Search

Climate change has global consequences, and is already being experienced, mainly by the most vulnerable groups of people in the Global South. Face-to-face on site interviews by two groups with an interpreter showed that farming activities in Tambuu Village, Morogoro Region, Tanzania are being complicated by additional uncertainties in weather patterns, climate change and changes in climate variability. To design future hybrid mobile climate services, we explored local information demands and current mobile usage patterns. The qualitative interview content analysis pinpointed a number of basic information demands, like seasonal climate outlooks and warnings for droughts or floods. The interviews revealed three interesting outliers. First, exceptionally large growing areas of the farm meant in practice need for information to support the maintenance for mechanized farming tools. Second, with a single exception, farmers showed a reluctant pattern to use services of agricultural extension officers. As third outlier, we found - among predominantly used ordinary button- the rising use of smartphones for farming activities. Our abductive analysis of the last outlier in Tambuu indicated the demand to take preparatory steps to design and develop integrated future hybrid climate services together with local farmers.

Small-scale farmers in Chamwino Tanzania, lack reliable means of communication for facilitating information flow between farmers themselves and other crop farming stakeholders. This study, therefore, sought to develop a mobile phone application system to support farming decision-making. The study employed a participatory design approach that used interviews, focus group discussions, and brainstorming for data collection and a software developer for the creation of a prototype. Thematic analysis was conducted, and the findings show that farmers require information on farming input, weather, transportation, market, crop farming policies and on agricultural research reports. Thereafter, convergent thinking facilitated the development of a mobile phone application system (mobileCHAPONA). The system enables two-way farming information flow among stakeholders (farmers, extension officers, advisory services and mediators). The system assists in the coordination of stakeholders towards improving production. Also, it is easily usable and adoptable by stakeholders aged between 24 to 44 years old, while elders above 45 years old may require a long run training to cope with innovation. It is expected that in the future, software developers, development practitioners, and policy experts will use the system, and improve it further in a manner that keeps into consideration the ecological perspectives in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Small scale farmers (SSFs) rely on information sources, which range from traditional means to modern information channels. This research explores the current decision making and information gaining mechanisms of small scale farmers in Chamwino District, Tanzania, where small scale farmers are experiencing low productivity, lack of infrastructures, and malnutrition. In-depth focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with a total of 94 participants. The interviews were built around several themes (crop farming activities, types of information sources, decision making processes) divided between the farming seasons (pre-farming, tilling, weeding, post-weeding, harvesting, post-harvesting). Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results reveal a number of contextual challenges in small scale farming. The analysis suggests a number of engineering solutions to address the identified challenges.

Information and Communication Technologies can have a strong impact on the development of a region: telecentre networks are in particular interesting model for e-learning dissemination to rural areas. The focus area of our investigation is Sri Lanka: the country has a long tradition in terms of gender equality - as it promotes an inclusive education system - and the use of ICTs is widespread. So far 600 of the planned 1000 telecentres have been started following the Nenasala network model. This paper is based upon observations and interviews of women and men working in different roles (owner, manager, operator and user) at telecentres in rural Sri Lanka. The aim of the study is to analyze and discuss the role of telecentres in rural areas and their impact on women empowerment. Findings show that telecentres open up new channels of information and create career opportunities for women in rural areas. Through telecentres, women can improve their life and be active participants in the rural development. However there still exists a need for further improvements and support for females in the Sri Lankan telecentre network.