PRESENTATION TO THE EUROPEAN FORUM FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

COOPERATION : THE ROLE OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Date : September 4 – 6, 2002Montpellier, France

Presented by: Howard K. Sigwele, Coordinator FANRPAN

E-mail: Hsigwele@fanrpan.org

Background About FANRPAN

FANRPAN stands for Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network. The Network Operates in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.

Established in 1994 by Ministers of Agriculture Autonomous organization in the region with legal

personality / constitution Overall objective of FANRPAN is to“Enhance the

capacity for Policy formulation and Analysis in the SADC region for sustained development, the adoption of appropriate policies and programmes, implementation of demand-driven information and communication and management strategies”

Objectives

Promote appropriate agricultural policies in order to reduce poverty, increase food security and enhance sustainable development.

Improve Policy Analysis, Research and Formulation of SADC research themes.

Develop human and institutional capacity for coordinated dialogue among stakeholders.

Improve policy decision making through the generation, exchange and use of policy related information.

Key Regional Thematic Areas by Stakeholders (Governments, Farmers, Private Sector, Civic

Organizations, Mass Media and Policy Researchers

Food Security and Poverty Technology development and adoption so as to raise

productivity and farm incomes Specialization to improve efficiency and

competitiveness based on natural resource advantage Trade and market liberalization to improve access and

investment opportunities across borders through removal of barriers

Capacity building to improve productivity and competitiveness

Thematic Areas Cont’d

Stakeholder participation to improve relevance and appropriateness of policies and programs

Natural Resource management for sustainable development

Information and communication management to information dissemination and feedback

Impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture and natural resource

Land reform, access and poverty reduction

Food Security and Rural Development Issues In The SADC Region

These are some of the common characteristics of theRegion :

Estimated total population about 200 million Over 50% of population in the rural areas and

depend on Farming and Natural Resource Sectors Agriculture the mainstay of the economy.

Agriculture still contribute to employment and Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Agriculture provides about 50% of primary exports except for mineral rich countries (Angola, Botswana, South Africa)

Mixed farming is dominated by crop and livestock enterprises

Food Security and Rural Development Issues in SADC

Maize main cereal under rain-fed farming. Unfortunately as drought is fairly common in the SADC region the heavy reliance on maize is increasingly becoming very risk as evidenced by the current and the 1991/92 serious food crisis.

Irrigation farming occupies less than 20% of cultivated land. There is still great potential for irrigated farming in SADC

Cattle also provide key exports to some countries (Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe)

Poverty especially in the rural areas still very high At least 50% below national poverty datum line Using 1USD per capita consumption per day, at 30%

of the SADC Population is below poverty datum line Most poor in SADC are female headed households in

rural areas

Food Security and Rural Development Issues in SADC

Children malnutrition also very high Most of the poor households found in mostly arid to

semi-arid areas Both crop and livestock productivity very low Pricing, marketing, trade, exchange and interest rate,

custom duty and public investment policies penalized farming in most countries

Coordination, implementation and monitoring of policies very weak and ad-hoc

Stakeholder participation (farmers, private sector, civic society) in policy design and development very weak in most SADC countries

HIV/AIDS a serious social threat in all SADC countries as well as their economies. GDP and Investment to be severly reduced by HIV / AIDS. Gains from social investment to be lost due to HIV/AIDS.

Food Security and Rural Development Issues in SADC

Labour supply in FANR sector already affected by HIV / AIDS At least 10% of SADC population affected by HIV / AIDS Application of modern productivity enhancing inputs

(fertilizers, etc) one of the lowest in the world hence low agricultural productivity

Generally poorly developed physical infrastructure to transport produce and inputs, hence high transportation and marketing costs.

Very limited broad-based manufacturing and service industries in the rural areas

Access to credit for most rural and farming household reduced due to structural adjustment and chronic budget deficits.

Land in-equity very high especially in Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe. Situation requires urgent action to reduce rural poverty and promote political stability.

Rationale for the EU Forum on Rural Development

Discuss Policies / Strategies, programmes and Atom-up approaches to reduce rural poverty.

Share experiences through Core Studies about Rural Development Strategies designed to reduce poverty

Improving the performance of the Agricultural Sector and other rural based Enterprises to create sustainable income and employment opportunities to reduce poverty

Enhancing implementation strategies to reduce rural poverty.

As my broad topic is about how Information, CommunicationTechnology and Management can improve the effectivelyRural Development Strategies to reduce Poverty, I will outlinethe principles, based on international experience and caseStudies, as well as briefly indicate some of the practical problemsthat are normally encountered during the process. By andlarge some of the guidelines/principles require the followingsteps: Defining the Rural Poverty problem and delineating its root

causes and linkages with the rest of the nations’ economy. Whereas efforts have been made by governments and cooperating partners such as the EU, in general rural poverty still persists in most countries of the region despite attaining several years of independence. Why? We find a plethora of untargeted programmes and projects in many countries because comprehensive, reliable, consistent and disaggregated information by area/district, socio-economic group, gender, etc is not readily available. Some genuine programmes get diverted and benefit the wrong people. Agricultural subsidies, infrastructural projects, etc have been culprits in this regard.

Characterizing the rural poor demographic aspects, production enterprises/income sources, technologies, access to resources( land, credit, skills,etc) social services, political influence, appropriate communication channels (radio, newspaper, television, etc) is generally limited and weak in most countries of the region. For instance, it is generally assumed in most countries that almost all people in the rural areas are in farming and therefore depend significantly on Agriculture.

Infact in most cases rural development which covers institutional, economic, social and political aspects, is almost equated to agricultural development. This information is not entirely correct as the poor lack resources to be in productive farming hence depend more on off-farm income, remittances, etc and yet National Development Plans assume the rural poor will benefit from farming. Lack of comprehensive information to target public, private and international investment is also partly responsible for ineffective rural development strategies.

Providing information about the active participation of the Rural poor in policies, programmes and projects designed to reduce their food insecurity. There is now compelling evidence from both governments and the cooperating partners that the rural poor do not effectively participate freely and consistently in policies and programmes designed to improve their income and food security. This is due partly to limited power the poor have to influence decisions and resource allocation. Their representative civil institutions like farmers associations, cooperatives, small to medium enterprises are generally weak in finance, skills, management and bargaining. The proposed Rural Development Strategy by the World Bank to reach Rural Poor in Africa fully acknowledges the weakness of local institutions which have failed to represent and articulate the needs of the poor ( World Bank, 2002)..

Further, an assessment of rural poverty in southern Africa by IFAD also confirms the need to have strong institutions( IFAD, 2002) . In addition, the weak participation of the rural poor in policy decisions and investment priorities coupled with very weak institutions also makes it difficult to factor in the gender dimension of poverty. The majority of poor people in rural areas are female headed households but this is not necessarily captured in gender neutral rural development strategies. Female headed households lack skills, capital, political power, and access to quality land to improve their incomes in the rural areas.

When evaluating the various public community information and communication mechanisms used to assess the impact and performance of Rural Development Programmes, it is not uncommon to use performance indicators that may not be easily understood by the rural poor. For instance, growth in Gross Domestic per capita income, Agricultural Gross Domestic Product, etc do these indicators mean much to the rural poor? It is probably time that information to measure the performance of rural development strategies to reduce poverty is customized in order to enable the poor to understand and provide feedback about investment policies/programmes aimed at them. Evidently, this is a major policy challenge to cooperating partners like the EU and governments of low income countries.

Provide information about the key stakeholders (Government, Private Sector, Farmers, Community-based agencies, policy researchers, Communication and Technology experts, Donor Community, etc) involved in Rural Development. The rural poor require information about those who are in partnership with them besides their respective government. Information about the role of other stakeholders like farmers unions, private sector, political institutions, mass media, international, trade, development and finance institutions like the World Bank, IMF, WTO, FAO, UNDP as well as cooperating partners like the EU is necessary. The roles and specific responsibilities of stakeholders is important otherwise the rural poor might apportion blame for their food insecurity to the wrong people. Currently who is responsible in Africa for the inappropriate/ineffective macroeconomic reform policies, decline in expenditure to produce public goods( health, infrastructure, research, human capital development, etc) some of which are critical for reducing rural poverty? Such information is required to avoid future mistakes.

Auditing the Communication Process / Programs used to enlist the views, ideas and suggestions of the Rural Poor when designing strategies is very necessary. Do public meetings/addresses, interviews, radios, and other fora normally used to obtain views from the Rural Poor Appropriate? While several poor people might have a radio, studies indicate that in general the poor hardly attend meetings nor participate fully in public conferences/seminars designed to solicit for suggestions about development efforts and priorities.

Quite often the educated and privileged people take advantage and propose programmes intended for themselves and not the rural poor. Appropriate communication channels should be explored to mobilize the broad and representative participation of the rural poor to design appropriate policies and programmes lest the elites continue taking the lion’s share in the national income cake. Specifically targeted radio and television programmes be developed for the rural poor to articulate their problems and ideas for improvement.

Further, on communication, there is a need to understand how open, democratic and transparent the consultative processes/meetings are between the rural poor and the other main stakeholders especially governments and donors. Until recently, political tolerance through allowing different political views was a taboo in most countries. Infact dissenting voices were sometimes associated with non-patriotism? Consequently, the rural poor given their low status found it difficult at public fora to air their views some of which could be at variance with government of the day. Experience is now showing that as political transformation takes place and people including the poor are allowed to exercise their constitutional and democratic rights to choose their representatives freely, openly and transparently, accountability to them (rural poor) could improve.

Further, it is important also to promote a bottom -up Communication Strategy and Plan to encourage participation by the poor. While expensive, as much as possible, communication with the Rural Poor should be personal to avoid wrong perceptions and misrepresentations of Rural Development Goals/Strategies. Radio broadcasts, newspapers if accessible can also complement personal contacts. Due to limited budgetary problems sometimes radio coverage is poor in some parts of the region.

On Management, the existing structures/institutions or committees representing and articulating the needs and priorities of the Rural Poor must be fully representative and owned by the Rural Poor. Decisions by these management Structures must be transparent, democratic and consistent. In short, good governance by institutions representing the rural poor should be developed and empowered.

Besides weak institutions or systems/structures, there is also a need to ensure effective coordination among various. Specifically, coordination among Government Agencies, Donors,Civic Organizations, etc. Generally, coordination of institutions responsible for Rural Development to assist the Rural Poor is a problem in many low-income countries.

Sectoral Planning has also worsened matters as Public institutions instead of behaving like branches of the same tree (sustainable development) they compete against each other for power and sources. This is even complicated by different requirements by cooperating partners such as the EU. Sometimes for low-income countries in southern Africa, it is not only time consuming to access donor funds but the procedures required to meet the approval standards can be a major setback to assist the rural poor timeously and effectively. It is no secret that accessing funds can take years from some cooperating partners, and during this time what happens to the long approved projects for the rural poor ? The World Bank Strategy on Rural Development also identifies poor coordination among various stakeholders and time lags as challenges to increase resource allocation for reaching the rural poor.

Systematic management plans with Working Annual Plans is critical to monitor Rural Development Programmes. This is currently lacking among several rural development institutions. Lack of skills, resources and authority are partly responsible for deficient management systems. Management Plans should be there to complement Approved Strategic and Business Plans to achieve Rural Development Goals of the Rural Poor.

The effective implementation of Rural Development Strategies and the provision of information products as well as appropriate communication strategies for the Rural Poor largely depends on Resource Mobilization to sustain the process. As a result Resource Mobilization Strategy and Plans which support the Rural Poor should be developed and implemented. Currently most SADC countries face chronic budget deficits, worsening commodity prices and a threat caused by HIV/AIDS.

Consequently, accessing financial resources by non-governmental organizations and Policy Research Institutes like FANRPAN to help identify and suggest sustainable policies and programmes for the rural poor is very difficult and yet one of the challenges to the sub region is in the institutional and policy domain.

Resource Mobilization is critical to address meaningful and comprehensive acute and perennial policy constraints and implementational issues by Policy Research organizations. Can organizations like the European Union assist with funding on a sustainable basis?

Finally, quality standards and objective Evaluation of Rural Development programmes / strategies to reduce Rural Poverty are critical and an integral part of sustainable development.

In Summary, this paper has provided a Guideline of issues that an Integrated Information, Communication, Technology and Management Strategy can offer to benefit the Rural Development Strategies to reduce Poverty. The guiding principles are not prescriptive but based on a wide range of international experience and case studies. What can be safely said is that for Rural development Strategies with cooperating partners like the EU to reach the Rural poor, appropriate information, communication and management strategies based on the realities of and demand from the Rural Poor themselves is the WAY FORWARD. Failure to recognize this factor will once again make us behave like the blind men who each was describing an elephant according to his assessment. In this case why do we not allow the elephant itself to take part in the debate lest we waste scarce resources and time. We have learnt a lot from country case studies, let us not specialize in making the same mistakes!

The time to empower the Rural Poor to articulate their needs, indicate appropriate investment policies and projects as well communication and management strategies has arrived. Urgent attention should also be intensified to provide information, communication and individual strategies for the Rural Poor to manage HIV/AIDS as this already poses a serious threat to their income security.

Selected References**Assessment Of Rural Poverty In Eastern And Southern Africa, IFAD Poverty

Report, Rome, Italy, 2001.

 **Ehui, S. and Delgado, C. Economy-wide Impacts of Technological Change in Agro-food production and Processing sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, IFPRI, Washington, D.C, USA, 1999.

 **Farming Systems and Poverty: Improving Farmers’ Livelihoods in a Changing World, FAO, Rome, Italy, 2001.

 **Krueger, A. et al, Agricultural Incentives in Developing Countries: Measuring the Effects of Sectoral and Economy-wide Policies, World Economic Review, Vol.2, pp 255- 271, 1988.

 **Sigwele, H.K. Food Security Challenges In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role Of Research And Development, ICRISAT Conference, Nairobi, Kenya, July, 2002.

 **The Land Question And Land Reform In SADC: Challenges For Development, A Working Paper For SADC, 2001.

 **Weber, M. et al, Informing Food Security Decisions in Africa: Empirical Analysis and Policy Dialogue, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, pp 1045- 1052, 1988.

 **World Development Report 2000/2001, World Bank, Washington, D.C, USA, 2001

 **World Food Summit, FAO, Rome, Italy, 1996.

**WORLD BANK,Rural Development Strategy : REACHING THE RURALPOOR, WASHINGTON DC. USA, 2002.