APAN’s Potential Role in Leading a Partnership eLearning Initiative to Promote Sustainable Agriculture in the Asia-Pacific

APAN 2003 Conference Fukuoka, Japan 22-24 January 2003

Importance of Agriculture – Asia-Pacific

Economic contributions of agricultural production 27% of the GDP of South Asian developing countries

14% of the GDP of East Asian and Pacific countries Employment in agriculture

63% of South Asia’s workforce are farmers69% of East Asia and the Pacific workforce are farmers

(World Bank, 2001)

Challenges More People

Increasing demand for food and fiber~ 7 billion by 201580% in developing countries95% of all growth in developing countries

Less arable land (developing countries)1961 – .5 ha per capita1992 – .2 ha per capita2050 – .1 ha per capita

2 billion ha of arable land suffer from moderate to severe soil degradation. 5 to 10 million additional hectares become too degraded to use annually.

Globalization

If nothing is done we can expect…

More negative exploitation of natural resources. Continuing degradation of land leading to erosion,

and watershed deterioration. Lower productivity by the farming poor. Increased rural-urban migration compounding

already serious urban poverty and social problems. Deepening of rural poverty. More widespread under-nourishment Social unrest. Postponement of sustainable rural development.

(FAO, 2002)

Knowledge is Key “More than natural resources, more than cheap labour,

more than financial capital, knowledge is rapidly becoming the key factor of production. The rapid increase in knowledge provides a new potential for developing countries to grow faster and improve welfare faster.”

Requires, “investing in the people, institutions and networks that will permit them to tap the growing global knowledge base and harness knowledge for their needs.

(World Bank, 1992)

Knowledge Intensive Agriculture

“The declining productivity of traditional technologies has led to a critical consensus among many international organizations that the agriculture of the future must be much more "knowledge intensive."

Instead of simply adding to the quantity of resources utilized, farmers must learn to manage the same or fewer resources in more sophisticated and efficient ways.”

(Agrivista)

Knowledge Dissemination

“An emphasis on improved resource management implies that better methods of disseminating up-to-date technical, economic, and environmental information will need to become a high priority at all levels of the agricultural establishment.”

(Agrivista)

“The appropriate mechanisms to organize and manage research and technology dissemination for knowledge-intensive agriculture is still being debated.”

(World Bank)

ICTs

“New forms of electronic communication, especially the Internet, can play a key role in shortening the time between the announcement of scientific findings and the availability of results to end users.

Electronic communication technologies will also make it possible to develop new ways to create more immediate, interactive links between the suppliers and demanders of information.”

(Agrivista)

APRTC

Asia-Pacific Regional Technology Centre U.S. registered non-profit corporation (August 7,

2001) Focus on promotion of sustainable agriculture Works with multi-sectoral partners to target multi-

sectoral clients Sees agricultural professionals (knowledge

intermediaries) as key players in bringing about needed behavioural changes at the farm level

Uses ICT-based eLearning to upgrade the skills and knowledge of agricultural professionals - agLe@rn Programme

Participants

Sector

Percentage

2001(n > 70)

2002(n > 300)

Academia 18.7 36

Development agency

2

Government 1.3 18

Private Sector 60 32

NGO 12

Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Cambodia, China, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, USA,Vietnam, Zimbabwe (22 countries)

2003 Course Calendar

Course # offerings Max. participants

Digital Literacy 5 250

Introduction to IPM 4 200

Promoting Responsible Pesticide Use

4 200

Cotton IPM 2 100

Rice IPM 3 150

Vegetable IPM 3 150

Integrated Nutrient Management

3 150

Totals 24 1200

Global Reach – Vegetable IPM

APRTC’s Model

Government ExtensionNGOsDevelopment projectsInternational federationsPrivate sector initiativesInput retailers

IndustryCGIARFAOAcademiaNARCs

1.3 billion farmers in the Asia-Pacific

Global, National and Local Sources of Information

and Knowledge

Smallholder FarmersKnowledge

Intermediaries

?

APRTC

Justification

“ICTs are proving their value in helping to deliver information to and from intermediary information providers such as universities, government offices, telecenters, NGOs and libraries. Some of the most successful ICT for development projects are focused on supporting the work of intermediaries who are relaying information to and from farmers and others at the grassroots level who do not themselves have access to the technology.”

(Morrow, 2002)

Existing Official Partners

CropLife International CropLife Asia WorldView International Foundation Tamil Nadu Agricultural University University of Agricultural Sciences – Bangalore GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Asia Pacific Advanced Network Agricultural Working

Group ITC’s e-Choupal Initiative

Invitation

Invitation to other APAN members to join Invitation to APAN (AG-WG) to take the lead in

organizing partners promoting agLe@rn learning opportunities representing the effort to governments and

donors managing the Centre’s operations (Board

membership)

APAN AG-WG could make a valuable contribution to sustainable agriculture in the Asia-Pacific

APAN has widespread membership, respect and influence with governments and donors

APRTC is a member of APAN’s AgWG Taking the lead in managing APRTC would give APAN

a high profile and a valuable “application” based on ICTs

Can APAN help?

Lessons

It works and students enjoy the experience Requires dedicated partners Current levels of knowledge about sustainable

agricultural practices is extremely low Participants indicate that knowledge gained is

important in their professional lives and they are passing it on to the farmers and students they serve

Difficult to attract donor funding

Contact Us

Asia Pacific Regional Technology Centre (APRTC)28th Floor, Rasa Tower555 Pahonyothin RoadChatuchak, Bangkok 10900ThailandTel No: (66) 2937-1321Fax No: (66) 2937-0491Email: info@aprtc.orgURL: http://www.aprtc.org