Technology Transfer: The Farmer’s Side of the Story

Presented by

Md. Asad-Ur-Rahman NileSenior Business Consultant

Swisscontact, KatalystGeneva, Switzerland

May 2012

Content

• Katalyst at a Glance• ICT & Bangladesh• The Katalyst Approach

– Constraints & solutions

• Results & Deepening the impact• The Missing Link• The Information seeking behavior & decision making• Lessons learned • Way forward

Katalyst at a GlancePhase I Phase II

Donors • DFID• SDC• SIDA

• DFID• SDC• CIDA• The Embassy of Netherlands

Implementers Swisscontact, GTZ-IS

Swisscontact, GTZ-IS

Duration • Oct ’02 –15 Mar ’08 • 16 Mar ’08 – 15 Mar ’13

Budget • US$ 20 million • US$ 45 million

Line Ministry Ministry of Commerce Ministry of Commerce

Katalyst Approach

Demand

SupplyCore

Govt.

Informal network

Private Sector

Business Membership Organizations

Infrastructure

CoordinationR&D Information

Supporting Functions Skills &

Capacity Related Support Services

Regulations

LawsRulesStandards

Informal Rules & Norms

Informing & Communication

Setting & Enforcing Rules

Source: The Springfield Centre

The Constraints

Limited access to ICT tools and technology

Lack of appropriate ICT-based service offers targeting rural sectors

Lack of appropriate policy support for growth of ICT based services

Low awareness and usage of among rural people

Lack of adequate skill set among service providers

The Solutions

Private Sector based solutions

Grameenphone CIC

Banglalink 7676

Content

Commercial content provider

developed

Diversification of content

Partnerships

Ecosystem of private sector

players

Involvement of government

Market based solution

Commercially viable

Without any subsidy

Policy

Policy recommendations

Facilitating public private initiatives

Delivery Channels: GPCIC & BL7676A nationwide network of Grameenphone Community Centre’s (GPCIC), more than 500 at sub-district level

A 24/7 agriculture helpline branded by Bangalink offering agriculture related information and advisory services

The Results

• Partnership with Grameenphone (GP) led to establishment of 502 rural telecentres known as Grameenphone Community Information Centre’s (GPCIC)

– Cumulative access outreach from March 2008 - June 2011 is 1.5 million+ only from the Grameenphone CIC’s

– Cumulative benefit outreach from March 2008 - June 2011 is 0.6 million+ (all services direct & indirect)

• The partnership with Banglalink (BL) led the development of Banglalink Agriculture Helpline 7676

• Impact of Banglalink Agriculture helpline from Jan’11 to Dec’11– Relevant calls 32,904– Repeat calls 22% (7,219)

• The partnership with public agency Agriculture Information Service (AIS) led to policy recommendation to facilitate dissemination of agricultural information through ICT based channels and validation mechanism

Source: Katalyst Annual Report 2011 , Banglalink & Grameenphone

Widening and Deepening the Impact

• Rendering specialized public services from the both delivery channels– Fertilizer Recommendation System (FRS)

• Based on nationwide soil sample analysis data• Very precise & balanced dosage recommendation• Reduces fertilizer cost and increases yield• Online based, centrally updated by Soil Resource Development Institute, a

government agency under Ministry of Agriculture

• Increased number of commercial content providers• Horizontal expansion with Banglalink

– SME Helpline 7677• Facilitating market response to increase competition & end user

benefit

The “Missing Link”

• The acceptance to new technology or new source of information is still very low

• The repeat usage by the beneficiaries is still low• The technology transfer through peers is yet to gain a

momentum • Majority is waiting to see others use it first• The “What if” questions

What needs to be considered

• Information seeking behavior• The Influencing Factors in Decision Making• The risk assessment from a farmer’s POV

– The cost benefit analysis– Confidence in service– The uncertainties– The proof of effectiveness

The Information Seeking Behavior

Top-three information needs during decision stage Needed byHigher yield crops 97%Current prices in the market they sell at 63%Finance 54%

Top-three information needs during seeding stage Needed byInformation on seed varieties 84%Best farming practicesincluding how toprepare seeds 83%

Finance 52%Farming machinery 53%

Information needs during the preparing and planting stage Needed byBest farming practicesrelated to growing crops 84%Farming machinery 69%Labor 62%

Top-three information needs during growing stage Needed by

Fertilizer information 96%

Pesticide/ herbicideinformation 71%

Crop diseases 71%

Source: “Smallholders and Micro- ‐enterprises in Agriculture: Information needs and communication patterns” , LIRNEasia 2012

The Information Seeking Behavior (contd.)

Top-three information needs during harvesting, packing & storage stage Needed by

Expected future market prices around the time when your crops are ready to harvest 85%

Market prices where they sell at 78%Prices in markets other than where they sell at 65%

Top-three information needs during selling stage Needed by

Prices in market they sell at 98%

Prices in markets other than where they sell at 87%

Buyers, collectors & traders 73%

Source: “Smallholders and Micro- ‐enterprises in Agriculture: Information needs and communication patterns” , LIRNEasia 2012

Decision is taken by or influenced by Decision SeedlingPreparing &

Planning GrowingHarvesting,

Packing & Storing SellingAlways by myself 28% 22% 29% 21% 26% 33%

Sometimes with the advice of the others 70% 77% 71% 77% 73% 66%always with the advice of the others 2% 1% 0% 2% 1% 1%

Influences in Decision Making

Sources Decision seedlingPreparing &

Planning GrowingHarvesting,

Picking & Sorting Selling

Family/ Friends 63.30% 53.20% 62.00% 54.40% 59.50% 61.20%

Other farmers 94.40% 81.80% 90.10% 91.10% 85.10% 89.60%Govt. extension workers 44.40% 36.40% 38.00% 40.50% 0.00% 0.00%Traders/ collectors/ buyers 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 16.20% 20.90%

Extent of farmers’ utilization of a source for their needs during harvesting, packing and storing stage DecisionSelf-knowledge 29.10%Family/ Friends 13.10%Other farmers 32.70%Mass media 4.10%Govt. ext. worker 1.80%Input supplier 1.70%

The Influencing Factors in Decision Making

• Economic condition• Economic consideration

– Cost – Potential gain / loss

• Education• Age & Experience• Peers • Exposure to communication• Perception

Decision Making: Inside the farmer’s mind

• SWOT analysis of a farmer on online based Fertilizer Recommendation System (FRS)

• Key facts– FRS is a public service provided by Soil Resource Development

Institute (SRDI) an agency under government– Available through GPCIC & BL 7676– The service is based on soil testing and with a central database– The recommendations from the system have been proven to

reduce fertilizer cost and increase yield – Cost of accessing service is minimal (0.12USD to 0.17USD)– Reduces fertilizer cost 20% on average and yield increase in up to

20% on average

Inside the farmer’s mind : SWOT of FRS

• Costs less• “Sounds good”• Easily accessible• Known brands associated

• “What if” questions • Too risky to experiment• “What is the guarantee”?• Who would be responsible?

• Delivered by non-government people

• Its not free• No face to face interaction

through call centre• No direct linkage with GPCIC

and agriculture

• Reduces fertilizer cost• Promise of better yield!!

Strengths Weaknesses

ThreatsOpportunities

Lessons Learned• The mindset is of the farmer is one of the most crucial factors• The acceptance of the delivery channel is as important as the

service itself• The confidence building of the farmers on ICT based channels are

needed• The availability of the service is not enough• The involvement of government to use mass media has a huge

potential to make a difference • The critical mass of retained users needs to be developed to create

a “snowball effect”• Really good, beneficial and profitable services might not be

accepted by the mass due to perception• The demand creation from end users side is needed to be

developed

Way Forward

• The facilitation for accepting new technology need to be enhanced

• Partnerships with private sector can play a crucial role to address the issue

• The government mechanism can be effective in breaking the barriers by building trust

• The role of mass media needs to be focused to address the issue• The latent demand needs to be stimulated through facilitating

“cognitive learning” • Indirect influencing mechanism can be effective to influence

end users

Thank You