Will Modern ICT Revolutionize Agricultural Knowledge Development and Dissemination?.

Many farmers in developing countries often lack knowledge that could immediately improve their livelihoods. But, to educate such a vast, scattered population, two key areas need to be developed: content production and distribution. Some systems expect information or communication technology alone to deliver useful knowledge to marginal farmers; however, we found that only an integrated system of technology and social organization can deliver value to farmers.

Digital Green is a research project that seeks to disseminate targeted agricultural information to small and marginal farmers in India at a reasonable cost through digital video and mediated instruction. The unique components of Digital Green are (1) a participatory process for content production, (2) a locally generated digital video database, (3) human-mediated instruction for dissemination and training, and (4) regimented sequencing to initiate a new community. Digital Green works with existing, people-based extension systems and aims to amplify their effectiveness. While video provides a point of focus, it is people and social dynamics that ultimately make Digital Green work. Local social networks are tapped to connect farmers with experts; the thrill of appearing “on TV” motivates farmers; and homophily is exploited to minimize the distance between teacher and learner.

In a one-year trial involving 20 villages (1,470 households), Digital Green increased the adoption of certain agriculture practices seven-fold over a classic Training & Visit-based approach. This system still requires the support of the existing extension system, but it magnifies its effectiveness by using relevant content and a local presence to connect with farmers on a sustained basis. Digital Green was shown to be ten times more effective per dollar spent. Investments included performance-based honoraria for local facilitators, a shared TV and DVD player in each village, and one digital camcorder and PC shared across the project area. These results are preliminary, but promising.