Digital Reach

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HE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

has completely bypassed

nearly one billion people. They are the rural poor, who consti-

tute 75 per cent of the people in the world who live on less

than one dollar a day. Most rural communities are dependent on

agriculture and related enterprises and need constant up-to-date

information on everything from new farming methods and inputs

to market prices. Rural people and institutions could more effec-

tively use the world’s knowledge and information resources if they

had the means to access it. Such communities have much valuable

local agricultural knowledge to contribute as well.

Digital information and communication technology (ICT) is

enhancing the existing ways that people communicate, exchange

knowledge and access information. It may not be realistic to talk

about universal access to ICT in rural areas, but clearly the billions

of dollars invested globally in ICT infrastructure could and should

also benefit marginalized rural populations.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

(FAO), together with governments and other international agen-

cies, is implementing a programme on bridging the rural digital

divide to enhance the role of knowledge exchange and access to

information in combating hunger and poverty.

The programme addresses the first Millennium Development

Goal of eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, and the Plan of

Action of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),

which undertakes to build a people-centred, inclusive and devel-

opment-oriented Information Society.

The programme on bridging the rural digital divide is a novel

approach in this fast-moving field aimed at harnessing innova-

tion through collaboration. Governments and international

agencies, in addition to the FAO, are investing in the programme.

It has three main objectives: to increase the availability of infor-

mation content in digital form; to develop innovative mechanisms

and processes for information exchange and communication; and

to develop networks for exchange of information on food and

agriculture.

The Programme involves the following stakeholders in devel-

oping countries: rural communities and households, using

participatory approaches; rural service providers focusing on agri-

cultural, financial, and communication services, including rural

communication networks, community radio broadcasters and

community telecentres; and policy-makers and their advisers, in

order to foster a pro-rural information and communication policy

environment.

The Programme is developing a model set of policies and guide-

lines for governments, institutions and communities aimed at

improving the impact of information and communication.

The policies and guidelines will address the following key

issues:

Locally adapted content and context

– ensure that information is

sourced appropriately and presented suitably

Building on existing systems

– enhance rather than replace exist-

ing channels of communication

Addressing diversity

– respond to the different information and

communication requirements of men and women, youth and

other groups with specific needs

Capacity building

– strengthen the capacity of institutions and

people to provide the right content and to access a wider range

of information

Bridging the rural digital divide

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations