Mobilizing Capacity Development in Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers - How to bridge the digital divide? by Suchith Anand (GODAN)

1. Mobilizing Capacity Development in
Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers - How
to bridge the digital divide?
Suchith Anand
GODAN
Kampala INSPIRE Hackathon Webinar
2 April 2020

2. Hunger
Poverty
Innovation
www.godan.info

3. How can we build Capacity Development synergies to
ensure Zero Hunger for all?

4. Bridging the Digital divide in Agriculture through
capacity development
Issues that prevent the adoption and use of ICT’s and
contribute to digital divide
• Low levels of Literacy
• Poverty
• Lack of electricity
• Affordability
• Language
• Local content
• Network coverage

5. http://www.godan.info/documents/godan-success-stories-issue-1
There are several dimensions to digital divide that need to be addressed:
Smallholders provide up to 80 percent of the
food supply in Asian and sub-Saharan Africa.
So how to improve the skills and training
necessary for farmers to make use of the
digital technologies to increase their incomes
?
How to strengthen the capacity to access and
reuse of data, especially in countries with
very low literacy levels and limited access
and knowledge of digital technologies?
How to foster a culture of innovation,
especially in the development of local
content?
Women make up between 43-50 percent of
the agricultural labor force in developing
countries in Eastern and Southeastern Asia,
and sub-Saharan Africa. How can more ICT
opportunities be provided for women in
developing countries?

6. Key challenges
• Lack of awareness, lack of resources, lack of trust and
transparency, lack of institutional support and expertise
• Digital Feudalism
Need to reduce it
• Digital divide and power asymmetries

7. Potential Solutions
• Engagement of different stakeholders to an open dialogue.
• Exploring best practices, platforms and sustainability options and develop
proposals for training programs (both blended and distance learning) for
widening the societal impact of agricultural research
• Need for multidisciplinary inputs as well as local practices into the curriculum
development process.
• The training programs , platforms and tools used should be focussed on reducing
digital divides so that researchers and farmers in developing countries can also
benefit.
• Need for developing Ethical frameworks, codes of conduct.

8. Get involved!
Join us and contribute to GODAN’s Capacity Development efforts worldwide
We welcome your ideas and contributions
Capacity Development Working Group
https://www.godan.info/working-groups/capacity-development-working-group
Data Rights and Responsible Data Working Group
https://www.godan.info/working-groups/data-rights-and-responsible-data-
working-group-0
Sub-group on codes of conduct
https://www.godan.info/working-groups/sub-group-data-codes-conduct