Information and Communication Technology in Support of Food Security and Sustainable Development

Introduction

1. Recent developments in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field are positively changing ways research is being done in the world and may be used to improve food distribution networks, development of population surveys and censuses and expansion of early warning systems in Africa. Indeed with the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web cheaper means of information acquisition, dissemination and exchange are becoming available and Africa can no longer be left behind. It is in this context that the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has taken the lead in helping prepare African countries to overcome the information and communication technology (ICT) gap and the disparity between the information rich and the information have-nots by developing the African Information Society Initiative (AISI).

The African Information Society Initiative

2. ECA plays an important role in promoting ICT development and use for leveraging socio-economic development of African countries. Advances in new information and communication technology both facilitate this role and make it more necessary and relevant. In this regard, the ECA Conference of Ministers adopted resolutions 795(XXX) and 812(XXXI) culminating in endorsement of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), an action framework to build Africa’s information and communications infrastructure. Indeed "information and communication technologies can no longer be seen as a luxury for the elite but as an absolute necessity for the masses. Even though non-literate and rural populations may not be able to make direct use of the African information infrastructure in the near future, the positive spin-offs to the country as a whole will still result in benefits for all sectors of society. And while the immediate returns of investment in information and communication technologies may not be readily apparent to hard pressed administrations concerned with squeezing the most from limited resources, the long-term positive impacts of a proactive strategy cannot be ignored". The action framework identifies inter alia priority challenges which hinder African development and some of the opportunities that the information and communication revolution offer to African countries for combating these problems. Challenges and opportunities for the following priority areas were looked into by AISI:

	Job creation
	Health
	Education and research
	Culture
	Trade and Commerce
	Tourism
	Food security
	Gender and development
	Man-made crises and natural disasters

3. It should be noted that for Africa to benefit from the Information revolution, the decision makers and researchers may change thinking priorities for local communities. "This may seem difficult because of the almost total absence of telecommunication infrastructure in remote areas. However this situation may be reversed if access to basic information and communication becomes a priority for African countries, thus enabling farmers and local entrepreneurs to get access to new agricultural techniques, to meteorological forecasts and to distribution markets in order to identify the appropriate farming techniques to be used, the suitable time to plant and harvest and the best price for which their products are to be sold. At the end, the revenues derived from the sale of the products may be used to fund local development".

ICT in support of Science and Technology

4. The information revolution makes it possible to avail information resources and knowledge everywhere in the world including remote areas. Using the Internet everyone can access a number of unlimited data bases, computing facilities, libraries, documentation centres, archives, research laboratories, on-line newspapers and learning societies for the cost of a local telephone call. Hence major transformations can occur in the African research environment if ICT is fully used to assist students, researchers, decision makers and the public at large to get access to opportunities for lifelong learning and a reinvigorated and improved education. In this regards AISI identifies the following opportunities to be seized by African countries to improve literacy rate and minimize lack of teachers and schools as well as educational materials:

Providing equitable remote access to resources in support of both distance education and the strengthening of local educational capacity;

	Connecting schools, universities and research centres to national and international distance education facilities, national and international databases, libraries, research laboratories and computing facilities;
	Reducing communications and administrative costs by building communications networks linking all educational establishments;
	Promoting and supporting collaboration among teachers and researchers;

Extending the reach of educational facilities in informal learning, especially to community level.

ICT in support of Food security and sustainable development

5. Provision and use of electronic communication and electronic data dissemination media can support agricultural and rural development in African countries. This will improve access to extension and other information sources available in a country and outside and will also facilitate documenting and sharing of local knowledge and experience. The ultimate objective being the improvement of lives of the rural population and agricultural producers in African countries through the improvement of agricultural and rural development services provided by extension workers. In this regard, the AISI framework identifies the following ICT opportunities to promote food security and sustainable development:

Establishment of information systems for monitoring market performance and measuring market failures;

	Development of information systems to address food security issues such as agricultural production, government subsidies for food security, monitoring of water and land resources, disease problems, food transportation and storage;
	Efficient marketing of agricultural products through information and telecommunication networks;
	Provision of equitable access to new techniques for improving agricultural production;

Reduced food storage losses through more efficient distribution

ICT actions in support of food security and sustainable development

6. In support to food security and sustainable development in Africa, support should be geared to strengthening the activities of a Science and Technology Network by facilitating to network members (Advisory Board, Steering Committee and Focal points), access to each other’s information resources and expertise through an electronic network via the Internet. The following actions may be required:

Development of distributed data bases and compendia of activities

Development of a Web site comprising:

	Information about ESTNET and its focal points
	Links to members’ Web sites
	Information about major events
	Technical material, reports, studies, etc.

Provision of email access to all the members to exchange information, data and documents

Development of an electronic discussion list to enable members to instantaneously share information on:

	Experiences
	Achievements
	Problems
	Best practices
	Etc.

Training of ESTNET members and staff of their respective institutions on the use and maintenance of the above information systems.

Some prerequisites

Training of ESTNET members and staff of their respective institutions on the use and maintenance of the above information systems.

Some prerequisites

7. The following can be considered as prerequisites for viable and meaningful ICT actions in support of food security and sustainable development:

Capacity building

Awareness raising

Infrastructure development

Partnership and Coordination

8. A formal partnership should be established including representatives of member States as well as the African and international private sector and regional and international organizations.

9. Coordination of activities of partner institutions should be carried out to avoid duplication and wastage of resources. In this regard, an electronic discussion group to be moderated by ECA or one of the Advisory Board members could be set up to promote and enhance exchange of information, expertise and programmes.