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farmer groups and key players as they learn to construct their own

producer-to-consumer marketing chains.

Africa is now the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market.

Lively competition and increasingly good coverage in Tanzania’s

rural areas by mobile phone companies means rural people are using

mobile phones who might never have used a landline. And soon

the need to use a computer to send e-mails could be eliminated

before most people have even seen a computer, with the introduc-

tion of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology. This will

enable people to send and receive e-mails on their mobile phones.

However, experience from the first phase of the First Mile Project

shows that rural poor people use their mobile phones almost exclu-

sively for social communication, to contact families and friends, and

usually only when there is an urgent need. To get market informa-

tion, for example, they are more likely to look at their village

billboard – even though the prices listed might not be up to date.

However, the situation is changing rapidly. As network coverage

expands throughout the country and mobile phones are proving

worthwhile, people are starting to think about the possibilities of

using them for other purposes – including to get updated infor-

mation on market prices, to be posted on village billboards.

An important feature of the First Mile Project is that it works with

groups of farmers, processors, traders and others in the market

chain, who will combine use of old and new communication tech-

nologies – from face-to-face communication to the Internet – to get

the information they need, share it and learn together. Building trust

and collaboration within and between the groups, and ensuring the

relevance of content are already emerging as crucial factors –more

important than actual access to ICT. The problem is not the access

to the technology, which is closer and more accessible than thought,

but whether enough value is seen in exchange of information to

justify the cost.

Networking is critical

Since 1995, IFAD has supported the development of informa-

tion and knowledge-sharing networks: first came FIDAMERICA

in Latin America and the Caribbean; this was followed by ENRAP,

the Electronic Networking for Rural Asia/Pacific; FIDAFRIQUE

in western and central Africa; and Karianet in the Near East and

north Africa. By linking IFAD-funded projects via the Internet,

these four regional networks use a range of electronic services

and activities, including monthly newsletters, mailing lists and

e-conferencing, to complement face-to-face interaction and share

ideas, issues and experience. They also help improve commu-

nication between projects, as well as with IFAD headquarters

and other partner organizations, and provide training and

connectivity support to projects.

To raise awareness of rural poverty as an issue of global, regional

and national importance, IFAD is creating a Rural Poverty Portal,

a one-stop, interactive, Internet-based learning tool that will allow

individuals to create, acquire, adapt, store, disseminate, manage

and use information about rural poverty.

Conclusion

The rapid uptake of ICT like mobile phones is a significant step

forward. But, despite progress towards more widespread access,

it is important not to lose sight of the fact that development is

not about technology or information – it is about the

economic, social and political empowerment of poor people.

Collectively, investments by both the international community

and the private sector can help bridge the gap between the

information “haves” and “have-nots”. But the key to narrowing

the digital divide is understanding that ICT is not an end in

itself.

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to erad-

icating rural poverty in developing countries. Seventy-five per cent of

the world’s poorest people – 800 million women, children and men –

live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities

for their livelihoods. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD

works with governments to develop and finance programmes and

projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves.

Twaha Abdallah updates the market information on the billboard in Wili village, Hai district in Tanzania. Chairman of one of the village producer

groups, Twaha said: “Sometimes it takes longer to update the information due to communication difficulties but we do our best nowadays, especially

with the coming of the mobile phones.”

Photo: Mwanzo Millinga