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Options and Strategies for Information and Communication Technologies within Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services

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Publication date
19/03/2002
Number of Pages
4
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Working Papers & Briefs
Focus Region:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Focus Topic:
Capacity Development
Type of Risk:
Managerial & operational
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk reduction/mitigation
Commodity:
Crops
Author
Karen Vignare, Ph.D., Michigan State University
Organization
Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services (MEAS)

The era of mobile telecommunications has arrived. According to the World Bank, there are more than 5.96 billion mobile subscriptions. In many continents, mobile technology has the highest penetration of all ICTs. In the poorest of nations and Africa as a continent, the impact is growing, though it lags in the rural and farming communities. The four countries with the largest subscriber base in Africa are Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana (Rao, 2011). The Middle East and Africa will have the strongest mobile data traffic growth of any region at 129 percent compound annual growth rate in the next couple of years. The reliability in rural areas where most farming takes place is not as robust, and the cost for rural families is often very high.