A text message away: ICTs as a tool to improve food security
Eduardo Nakasone, Maximo A. Torero · Agricultural Economics · 2016
Abstract The growing use of ICTs around the world, particularly cellular phone technology, provides a significant development opportunity. Under certain situations, ICTs can improve rural households’ agricultural production, farm profitability, job opportunities, adoption of healthier practices, and risk management. All these effects have the potential to increase wellbeing and food security in rural areas of developing countries. Several challenges to effectively scaling up the use of ICTs for development remain, however. Taking advantage of the opportunities provided by ICTs depends on increasedconnectivityof marginalized population groups, thecontentand usefulness of the information provided through ICTs, and thecapacityof households in rural areas to understand and act on the information that they receive. We need innovative ways to bring together the public and private sectors to ensure that the threeCs (connectivity, content, and capacity) are addressed as a whole.