LEISA's Farm

ICT and Development: An International Workshop

for Theory, Practice, & Policy
to be conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, India, during 11-12 March 2010.

Call for Papers
Unpublished, original empirical papers are invited for the forthcoming international workshop on ICTs and Development: An International Workshop for Theory, Practice, & Policy. The workshop aims to provide a forum for scholars to share their empirical research with academic experts, policymakers, and activists from the regional and international development community. Papers should examine how mobile phones, computers, and the Internet influence the empowerment of marginal individuals and communities, including whether ICTs create and enhance livelihood opportunities for people in the developing world.

Papers should be in the range of 5,000-8,000 words (including abstract and bibliography) and should include a clear discussion of the implications of the findings for development policy and/or practice.

No more than twelve papers will be selected by the workshop organizers for presentation.The first author of each paper chosen will be given air fare and lodging/meals.

The workshop is part of the project  ICTs and Urban Micro Enterprises: Identifying and Maximizing Opportunities for Economic Development, and is supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada.

The organizers are committed to finding an appropriate publication venue for all papers accepted for the workshop.

Deadlines:
Submission of manuscripts: 1st October 2009
Announcement of results: 1st December 2009

For submission of manuscripts and other enquiries, please write to ICTD2010[at]gmail.com

Workshop Organizers:
Dr. P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, Prof. Mark R. Levy, Michigan State University, USA.

Click here for further details.

UNIFEM funding opportunity

After a long wait, UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) has announced that it is seeking proposals from NGOs (and also governmental agencies) in developing countries under its newly established "Fund for Gender Equality" which aims to "accelerate progress toward the goal of gender equality and women's empowerment."

The Fund will promote new multilateral initiatives to achieve gender equality, reduce discrimination, poverty and work towards achieving the objectives of the Beijing Platform Action, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Fund has been supported by the Government of Spain and it will provide support towards strengthening of "organizations that promote gender equality and women's rights at the country level." Women's organisations, networks and other mechanisms will be benefited from the Fund as it will work towards building their capacities and skills. One of the priorities identified by the Fund is the political and economic empowerment of women. The Fund has based its principles and practices from the lessons learned by other major international funding facilities such as the Fast Track Initiative on Education for All; the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the Spanish MDG Achievement Fund; The Dutch MDG3 Fund; and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

The Fund will be making two types of grants, namely, the Implementation Grants and the Catalytic Grants. The Implementation Grants are for activities such as supporting programs based upon agreed laws and policies promoting gender equality in developing countries at the national-level. These grants will be distributed over a period of 2-4 years and budget allocation is between US $2-5 million. The Catalytic Grants are limited and will be allocated between US $200,000-500,000 for a period of 1-2 years in places where gender equality plans and programs are not yet ready for implementation. In such cases, the Fund would support partnerships and coalitions for enhancing consensus on gender equality plans and policies.

Initially, applicant organizations have to submit concept notes to apply for this funding. The last date for submitting concept notes is 30 September 2009. After the review of the concept notes, selected organisations will be invited to submit full proposals. However, the online application form for submitting the concept note will be available only from 15 September 2009. In the meantime, the applicants can prepare themselves with their ideas and strategies by closely reading through the guidelines and downloading the forms from the UNIFEM website. For more information, visit this link.

Mobile phone as a development tool

Many blog posts and news items are about the growing impact of mobile phone technology in developing countries. On the Social Edge website a discussion on this topic is going on since November 2008.
Go to SocialEdge.org to read different views and/or to participate.

Related news:
- Mobile banking could provide easier route to addressing global poverty
- The dawn of cell phone-based carbon micro-credits
- A program to reach many farmers
- No more spilt milk

Women farmers

Some good online reads for today (click on titles to read the whole stories):

• Farmer Field Schools for women farmers

In a traditional region in Egypt, farmers started participating in Farmer Field Schools (FFS) to receive training on pest management. When women facilitators were recruited, some women-only field schools started, while later even mixed schools emerged. The topics discussed slowly moved beyond agriculture to health and reproductive issues, rights and literacy. "My husband never listened to me. Now he wants to hear what I learned during the training sessions."

• Women break down barriers in Mali

In the village of Zamblara in Mali, gender differences as well as caste division have long been clearly defined. Ten years ago, a group of women set up its own organisation of rice producers. Through Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) activities, the group has not only managed to increase rice production, but the regular sessions have broken down traditional barriers between women and men as well as between castes.

• Targeting women pays when promoting food security

In Nebbi district, Uganda, women and girls eat after men have filled their stomachs. A local NGO targets women to discuss nutritional values and cultural norms. Surprisingly, when approached with respect, both men and women are willing to review traditional practices and make sure all get enough food.

Photo: Farmers show the ID cards they were able to obtain as part of the new FFS curriculum. Photo credit: Hans Feijen

Call for articles: Rural entrepreneurship

Issue 25:2 of LEISA Magazine will be about Rural entrepreneurship.
Small scale farm families find it increasingly hard to survive on farming alone. Farming may provide at least part of a family’s needs for food, but farmers also need cash, yet opportunities for off-farm employment in rural areas are limited. New and different opportunities have emerged: access to markets, selling organic or “regional products”, or eco-tourism. This issue of the magazine will focus on rural entrepreneurship and the ways in which this can contribute to an improved quality of rural life, as well as being a support to family farming. How have traditional and less traditional expressions of rural entrepreneurship contributed to stronger local economies, and how have they contributed ecologically and socially?
Please send us your stories! Deadline for submissions of articles: 1 March 2009.  Read more.

Debating small-scale farms

Can small-scale farming help poor people to escape from poverty? Many experts argue that small farms are more productive than larger farms, and are therefore vital in terms of food and income. But other research suggests that these claims are exaggerated and development initiatives should instead support the creation of alternative occupations.

This week the ID21 website highlights several articles on the pros and cons of small-scale farming.
ID21 is one of the knowledge services of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

The articles presented are:

Can small farms still play a role in reducing poverty?

Using family labour on farms is not always better

The case for supporting marginal farmers

Helping small-scale producers increase their power to compete globally

 

LEISA on Farm Radio Weekly

A few weeks ago the Farm Radio Weekly had a news story on women farmers in Mali which was sourced from a LEISA Magazine article: Women break down barriers in Mali (in Vol. 24:3, Sept. 2008). Great! This article is about a group of women in the village of Zamblara, where gender differences as well as caste division have long been clearly defined. Ten years ago, however, these women set up their own organisation of rice producers. Through Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) activities, the group has not only managed to increase rice production, but the regular sessions have broken down traditional barriers between women and men as well as between castes. Click here to read the article.

Farm Radio Weekly is a news and information service for rural radio broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by Farm Radio International.

Access to markets

Many farmers still see themselves as commodity producers and not businessmen. There is a growing need for them to collaborate with different actors to link into the financial services and modern markets.

From Nov. 12-14, a workshop was held on  "Inclusion of Small Producers in the Value Chain: From Field Evidence to Action". It was attended by 30 participants from Indonesian NGOs and focused on sustainable agriculture issues. Anton Muhajir from VECO Indonesia, Denpasar, Bali, published a summarizing article in The Jakarta Post.  Click here to read his article.