Ensibuuko app wins agri-innovation challenge @ICT4Ag ‘13

NaijaAgroNet:

Ensibuuko agri-solution led the quadruplet of Messrs Richard Zulu, Gerald Otim, Daniel Opio and Ms Winnie Mbabazi emerged top winners at the just concluded Agri-Hackathon championship host as part of the Information and Communication Technology for Agriculture (ICT4Ag) international conference in Rwanda, the NaijaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNet quoted The Observer as the Ugandan team of app developers outshined other contestants to go home with the 5,000 euros, about N1,056,467.00 prize money.

“The Ugandan farmers have won. We share a similar background with them and we know how they struggle to finance their activities,” declared Richard Zulu at Serena Hotel Kigali venue.

“For us the prize is a bonus after an extensive week of learning and sharing ideas with some of the best developers in the region,” Zulu said.

According to Zulu, the Ensibuuko app provides the ultimate solution to smallholder farmers. It comes with rich products which enhance the power of a mobile and web technologies to help small-holder rural farmers in Uganda acquire and pay loans to (non) microfinance institutions easily, quickly and in an accessible way. It uses an automated mobile money and SMS (Short Message Service).

“We are working in 35 districts in Uganda. Most smallholder farmers are unbanked and lack creditworthiness…that is why they need and have embraced this product,” noted Gerald Otim, the business development manager.

Isaac Oyimah with additional reports from The Observer/GEE.
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Pix: L-R: Rwanda minister for agriculture, Agnes Kalibata, Richard Zulu, Gerald Otim, Daniel Opio and Winnie Mbabazi

Agro: Community informatics provide cost effective delivery in rural areas

NaijaAgroNet:

Community Informatics (CI) provides a basis for approaching cost effective service delivery

in rural areas by focusing on the utilization of development of capacities and skills in local

communities as a means for enhancing and leveraging technical and external human

resources, reports Brenda Zulu.

These according NaijaAgroNet were examples drawn from Columbia, Kenya and Sudan presentations at the on-going ICT4Ag the digital springboard for inclusive agriculture on "Strengthening Grassroots Engagement  in  Agriculture Research and Development (ARD) Policy Processes"  in Kigali.

These NaijaAgroNet Learnt showed that by integrating technical infrastructures with community and social processes, it is possible to link rural areas  to national service delivery systems while developing local capacity and supporting the local social and economic development in rural areas.

Ligia Maria Mejia Diaz, a Researcher at Research Group of Basins, Tolima University in Columbia shared her experience on Participatory GIS (PGIS) a tool contributing to the empowerment and governance of communities for the benefit of sustainable development.

She said that PGIS presented their local population with an increased power and the inclusion of the marginalised through education and participation in geographic technologies. She said PGIS was a tools for marginalized communities whose opinion was usually ignored in the planning process.

Mejia Diaz says there was a need to for training as this was a very important part of PGIS . The project challenges included changing the original design of the project to a new design as the community surprised the researchers by their wealth of indigenous knowledge.

Brenda Zulu:

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ICT4ag: CTA launches media contests for ACP countries

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in collaboration with its national, regional and international partners has launched the 2013 edition of African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) media competition on Information and Communications Technologies for Agricultural Development (ICT4ag).

Media Programme Coordinator, at CTA, Mr. Sam Mikenga informed NaijaAgroNet that the competition is open to all media and communication professionals from the ACP.

He also said that the competition aims at encouraging journalists and media specialists to investigate the challenges and opportunities for involving use of ICTs in value chains and decision making, showcase success stories and best practices that could be replicated and raise awareness on the important role of ICTs in agricultural transformation.

Mikenga said that the competition is orgaanised in conjunction with the International Conference on ICT4ag, which will take place from November 4 to 8, 2013 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Stressing that the top six finalists will be supported to attend the conference and provide media coverage. The top three winners will be announced during the event. While submissions are invited to discuss one or more of the following themes, namely “Enabling environment for ICTs (capacity, ICT policies, regulatory regimes, infrastructure, etc); Youth and gender aspects; Access to markets and trade.

He, therefore advised interested candidates to send in one original print piece in English or French to media@ict4ag.cta.int, copying mikenga@cta.int by 15 August 2013. 

Remmy Nweke

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