Incorporate ICT in rural dev’t projects
May 30, 2006
I thank UDS-Telecentre and Plan-Uganda for setting up the first public access Internet services in Kamuli.
By Geoffrey Namukoye
I thank UDS-Telecentre and Plan-Uganda for setting up the first public access Internet services in Kamuli.
Introduction of such services has saved a number of people the burden of travelling long distances to acquire the same elsewhere.
The last time Kamuli had Internet services was early 2003, which were provided by Uganda Tele-communication under the Free-Net programme.
This time round, the people of Kamuli will appreciate and use the latest means of communication.
The biggest percentage of NGOs, Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and government projects (Bonna Bagaggawale) work towards reducing poverty at household level.
It is evident that among various approaches used to alleviate poverty, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been under-utilised, yet its effective use would mean an explosion in tangible results.
We often fail to note that there is a lot more to the Internet than e-mails and surfing pornography. For example in Kamuli, very few people, including some district officials, know about the existence of Kamuli on the world wide web (www.kamuli.go.ug).
As development practitioners based in rural areas, there is need to systematically modify this mindset, and the biggest question should be, “How best can rural communities use ICTs for development to improve livelihoods?â€
Rural agricultural organisations can use Internet blogs to facilitate interactions and sharing of experiences in thematic developmental fields with others worldwide.
The Ugandan rural populace possesses indigenous knowledge on the use of local herbs for traditional healing, water harvesting skills, mushroom growing and a lot more.
Community workers can develop content and blog it to generate feedback on how best this can be improved and shared for development.
“Google†is a user-friendly search engine that can ease access to information on better farming methods, market research and use of the latest appropriate technology to address rural needs.
Rural establishments like CBOs, churches and mosques can be assisted by designing for them websites where they can document and publish best practices. This helps in information sharing, fundraising and marketing of products. On the other hand, tangible results emanating from the use of ICTs will motivate others to jump onto the development bandwagon, hence increased income at household level.
Rural schools and community libraries can make use of the mobile digital library, a facility available at the Uganda National Library, where books of interest are downloaded and bound for those in need. This enriches library stock and boosts the reading culture for adults and students.
The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Namulonge Research Centre and other research organisations carry out a lot of research.
This means there are lots of published findings in the field of agriculture relevant to Uganda.
Latest agro problems have been matched with the latest remedies. Instead of travelling to Kawanda, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, MUK, NARO offices or Namulonge, these findings can easily be accessed on respective websites and repackaged offline for dissemination and demonstration.
In 2005, the Government made restrictions on increasing the number of radio stations in and around Kampala.
This is a window of opportunity that rural development practitioners can still use to establish community radios. These are instrumental tools for information sharing, technical empowerment and current awareness services.
Lots of relevant research findings are sitting on the tables of research organisations, while radios can be used as effective information dissemination channels to the target audience.
There is need for respective ministries to practically make development interventions by facilitating rural-based ICT access points if ICTs are to have an impact on development goals.
The writer is a development practitioner in Kamuli
I thank UDS-Telecentre and Plan-Uganda for setting up the first public access Internet services in Kamuli.
Introduction of such services has saved a number of people the burden of travelling long distances to acquire the same elsewhere.
The last time Kamuli had Internet services was early 2003, which were provided by Uganda Tele-communication under the Free-Net programme.
This time round, the people of Kamuli will appreciate and use the latest means of communication.
The biggest percentage of NGOs, Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and government projects (Bonna Bagaggawale) work towards reducing poverty at household level.
It is evident that among various approaches used to alleviate poverty, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been under-utilised, yet its effective use would mean an explosion in tangible results.
We often fail to note that there is a lot more to the Internet than e-mails and surfing pornography. For example in Kamuli, very few people, including some district officials, know about the existence of Kamuli on the world wide web (www.kamuli.go.ug).
As development practitioners based in rural areas, there is need to systematically modify this mindset, and the biggest question should be, “How best can rural communities use ICTs for development to improve livelihoods?â€
Rural agricultural organisations can use Internet blogs to facilitate interactions and sharing of experiences in thematic developmental fields with others worldwide.
The Ugandan rural populace possesses indigenous knowledge on the use of local herbs for traditional healing, water harvesting skills, mushroom growing and a lot more.
Community workers can develop content and blog it to generate feedback on how best this can be improved and shared for development.
“Google†is a user-friendly search engine that can ease access to information on better farming methods, market research and use of the latest appropriate technology to address rural needs.
Rural establishments like CBOs, churches and mosques can be assisted by designing for them websites where they can document and publish best practices. This helps in information sharing, fundraising and marketing of products. On the other hand, tangible results emanating from the use of ICTs will motivate others to jump onto the development bandwagon, hence increased income at household level.
Rural schools and community libraries can make use of the mobile digital library, a facility available at the Uganda National Library, where books of interest are downloaded and bound for those in need. This enriches library stock and boosts the reading culture for adults and students.
The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Namulonge Research Centre and other research organisations carry out a lot of research.
This means there are lots of published findings in the field of agriculture relevant to Uganda.
Latest agro problems have been matched with the latest remedies. Instead of travelling to Kawanda, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, MUK, NARO offices or Namulonge, these findings can easily be accessed on respective websites and repackaged offline for dissemination and demonstration.
In 2005, the Government made restrictions on increasing the number of radio stations in and around Kampala.
This is a window of opportunity that rural development practitioners can still use to establish community radios. These are instrumental tools for information sharing, technical empowerment and current awareness services.
Lots of relevant research findings are sitting on the tables of research organisations, while radios can be used as effective information dissemination channels to the target audience.
There is need for respective ministries to practically make development interventions by facilitating rural-based ICT access points if ICTs are to have an impact on development goals.
The writer is a development practitioner in Kamuli