1. ICT service through Farmers’ Perspective Nafia Hussain Manager, Information Channel Katalyst

2. Table of Content 1.Introduction Katalyst Current e-Agriculture scenario 2.Farmers’ Story Information need Farmer’s Habit of Mobile use 3. Farmer’s perception of Helpline service 4. Lesson learned & Way forward

3. Section divider slide Introduction

4. Introduction Katalyst: – a pro-poor market development project – Funded by Danida, DFID, SDC – Implemented by Ministry of Commerce and Swisscontact – Since 2002, Successful Completion of Phase I and Phase II – Since 2014 initiation of Phase III Goal: Reduce poverty by increasing the incomes of poor male & female farmers involved in a number of rural sectors

5. Katalyst in ICT in agriculture  ICT sector from 2004  Telecom partners : Grameenphone and Banglalink  Content provider Partners -WIN INC, BIID and Miaki  Government partners: AIS & SRDI  Facilitated GP in establishing 500 GPCIC  Facilitated BL to launch agri helpline service Krishi Jigyasha 7676  Facilitated GP to launch agri helpline service 27676  Facilitated WIN INC for ICT based Agro Content Database  Developed Fertilizer Recommendation Software (FRS) in partnership with Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI)  Partnership with BIID to develop e-krishok service  and many more..

6. Current e-Agriculture Scenario through Katalyst Lens Demand Side - 15 million farming household 3 Agri helplines from 3 telecom operators - 3 Content providers - 500 GPCIC - 4500 UISC Supply Side - Low end phone available * Orgquest Study 2013 - 84% * farmers own mobile phone - - Reduced Tariff rate Mobile Phone subscribers (in millions) ( Source:BTRC )

7. Section divider slide The Farmer’s Story

8. Katalyst Studies on ICT Katalyst recently conducted the following studies: Understanding the Need and User Preference for Weather and Market Price Related Information Services - 2013 Understanding Information Seeking Behavior and Media Habit of the Rural Farmers – 2013 Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources, Quantum 2014

9. Need for Information Farmers have an acute need of information across any agriculture sector. Source: Media Habit of the Poor 2013

10. Different stages of vulnerability (Source: Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources, Quantum 2014)

11. Source of Information Major sources for information for Farmers Input retailers/ Traders (64%) Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer (62.%) Lead farmer (62%) ICT can act as a complementary channel to provide timely and reliable information to farmers Source : Media Habit of the Poor 2013

12. Section divider slide Use of Mobile phone & ICT Agro service

13. Farmer’s Habit of using mobile Mobile Phone Ownership  84.1% farmers have own mobile phone  66.1% farmers’ families have more than one phone  73.3% farmers have more than one SIM  60% farmers carry economic Nokia phone  Usage Type: – 56% can use mobile on their own – 46.3% reads sms while 34.7% send sms – 26.3% listen to recorded calls – Less than 5% send/receive mms (Source: Weather and Market Price study with 700 respondent farmers conducted by Katalyst.) % of farmers with mobile phone

14. Preferred Information Delivery Channel (Source: Weather and Market Price study with 700 respondent farmers conducted by Katalyst.) When given options, almost all farmers prefer helpline to receive information followed by telecenter, outbound call, IVR and SMS.

15. Helpline Service Telecom Opertor’s Branded Agro Helpline Call centre agents provides service to farmers Content Provider backing up Call centre with Content Database

16. Perception about the service: Helpline User’s verdict Service availing is simple and easily accessbile. Short code and repeated number makes it easy to remember Easy to communicate – local dialect was not a barrier Call for emergency situations Source : Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources, Quantum 2014 The leaves of maize plant were crumping and rotting. I used one spray for 3/ 4 days but it didn’t work. Then my brother told me that he saw in wall painting about a help line. I called the number and told agent about the problem. The agent asked what medicines we have used so far and suggested a medicine. After spraying that for 3/ 4 days the problem was reduced” (Maize Farmer, Nilphamari)

17. What Works: Impact of Making calls

18. Challenges: Aware- User farmers Premium Pricing Low overall spend on cell phone Call waiting “I have heard about the helpline from another farmer. I recharged 10 taka in my account and called. But the balance got exhausted before I could finish explaining my problem” (Vegetable farmer, Comilla) Source : Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources, Quantum 2014

19. Entry Barriers: Aware- non user and Non Aware Farmers Lack of awareness – 15% farmers aware about helpline Value assurance Reluctance for paid information Tech averseness Reservation talking to unknown experts Source : Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources, Quantum 2014 (Weather and Market Price study with 700 respondent farmers conducted by Katalyst.)

20. Essentials of ICT Agro- service Farmer centric Service design and delivery Innovative Pricing Mechanism to reduce burden from Farmer Appropriate Promotional Strategy Quality control of content Quality Service Delivery by Call centre agents

21. Lesson Learned Private Sector’s Perspective:  Proper delivery channel not always used for promotion  Linkage with right stakeholder is limited  Fierce competition in the market forces to focus on high revenue generating initiatives

22. Way forward  Rural market posses immense revenue potential for ICT industry  Enhanced collaboration among ICT stakeholders for best resource utilization  Service providers need to promote services in effective and sustainable manner  Revenue generation from this segment would require ongoing efforts

23. Thank You