's a hands on demo by IICD's technical adviser Maurizio Bricola:
So there you have it: three games that may not have the best graphics or may not be the newest, but that can definitely be a nice addition to regular classes. They are also suitable for computers equipment that is not brand new, since there is no need for a powerful graphic card, fast CPU and big amount of RAM. This means that the games can also easily be played with thin-clients.
In Kenya, some of IICD’s partners are already experimenting with some of these games in the greater context of improved teaching and learning in rural schools. We hope to show how these games can play an important -and fun- role in the classroom. As always, we’ll keep you posted.
