Success Stories in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Research and Technological Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean

This Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) publication available in English and Spanish describes 6 projects that use information and communication technology (ICT) in agriculture. The cases show how these tools have made it possible to work in a network that facilitates the organisation, dissemination, or exchange of information, and builds capacity. The organisation was an initiative of the FORAGRO Technical Secretariat at IICA. This project is a joint effort by IICA, the Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO), and Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).

Case studies chosen are listed below with a sampling of lessons learned included for each of them:

• REDesastres: A Cuban contribution to the management of health disasters involving plants and animals - a virtual network to distribute timely and up-to-date information and analysis from health organisations and international news agencies, scientific publications, and other sources, relative to the prevention, diagnosis, and control of transboundary diseases, using email to gather and disseminate information, as well as website posting, and an intranet for sites lacking broadband connections. Technical training and teamwork among computer experts and scientist/specialists, including veterinarians, agronomists, and professionals in other related fields, has made the network and its information viable.
  
• Decision Support System for the Control of Asian Soybean Rust, Paraná State, Brazil - this system established a warning system by micro-region in order to ensure a more rational and sustainable approach to agricultural rust control using weather and rainfall monitoring in micro-regions, as well as fungicide residue monitoring, to advise farmers through website maps. The project found that the website must reflect the real disease pressure observed in the fields.
  
• Agricultural Sector Information System (SISAV), Cauca Valley, Colombia - SISAV is a territorial system of information subsystems, whose start-up funding strategy was to persuade its partners to view information as a public good. It has organised a digital agricultural library and a directory of people and institutions in the Cauca Valley. As stated here, open software resources are making it possible to develop databases, run the portal, and build an intelligent rural map of Cauca Valley. The system disseminates local knowledge in Spanish with plans to have it available in local languages.
  
• The National Voice Network: Venezuela’s National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) - a project designed to facilitate the exchange of information, the development of joint research projects, and the integration of academic, scientific, and technological endeavours over a rural/urban divide by using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology that provides the functionality and quality of a normal telephone conversation but at much lower cost. The project advises collecting baseline information before installing technologies to make it possible to compare the new situation with the old one. Qualified personnel is another need for a system such as the one described here that incorporates features such as conference calls, voice mailboxes, call transfers and automated messages, and directories, for which users must be trained and adequately supported. As stated here, the institution’s top management must be fully aware of the process and participate actively in it: "their role is crucial for the success of the project".
  
• The Electronic Potato Network (REDEPAPA) - a virtual community - centred on the potato crop - whose tools consist of a website, a wiki, Google alerts, a blog space, an e-newsletter, a news and content syndication system (RSS), a mailing list, electronic fora, and a training space within the website. As stated here, one full-time administrator-facilitator can organise the community, but persistence is needed, as well as: ability in English and the language of the predominant user group and knowledge of communication styles and ICT. Financing should be sustainable, possibly through co-financing of agencies and participants and selling services. Part of the administrator-facilitator job in this instance is to stimulate participation where it is low and encourage sharing of lessons learned.
• PRODARNET: A virtual network on rural agro-industry - an informal communication space with a moderator, using Yahoo! Groups, whose users have appropriated the ICT tools, giving them the confidence to ask questions and share their experiences without expecting any remuneration for their contribution to a widespread and democratic dissemination of technical and commercial information. What is needed is to create a community around an issue, a vision, and certain shared principles and objectives, as a result of awareness raising and encouragement to ensure that the mailing list can reach the necessary momentum and achieve self-management.
  

The document concludes that: "One of the elements is the importance of choosing the specific ICTs to be used according to the characteristics and needs of the users and the project... [A]lthough there are no universal formulas, several of the cases underscore how significant it is to apply certain mechanisms such as email (in the form of mailing lists or e-groups) rather than focusing on a presence on the Web, when users’ broadband access is limited. Another point... is the importance of the effort... shown by the facilitators...of these experiences. The promotion of fluent and productive exchanges, as well as the ongoing growth of the virtual communities involved by taking advantage of new possibilities and tools as they emerge, are vital for achieving a positive impact. A final challenge evidenced... is the need to focus more on the qualitative assessment of information projects. It is necessary to document not just the experiences themselves but also the conditions prevailing before the start of the project. Only then will it be possible to show more precisely the positive impact of the effort. This is vital when trying to raise the awareness of decision-makers regarding the need to support and promote technical information aimed at agricultural innovation."