What Has Been the Positive Impact of ICT In Agriculture in Africa?

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an extensional term for Information Technology (IT) which is the use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data, or information, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. IT is considered to be a subset of information and communications technology. Wikipedia

Worldwide, information and communication technologies have seen the development of very sophisticated and beneficial tools that makes operations in various sectors quite easy and more efficient.

Agriculture has had its fair share of this information technological development.

What are the roles of ICT in Agriculture?

According to the FAO;

1. ICT assists with the implementation of regular policies.
2. It bridges the gap between agricultural researchers, extension agents and farmers thereby enhancing agricultural production.
3. It also facilitates market access for inputs as well as product marketing and trade in a variety of ways.
4. ICTs help deliver more efficient and reliable data to comply with international traceability standard.
5. ICTs also provide actionable information to communities and governments on disaster prevention in real-time while also providing advice on risk mitigation techniques.
6. It increases access to financial services in rural communities helping to secure savings, find affordable insurance and tools to better manage risk.

Those are just a few of the things ICTs can do.

ICT in Agriculture in developed countries

It is very clear the gap between developing and developed countries when it comes to ICT and this more even more evidence in agriculture.

In the developed countries the farming structures are such that ICTs are used throughout the food value chain.

Over the last twenty years, farmers in developed countries have already been using ICTs in large scale farming for Precision Agriculture (PA) including soil analysis, irrigation, farming equipment, weather forecasting, and more. (FAO)

ICT in Agriculture in Africa

The questions we ask are

1. How far have we gone as a continent in ICT in Agriculture in Africa, its development and use?

2. What has been the impact so far?

3. What are some of the ICT solutions developed and used in Agriculture in Africa?

4. What is the way forward?

Please share your thoughts in the comment form below.