The State of e-Agriculture Strategies in ACP (Background Report) Benjamin K Addom ICT4D Programme Coordinator, CTA 2013 ICT Observatory: Strengthening e-Agriculture Strategies in ACP Countries 24 th April 2013, Hotel Hof Wageningen

 The importance of e-Agriculture (very high)  Very low interest/understanding of the need for e-Agriculture strategies (few years back)  There are e-strategy development initiatives with different names & approaches (now)  But the agricultural sector lags behind other sectors such as health, education governance (ITU, 2010) What do we know?

 Health (e-Health)  Toolkit for e-Health strategies (WHO/ITU)  National e-Health strategies e.g. Lithuania, Ghana  Education (e-Learning)  Jordan Education Initiative  Governance (e-Government)  COMESA (guideline for developing e-Government strategies)  National e-Government strategies e.g. India  What difference are these e-strategies making? E-strategies in other sectors

Legend 1 = Awareness Creation; 2 = Visioning/Formulation; 3 = Approval; 4 = Implementation; 5 = Monitoring & Evaluation The state of e-Agriculture strategies

CountryImportance of e- Agriculture Experience with e- Ag. strategy Current status of e- Ag. strategy Leading agency/agencies Ghana ICT4AD policy document 2003 E-Agriculture applications 2005 – “Ghana ICTs in Ag. Implementation Strategy” 2007/08 – Draft Report Awaiting approval Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Ivory Coast National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Plan National Strategy Document for e.Agriculture Awaiting approval Ministry of Post, Information Technology and Communication, and the Ministry of Agriculture Rwanda ICT4D policy document 2000 NICI I, II, III ( ) On-going consultation for a Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation FormulationMinistry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) in collaboration with other sectors St. Lucia National ICT Strategy ( ) Regional ICT4D Strategy (2010) NoneAwareness creation (needed) N/A Fiji Information Technology Policy ( ) The 2011 National Broadband Policy NoneAwareness creation (needed) N/A

CountryImportance of e- Agriculture Experience with e-Ag. strategy Current status of e- Ag. strategy Leading agency/agenci es IndiaNational ICT policy Policy to ensure infrastructure Policy to ensure high-speed Internet National Agricultural Informatics Framework FormulationThe National Informatics Center (NIC) Bangladesh National ICT policy Digital BangladeshAwareness creation Katalyst (private company) & Agriculture Information Service (public) Bolivia2002* - ICT strategy for the agriculture sector ImplementationIICD

Issues & Challenges General lack of interest by stakeholders Lack of understanding of the potential of e- Agriculture Institutional and political structures Regulatory changes in the absence of formal policies Poor collaboration between ministries of ICTs and Agriculture Scarcity of electricity supply Poor ICT infrastructure Low ICT literacy Lack of relevant content Non-integration of services Lack of advisory services Issues of localisation of ICTs Resource mobilisation FormulationImplementation

Orientations and target areas General production system Marketing/market research Commodity specific e.g. cassava, fisheries Farm health management informatics Infrastructure and universal access Training, capacity building, R&D Forest and water resource management Post-harvest & risk management Local content

Recommendations Be part of the the WSIS forum in May 2013 Commission a more detailed case study Create a global level task force and national level committees Build a national e-Agriculture policy toolkit Create awareness Ensure local leadership in the entire process Factor in the why, which, how, and what questions of e- Agriculture

Thanks Ben