Use of ICT by smallholder farmers in Kabale, Uganda

Kenneth Masuki , a Knowledge Management Specialist ICRAF, African Highland Initiative (AHI) speaking on the use of Integrated ICT by farmers during the annual science forum at the World Agroforestry Centre held on the 6th to 8th September 2010._x000D_ _x000D_ ICTs have great potential to boost rural development in developing countries and in general farmers prefer specific media for the dissemination of particular information._x000D_ _x000D_ AHI conducted a project that connected farmers to multiple information sources and media like telecentres and village information centres. Information needs assessment was conducted through a participatory action research approach. Research findings showed that the farmers identified 3 info domains, namely agriculture, Natural Resource Management (NRM) and market._x000D_ _x000D_ The project discovered that rural communities appreciated the use of integrated information and communication technologies as convenient way to communicate and get desired information._x000D_ _x000D_ The results of the study will be published in International Journal of Computing and ICT Research, December 2010.