VINCENT BAGIIRE
Target Population:
Busoga Rural Open Source & Development Initiative (BROSDI)
Uganda,
Vincent taps into his expertise in communications to help small rural farmers in Uganda use information technologies to share knowledge across regions and ethnic boundaries.
This profile below was
prepared when Vincent Bagiire was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2008.
INTRODUCTION
Vincent Bagiire is increasing incomes in poor farming communities by using communication technology both to facilitate the sharing of indigenous farming knowledge and to enable poor farmers to obtain better prices for their products.
THE NEW IDEA
Vincent has established a network of farmers’ groups and a mechanism for knowledge transfer between them to boost the yields from their farms and ultimately to address persistent poverty in rural Uganda. Most farmers rely on indigenous farming methods handed ... Read More [+]
down from generation to generation. Vincent is leveraging modern technology to build a national central database of indigenous farming knowledge, and then organizing farmers into a network to share best practices from across the country. Vincent uses a variety of information and communication technology (ICT) tools such as a website, blog post, and SMS, in addition to printed how-to guides. Monthly in-person exchanges between farmers and an annual knowledge fair also facilitate the flow of agricultural practices across ethnic groups and geographic regions.
Vincent’s model allows farmers to easily pick up new agricultural methods that can diversify and improve their yields, and to find new solutions to drought, pestilence, or other common threats to agricultural livelihood. Vincent also helps rural farmers sell their products directly to growing urban and foreign markets so they can keep the profits of their labor. With over thirty ethnic groups in Uganda, each with its own indigenous farming methods, Vincent’s model has both the space and relevance to grow and spread nationally.
Vincent’s model allows farmers to easily pick up new agricultural methods that can diversify and improve their yields, and to find new solutions to drought, pestilence, or other common threats to agricultural livelihood. Vincent also helps rural farmers sell their products directly to growing urban and foreign markets so they can keep the profits of their labor. With over thirty ethnic groups in Uganda, each with its own indigenous farming methods, Vincent’s model has both the space and relevance to grow and spread nationally.
THE PROBLEM
Eighty percent of Uganda’s people survive on less than US$2 a day, the bulk of whom live in rural areas and are fully dependant on agriculture for their livelihood. Given the remoteness of the areas in which they live, the majority of this population is ... Read More [+]
generally cut off from public services or education programs that would enable them improve their farming practices for diversity, increased productivity and, ultimately, improved livelihoods. Each small group of farmers, usually organized on the village level, is limited to information tied to the cultural practices of that village and has little or no access to information from other communities. A wealth of unique and indigenous information that could benefit thousands of farmers across the country and beyond is thus trapped in small villages scattered all over the country.
A broken system of extension services meant to facilitate the spread of information across rural communities compounds the problem further. The failure of the extension services system can be attributed in part to inadequate communication infrastructure such as Internet connectivity and telephone services. The rate of Internet penetration in Uganda is currently at only three percent; and mobile connectivity at 16 percent. To complicate matters further, even in places that provide basic access to computers and the Internet, the majority of farmers are illiterate. It is no surprise that the majority of ICT-related interventions targeting farmers have to date been ineffective.
While underproduction remains one of the most common problems faced by Ugandan farmers, technological advances—in addition to programs like Vincent’s—have helped boost yield over the last decade. Now farmers face another problem: They often lack direct access to markets that can offer them a fair price for their produce. As a result, farmers are forced to rely on exploitive middlemen who underpay and then make great profits by selling in urban areas.
A broken system of extension services meant to facilitate the spread of information across rural communities compounds the problem further. The failure of the extension services system can be attributed in part to inadequate communication infrastructure such as Internet connectivity and telephone services. The rate of Internet penetration in Uganda is currently at only three percent; and mobile connectivity at 16 percent. To complicate matters further, even in places that provide basic access to computers and the Internet, the majority of farmers are illiterate. It is no surprise that the majority of ICT-related interventions targeting farmers have to date been ineffective.
While underproduction remains one of the most common problems faced by Ugandan farmers, technological advances—in addition to programs like Vincent’s—have helped boost yield over the last decade. Now farmers face another problem: They often lack direct access to markets that can offer them a fair price for their produce. As a result, farmers are forced to rely on exploitive middlemen who underpay and then make great profits by selling in urban areas.
THE STRATEGY
Vincent recognized that most interventions seeking to improve the economic livelihoods of farmers often come internationally and without consideration for the indigenous resources and practices that could be leveraged to create more affordable and sustainable ... Read More [+]
solutions for increased productivity and incomes.
Following this insight, Vincent saw the need for an organizational structure that would facilitate the transfer of indigenous agricultural knowledge and practices between farmers. He started by organizing farmers in his home district of Mayuge into small farmers’ groups. He then went on to organize these groups into community-based organizations through his initiative called Collecting and Exchanging Local Agricultural Content (CELAC). CELAC facilitates knowledge transfer between farmers from different villages on issues like traditional pest control methods, cultivation techniques for increased yield, and how to boost soil fertility, among others.
Vincent quickly realized that even though the CELAC was successfully facilitating the transfer of indigenous agricultural knowledge and practices in his home district, Mayuge was predominantly inhabited by people of the same ethnicity and culture. He thus set out to form CELAC networks in districts across Uganda and its many ethnic groups. The sharing is coordinated by knowledge brokers—women responsible for collecting, storing, analyzing, and disseminating agricultural knowledge to their communities. Intermediary organizations and agricultural research centers are also key partners in producing accessible content in local languages.
Some of the ICT tools Vincent uses to spread information across the network include audio CDs, audio blogs, SMS, and a website. He also produces how-to guides and brochures. Everything is translated into local languages and dialects in order to be accessible to farmers. In each community, the local knowledge broker is the first point of access for the content, and she is responsible for disseminating content through whatever methods are deemed most effective within the local context. Vincent also organizes monthly and annual gatherings to facilitate networking and in-person transfer of best practices between farmers.
As farmers participating in Vincent’s program began increasing their yields, they were faced with another challenge: How to access markets in which they could sell their products for a fair price. Vincent responded by organizing farmers in groups to allow them take advantage of the high volumes of combined produce, and then connecting those groups directly to urban markets, thus cutting out the middle-man.
Having started in the small district of Mayuge with 100 farmers in 2004, Vincent has expanded to seventeen districts around the country and has begun to see remarkable changes in from the way farmers adapt to problems or test out new methods—all because for the first time they have access to information beyond their immediate horizons. For example, a farmer was sponsored to attend a cheese making conference in Italy. Upon her return, she spread what she had learned using the network, and dozens of farmers began testing how to make cheese as a way to diversity their incomes. This new skill, however, presented a new challenge: The need for refrigeration, something that until then had never been relevant to farmers. Again through the network, a farmer from Tanzania shared a simple method of refrigeration that enabled the new Ugandan cheese makers to continue their craft.
Looking to the future, Vincent is focusing on reaching the rest of the districts in Uganda not yet touched by his program. Through the website and blog, his work is already gaining popularity in neighboring countries. In addition, he plans to expand the market development program to link more farmers to local and foreign markets. Vincent has begun laying the foundation for a building that he plans to turn into a rural academy for ICT in development, just 100 meters away from CELAC Mayuge. There he plans to host students and researchers interested in learning more about his model with the hope that it will be replicated in other parts of the world.
Vincent is already directly affecting 400 farmer households and many more indirectly. He has recently completed a household livelihood survey to study the impact of his work across Uganda, an exercise that will help shape improve and scale his model over the next ten years. Vincent shares his success through blogs, wikis, and with organizations like the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Following this insight, Vincent saw the need for an organizational structure that would facilitate the transfer of indigenous agricultural knowledge and practices between farmers. He started by organizing farmers in his home district of Mayuge into small farmers’ groups. He then went on to organize these groups into community-based organizations through his initiative called Collecting and Exchanging Local Agricultural Content (CELAC). CELAC facilitates knowledge transfer between farmers from different villages on issues like traditional pest control methods, cultivation techniques for increased yield, and how to boost soil fertility, among others.
Vincent quickly realized that even though the CELAC was successfully facilitating the transfer of indigenous agricultural knowledge and practices in his home district, Mayuge was predominantly inhabited by people of the same ethnicity and culture. He thus set out to form CELAC networks in districts across Uganda and its many ethnic groups. The sharing is coordinated by knowledge brokers—women responsible for collecting, storing, analyzing, and disseminating agricultural knowledge to their communities. Intermediary organizations and agricultural research centers are also key partners in producing accessible content in local languages.
Some of the ICT tools Vincent uses to spread information across the network include audio CDs, audio blogs, SMS, and a website. He also produces how-to guides and brochures. Everything is translated into local languages and dialects in order to be accessible to farmers. In each community, the local knowledge broker is the first point of access for the content, and she is responsible for disseminating content through whatever methods are deemed most effective within the local context. Vincent also organizes monthly and annual gatherings to facilitate networking and in-person transfer of best practices between farmers.
As farmers participating in Vincent’s program began increasing their yields, they were faced with another challenge: How to access markets in which they could sell their products for a fair price. Vincent responded by organizing farmers in groups to allow them take advantage of the high volumes of combined produce, and then connecting those groups directly to urban markets, thus cutting out the middle-man.
Having started in the small district of Mayuge with 100 farmers in 2004, Vincent has expanded to seventeen districts around the country and has begun to see remarkable changes in from the way farmers adapt to problems or test out new methods—all because for the first time they have access to information beyond their immediate horizons. For example, a farmer was sponsored to attend a cheese making conference in Italy. Upon her return, she spread what she had learned using the network, and dozens of farmers began testing how to make cheese as a way to diversity their incomes. This new skill, however, presented a new challenge: The need for refrigeration, something that until then had never been relevant to farmers. Again through the network, a farmer from Tanzania shared a simple method of refrigeration that enabled the new Ugandan cheese makers to continue their craft.
Looking to the future, Vincent is focusing on reaching the rest of the districts in Uganda not yet touched by his program. Through the website and blog, his work is already gaining popularity in neighboring countries. In addition, he plans to expand the market development program to link more farmers to local and foreign markets. Vincent has begun laying the foundation for a building that he plans to turn into a rural academy for ICT in development, just 100 meters away from CELAC Mayuge. There he plans to host students and researchers interested in learning more about his model with the hope that it will be replicated in other parts of the world.
Vincent is already directly affecting 400 farmer households and many more indirectly. He has recently completed a household livelihood survey to study the impact of his work across Uganda, an exercise that will help shape improve and scale his model over the next ten years. Vincent shares his success through blogs, wikis, and with organizations like the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
THE PERSON
Born to a housewife and an electrical engineer, Vincent spent the early part of his childhood in urban centers in a middle-class family setting. His father’s job involved periodic transfers from one part of the country to another and as such his family was ... Read More [+]
frequently on the move. When Vincent was eleven, his family relocated to a village following his father’s retirement. This experience exposed Vincent to the challenges and plight of rural communities.
To continue his education with limited resources, Vincent had to find ways to supplement his father’s contribution towards his school fees. He attributes his “never give up” attitude to the culture of the secondary school he attended that had the motto “strive regardless.” Vincent entered Makerere University where he continued to apply his entrepreneurial skills and support himself and his family. While in university, he and some friends with similar challenges founded Pearl Communications to support themselves financially. Through this company, they carried out the background market research for an international firm that led to the introduction of “Lifeguard Condoms” in the Ugandan market at a time when the HIV/AIDS scourge was at its peak in the country. In the run up to the presidential election in 1995, Pearl Communications was responsible for carrying out the first opinion polls in Uganda’s history. As the company grew, however, conflicting interests in the team led to its disbandment and collapse.
Vincent picked up the remaining pieces of Pearl Communications to found Hallmark, which continued in the same line of business. A joint venture between Hallmark and UK-based Africa Information Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) in the distribution of an ICT publication called “Computers in Africa” led to the inception of AITEC in Uganda. Vincent was co-founder and became General Manager at the age of twenty-two. This experience introduced him to the world of information and communications technology, and policies related to rural development. Four years into his tenure as General Manager for AITEC Uganda, the company was contracted by Canada’s International Development Research Centre to carry out a travelling workshop on ICT. The objective of the workshop was to investigate the effectiveness of “ICT for Development” projects being run around the country at the time. It was during this investigation that Vincent got the insight that led to his resignation from AITEC, the beginnings of his work in ICT projects that benefited the rural poor, and finally the creation of the CELAC initiative.
To continue his education with limited resources, Vincent had to find ways to supplement his father’s contribution towards his school fees. He attributes his “never give up” attitude to the culture of the secondary school he attended that had the motto “strive regardless.” Vincent entered Makerere University where he continued to apply his entrepreneurial skills and support himself and his family. While in university, he and some friends with similar challenges founded Pearl Communications to support themselves financially. Through this company, they carried out the background market research for an international firm that led to the introduction of “Lifeguard Condoms” in the Ugandan market at a time when the HIV/AIDS scourge was at its peak in the country. In the run up to the presidential election in 1995, Pearl Communications was responsible for carrying out the first opinion polls in Uganda’s history. As the company grew, however, conflicting interests in the team led to its disbandment and collapse.
Vincent picked up the remaining pieces of Pearl Communications to found Hallmark, which continued in the same line of business. A joint venture between Hallmark and UK-based Africa Information Technology Exhibition and Conference (AITEC) in the distribution of an ICT publication called “Computers in Africa” led to the inception of AITEC in Uganda. Vincent was co-founder and became General Manager at the age of twenty-two. This experience introduced him to the world of information and communications technology, and policies related to rural development. Four years into his tenure as General Manager for AITEC Uganda, the company was contracted by Canada’s International Development Research Centre to carry out a travelling workshop on ICT. The objective of the workshop was to investigate the effectiveness of “ICT for Development” projects being run around the country at the time. It was during this investigation that Vincent got the insight that led to his resignation from AITEC, the beginnings of his work in ICT projects that benefited the rural poor, and finally the creation of the CELAC initiative.
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