How Culture and tradition Hampers the use of ICT in Agriculture

As i was writing this post i couldn't help but reminisce at how my father used to be treated as a king in our house back in the days. His word was the law and everybody had to observe and obey it to the latter or else face his wrath. This has been the case in many households especially in the African context governed by strict traditions where the place and position of a man in the society was highly esteemed. Whilst some people would say this ensured discipline in the house and the society at large in terms of leadership, it also had some aspects of dictatorship which were repugnant since they stifled what i'd call family democracy.
This strong hand of the African man extended as far as his resources stretched. This therefore meant that before any decision was made, the man had to be consulted or else nothing would be done at best or hell would break loose at worst.
Traditionally(and presently as well), African men were not only the custodians of the family names but they also protected all the assets and properties belonging to the family in order to ensure they were effectively passed on from one generation to the next.
The work of the woman therefore has traditionally been reduced to that of a servant whose work is to generate wealth for her family yet she still lacks the powers to make any critical decision regarding the use of the land. Since the husband buys everything including the small radio at home and all electronic gadgets(being also in control of the finances), he gets to decide which channels people would listen to on radio or watch in case they have a Tv set. The only family bank account-if any- is controlled by him which therefore means that he gets to enjoy end  of the year bonuses that accrue from the sale of coffee and other commodities yet chances are that he was merely a spectator when the wife and children were toiling.
Most traditional men would probably listen to the old classical music while women would probably prefer listening to something different. This therefore means, in case there is an educative program running on Tv or radio, the family would definitely miss out on the information being put across since the only channel of communication is jealously controlled. This reminds the old days when the only person allowed to as much as touch the family radio was the father.
Cultural believes and attitudes could also play a significant role in determining the receptivity and adaptability of technology among some communities. To some people within the social structure- especially the elders, technology is perceived as an invasion to their privacy or worse still, a form of corruption into their culture which would spoil the future generations by filling their impressionable minds with foreign ideologies and lifestyle which are at cross purposes with the local culture and norms. Although this is slowly changing in many parts of the world due to the use of the media and other campaigns which have helped in exposing the hitherto very cultural people to different cultures, there still exists a good number of people who would have none of this  at least for now.
Property and asset control has also been a stumbling block towards full utilization of  technology. Traditionally, men being custodians of the resources like land and the title deeds attached to them, their decisions are final regarding what is to be done or the investments to be put on a given farm. This therefore has the negative impact of sidelining women leaving them disenfranchised as it were. This eventually affects the whole family because as much as they lack ownership rights and therefore they don't have a say, they play a significant role in the management of the farm and as such their input cannot be gainsaid. There's therefore a need to bring their issues to the fore by making sure that they are treated as partners especially during the decision making process regarding investments into the farm. Since most of them spend much of their time toiling for the family, they understand better the general trends and status of the farm in terms of the improvements and viable investments that need to be done. Using them as conduits towards the adaption of technology especially among smallholder farmers has a great promise. Most of them by virtue of being social by nature, would probably be more receptive towards the adoption and application of a given technology than their male counterparts.
Societies still clinging to their cultures while condemning modern technology should know that tradition and science can co-exist very well without one compromising the other. The world is changing so fast owing to globalization and issues like global warming and global economic recessions that are affecting all and sundry. This therefore calls for a concerted effort from all quarters in dealing with these issues irrespective of our cultural differences. This can only be achieved in a networked environment with the help of technology and other deliberate efforts like government policies which would help people link up in order to share knowledge and experiences thereby tackling problems that bedevil man in the 21st Century like disease, hunger and food insecurity. These are the same simple steps that would see us achieve the millennium development goals that we all strive for before the 2015 deadline.

Building Linkages between the Markets and Smallholder farmers with ICT .

Photo Courtesy of Picasa.

A lot of the debate on the future of agriculture has been focusing mainly on large scale farmers since their production both at the global and domestic markets is considered sustainable, profitable and of course huge. Very little research has been conducted on the potential of the smallholder farmers at their detriment although i'd dare say that the future of food security in many parts of the world, more so the developing world, lies in harnessing the untapped potential of smallholder farming. With the looming dangers of climate change and global warming which would immensely affect food production levels as a result of the expected erratic weather patterns and the prolonged droughts, an increasing number of people are going to be food insecure in the coming years. The situation is made even worse looking at the recent statistics of global population growth which has hit the seventh billion mark and which therefore means that there'll be more mouths to feed in the coming years yet the amount of food produced globally doesn't tally with this increase. This reality therefore calls for a paradigm shift and a change of focus and tact, from focusing just on the revenue base coming from the large scale agriculture, to building a solid foundation that would cushion many people from hunger.


On the technology front, much of the innovation has been on green technology and ways of enhancing and developing drought resistant gene varieties while building their resilience to pests and diseases. These developments although commendable, are mostly targeted at large scale farmers who have the capital to afford this technologies. The genetically modified organisms popularly known as the GMOs, have received varying reactions in different spheres with some terming them as poisons because of the nature of their production which involves gene manipulation whereas other people think they represent the future of food production that will bolster global food security.
Many smallholder farmers have traditionally been producing their output for domestic and subsistence usage owing to a combination of factors like lack of modern technology, the unsustainable small parcels of land and lack of information on sound agricultural practices to mention but a few. The traditional culture of many African societies hasn't helped the situation either. The subdivision of land into very unsustainable small parcels which get even smaller in each successive generation as the original land is inherited and sub-divided amongst the growing number of family members, means that the portion of the land which was originally set aside for food production will probably give way to other competitive land usage like a  house or something else. The net effect therefore is that the former food secure and independent people are now dependent and food insecure.


During my previous work in consultancies, i have seen quite a number of organizations like the FAO gaining much interest in smallholder production. Unlike their large scale counterparts who probably have complicated management structures and a longer hierarchical order with a stringent budget thus slowing down the decision making process as far as adapting innovation is concerned,  smallholder farmers can benefit immensely from a myriad of technological innovations because of their simple nature and structure. 
The increasing growth in the ICT sector including the growing influence of the social media, presents huge opportunities in  areas of research, branding, market expansion through marketing and advertisement. Google for instance, has developed a simple tool that would enable SMEs put their products and services out there for access by the wider market with very simple steps to follow when populating their websites. The initiative dubbed "Putting Businesses Online", enables entrepreneurs to leverage on the power of a simple website to advertise their products and services in order to reach out to a wider market. This will cut down operational costs like advertisement which normally discourage many budding entrepreneurs from establishing their businesses. For a smallholder farmer dealing with perishable products like milk and vegetable, the prospects are greater from the exposure one would get through free advertisements. This could provide them with a ready market which will ensure a steady flow of the goods while cutting down losses associated with such goods.


Developing a platform like a website specifically for smallholder farmers with portals containing materials touching on various topics like farm management, crop varieties, treatment of pests and diseases, value addition etc would open up a new channel of communication and knowledge exchange that will go a long way in boosting that sector. A mobile phone, being the most accessible communication gadget, can transform the life of a smallholder farmer. People can trade and bid on whatever item on sale while all the benefits go straight to the farmer without involving the middlemen.
The same platform would  also act as a forum where farmers ask different questions about the best farming methods or seed varieties and people with the necessary knowledge or expertise  would act as resource persons thereby creating a lasting network for knowledge and information exchange. With a simple platform like a blog, a facebook page or even a twitter account, they can set up forums where one asks questions and receive answers from a wide variety of audiences with experience on that particular subject. Much of these is basically going to be spearheaded by the youth; one because they represent the future in terms of its opportunities or lack of it. The other reason is because, most software and technology developers are young people and as such, they are able to communicate in their "tech lingua franca" effectively in an attempt to provide solutions to the problems affecting the society. The youth are also the majority occupants of these small parcels of land which makes them the right candidates and implementers of this initiative that aims at turning the fortunes of smallholder farmers from mere subsistence to small-scale commercial farmers thus improving their living standards. This also has the power to build their resilience towards the impacts of climate change whose negative impacts is expected to hit the smallholder farmers the hardest.