Tech in Africa: Improving Education and Agriculture

According to the Public Library Innovation Program (PLIP) Agricultural Impact Assessment recently announced by EIFL in Ghana and Uganda, the ICT-based program improved peasant access to information that can be used to increase production. The Uganda library uses smartphones and other technologies to help farmers identify and treat plant pests and diseases.

The educational program in Kenya and Ghana focuses on the use of technology to complement student learning. At the library in Kenya, student scientific test results improved by 10%. In Ghana, the mobile service of Walter Regional Library teaches over 200 children the ICT skills necessary to pass the exam and help the family.

Students struggling hard at the Busia Community Library in Kenya learned to complement the exams using a tablet connected to the Internet. This program improved the student's academic performance and improved the student's academic record from 43.9% to 53.7%, and the 12 students who participated also taught other people how to use the tablet.

More than 200 children in Ghana will learn to use computers through the mobile services of the Volta Regional Library. It brings computers to rural areas and teaches students the necessary ICT skills to pass the exam. Most students did not have the opportunity to use computers, but they just learned theory in the classroom. In a survey conducted by the library with 66 participants, more than half said they could use their new skills to find agricultural information that would improve their parents' livelihoods.

The KACE Community Library in Ghana makes it possible to share information with other farmers by using technical training to improve farmers' literature and media skills. Currently, 30 farmers in this area can create teaching materials to share with others. The project also adds 4,800 library users, of which 3,300 are farmers.

In Uganda, the Maendeleo Foundation 's Uganda Connect Pilot project uses ICT to enhance access to agricultural information in local languages ​​and help rural households build sustainable lives. Five local libraries worked with this project, in addition to 10 librarians, more than 700 people using ICT were trained. The library also trained ten farmer volunteers to share information at farmer group conferences and to support noncultural farmers. According to the project survey, 88% of farmers think that the information gained through the program will help increase the production volume.

The plan of Buzongola Rural Information Center (BRIC) in Uganda uses smartphones and other information and communication technologies to help farmers prevent plant pests and diseases and increase production. Within a year, RIC-NET will help find more than 800 farmers to plant pests and diseases and help 20 volunteers access and share information using smartphones I am planning. These volunteers can now support farmers forever.

In order to deal with the African education crisis, the African government has to implement policies to reduce rural poverty, including infrastructure, health and sanitation improvement, modernization of agricultural sector. Urbanization is definitely beneficial for Africa's industrialization and economic growth, but the synergy between rural and urban development must be maintained to improve the quality of education in rural villages in Africa. African governments can also provide incentives such as additional incentives to teachers who teach at rural schools. For African development partners, they can support initiatives and programs specifically targeting rural schools and can help improve learning outcomes in these areas.

The most pressing task facing the African government is to utilize the growing wealth of the continent and use it to improve people's lives. Agriculture is at the center of this task. In order to reduce poverty and promote economic growth, Africa has to develop a vibrant rich agricultural sector. Singapore recognizes that Africa has great potential to become the world's birthplace, and we are taking the right steps to capture this opportunity. Investing technology and skills for local people will enable future generations to easily adopt best practices in agriculture. The improvement achieved by Oran and Wilmar International on the African continent is that this is a real example of the right strategy for implementation. This means that African agriculture meets the productivity and quality standards required to cultivate the population and will become a net exporter of agricultural products in the near future.