IK Notes Uganda: Information Technology and Rural Development The Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter I t is often said that modern technol- ogy tends to bypass local communi- Current activities include computer applications training, and Internet, e- ties found in remote regions. How- mail, telephone, fax, library, and photo- ever, some recent technological ad- copying services, an Open Learning vancements in communications have Center (for outreach), topical video begun to blur geographical distances shows and audio recordings and com- and infra-structural bottlenecks. Lo- munity listening and newspapers, as cated 50 kilometers north of Kampala, well as leisure and sports activities for Uganda, in a remote village, the young people. Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Community While the Telecenter aims at serv- Tele-center has introduced new infor- ing the entire communities of mation and communication technolo- Nakaseke and Kasangombe, it focuses gies to this rural area. In three years, on the following core user groups: the Telecenter has catalyzed a number women, youth, children, medical, work- of development activities in the region. ers, teaching staff, farmers and local Nakaseke sub-county has a popula- leaders. The content and programming tion of over 38,953 of which 18,617 are for the Telecenter is therefore tailored women. Nakaseke town itself has a towards meeting primarily the needs population of 3,000 people, most of and aspirations of these groups. whom are the Baganda — the biggest tribe in central Uganda. The commu- Implementation strategy nity is largely oral and does not have a established reading culture. Till the The participation and involvement of Telecenter started in 1997, newspapers the community is central to the imple- No. 27 were only available in the next town 16 mentation of the Telecenter’s activi- December 2000 kilometers away and connected by a rough road. The Nakaseke Telecenter is part of a IK Notes reports periodically on Indig- enous Knowledge (IK) initiatives in chain of five donor (UNESCO/IDRC/ Sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by ITU) supported Telecenter projects ini- the Africa Region’s Knowledge and Learning Center as part of an evolving tiated in Benin, Mali, Mozambique and IK partnership between the World Tanzania. The overall objective of the Bank, communities, NGOs, develop- project is to stimulate rural develop- ment institutions and multilateral orga- nizations. The views expressed in this ment by facilitating access to informa- article are those of the authors and World Bank tion, learning resources and communi- should not be attributed to the World Bank Group or its partners in this ini- cation technologies by the Nakaseke tiative. A webpage on IK is available at and Kasangombe communities and http://www.worldbank.org/aftdr/ik/ support improved medical services default.htm through telemedicine. 2 ties. Since it was started, the community has been at the cen- The multi-purpose Telecenter has transformed the lives of ter of the planning and execution of the all activities. A Local the local community. It has provided internet, telephone and Steering Committee was elected from and by the community fax services that are being utilized to conduct local business representing each of the core target groups to: activities. Computer training has provided jobs for the youth, § supervise the Telecenter’s daily activities who now have access to a fully-fledged library with major in- § liaise with the Management Committee ternational journals and books. Farmers have begun to en- § mobilize the community to participate in all activities gage in on-line trading and use the Tele-center to capture and and programs, and disseminate information about local farming techniques and § steer community ownership programs and involve the crop prices. The Telecenter has begun to implement an Indig- community in any activities that promote the enous Knowledge Program in collaboration with local farm- sustainability of the Telecenter, including organizing ers, which could be utilized as an affective focal point to con- fundraising activities. duct community to community exchanges. Farmers are now requesting for market rates and general trends regarding the Impact crops they grow. The school community (7,000 school children) as well as The community has access to a modern library/resource cen- community workers and medical officers have benefited from ter, telephone connectivity and an Information Communica- the resource center. The community (42 villages and 3,000 tions Technology (ICT) core unit for all ICT-related activities/ households) is gradually appreciating the importance of in- services. formation as evidenced by the growing number of people in- quiring about information on a variety of issues. The daily newspapers available at the Telecenter have also helped to IK Notes would be of interest to: keep the community up to date with what is going on in the rest of the country. Agricultural project utilizes indigenous knowledge Name Institution While Uganda’s population is expected to double over the next 30 years however, a necessary and corresponding in- Address crease in agricultural growth is a cause for concern. The present low agricultural growth has been attributed, among other things, to poor Research-Extension- Farmer linkages and ineffective technology delivery systems, including poor or inefficient information and communication packaging and delivery systems. Letters, comments, and requests for publications should be addressed to: The agricultural project aims to: Editor: IK Notes § increase overall agricultural productivity and household Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank incomes in Nakaseke and Kasangombe Sub- Counties. 1818 H Street, N.W., Room J5-055 § support agricultural extension workers in providing in- Washington, D.C. 20433 formation and guidance to the farming community. E-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org § directly link research work and farmers’ units, thereby enhancing the flow of information from both sides. Inter- 3 national, national and local institutions will be linked to Impact the Telecenter as the hub for agri-consulting. § provide a forum for experimentation on the use of ICT to § Extension agents, NGOs and farmers are well-trained in deliver timely agricultural information and dissemina- the use of ICT. tion of research results. § Relevant agricultural information are accessed and de- veloped in collaboration with at least three research in- From the beginning, the project incorporated local com- stitutions. Technologies and crops include post harvest, munity knowledge into its organizational structure and banana, coffee, horticulture, root crops and cereals framework. It established a special section in the library to § Training manuals, information brochures, guides leaflets gather and disseminate IK-related information, which was and posters are developed. used to increase the responsiveness of local farmers to § At least 65 percent of farmers in Nakaseke and changes in government policy with a view to raising agricul- Kasangombe are exposed to this approach and 98 per- tural productivity at the regional level. A photographic dis- cent of agricultural extension agents and community de- play shed light on traditional approaches to natural resource velopment workers are involved. management, savings and informal transfers and local me- dicinal approaches and applications. In addition to agriculture, the Nakaseke Telecenter has Over the last three years, through a process of trial and developed a series of projects that utilize the knowledge and error, all actors involved have been trained to demonstrate a expertise of local communities particularly in the fields of high degree of adaptability. Several community-based work- education, gender and healthcare. This includes an innova- shops and study tours were organized to train local farmers tive Tele-Medicine Program being developed in collaboration to understand and anticipate fast-moving trends so as to with the Nakaseke Hospital. Once in operation, the idea is to adopt the correct response strategies. be able to link local patients with medical practitioners in Field research was conducted to understand and appreci- Kampala and other cities and vice-versa. This could prove to ate indigenous approaches to farming, which focused on the be an effective forum to mainstream the use of traditional complexity, diversity and risk prone approaches of many medicine being practiced widely across Africa. In this way, farming systems. The study tours effectively showcased the Tele-centers could serve as a platform for capturing and knowledge, professionalism and rationality of small and poor documenting indigenous knowledge and disseminating it farmers. A series of formal and informal discussions brought from one local community to another. out their experimental mindset behavior and ability to con- duct their own analysis. Lessons learned The accessibility, diversity and timely relevance of infor- mation were key elements for enabling all parties to adapt Involving the community at an early stage in the planning and make a change for the better. Different modes of commu- and implementation of the project helped to mainstream nication such as internet, telephone and fax determined the Telecenter issues into the general activities of the commu- extent to which the process of dialogue, negotiation and nity. Localizing the ICT applications to a level that is under- communication, between the different parties involved, was standable to all community members helped to sell the strengthened. The Telecenter played a key role as a facilita- Telecenter concept. This was achieved through translating tor, by connecting Nakaseke to other parts of the country/ information packages into Luganda - the dominant local lan- world and vice-versa. For the first time, the local community guage of the community. Illustration of new concepts and could engage in an ongoing dialogue with other communities programs is the key to deep appreciation and understanding, and share their experiences. especially if it concerns an illiterate community. It is vital to recruit local “sons and daughters of the soil” to manage the 4 daily operations. They know the community better than any The next step is to develop a framework for information other expert and communicate in the ‘language’ that the dissemination, sharing and networking. The process has be- people understand. gun through forging practical linkages within ICT initiatives Nakaseke is a successful example of transferring the main- in and out of the country. The Tele-center has begun a plan to tenance costs from donors to the local communities, thereby share documentation systems and record keeping with other moving towards sustainable local ownership. The community Telecenters involved in the pilot within the country. has successfully, out of their own tax collections elected a Additional programs are being developed to mainstream permanent building for the Telecenter and found other the knowledge captured by the Tele-center, including one on sources of funding to support the construction work. It also community trade and business practices. The program will lobbied the government for a new telecom tower to facilitate empower local traders with the ability and insight to appreci- the connection of over 50 new telephone lines in the region. ate and critically analyze their commercial environment, with This confirms the extent to which rural communities appreci- a view to cultivate a savings culture and control expenditure. ate the value of information in the development process. The focus will be on documenting and mainstreaming indig- enous entrepreneurial practices and applications. The challenges ahead In a new nitiative like the Telecenter, there is a critical need for documentation. It offers numerous tools that could be ef- fectively used to document the rich diversity of indigenous knowledge in the region. The process has begun by training researchers in ethnographic research methods and develop- ing a methodology for data gathering and recording in a databank. This is being achieved through the use of audio-vi- suals and by recording views in written documentary. This report was written by Siddhartha Prakash, World Bank Consultant, based on a field visit to the Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Tele-Center in May 2000. For more information please contact: sprakash@worldbank.org