ICT service through Farmers’
Perspective
Nafia Hussain
Manager, Information Channel
Katalyst
Table of Content
1.Introduction
• Katalyst
• Current e-Agriculture scenario
2.Farmers’ Story
• Information need
• Farmer’s Habit of Mobile use
3. Farmer’s perception of
Helpline service
4. Lesson learned & Way forward
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Introduction
Introduction
• Katalyst:
–
–
–
–
–
a pro-poor market development project
Funded by Danida, DFID, SDC
Implemented by Ministry of Commerce and Swisscontact
Since 2002, Successful Completion of Phase I and Phase II
Since 2014 initiation of Phase III
• Goal: Reduce poverty by increasing the incomes of
poor male & female farmers involved in a number of rural sectors
Katalyst in ICT in agriculture
 ICT sector from 2004
 Telecom partners : Grameenphone and Banglalink
 Content provider Partners
-WIN INC , BIID and Miaki
 Government partners: AIS & SRDI
 Facilitated GP in establishing 500
GPCIC
 Facilitated BL to launch agri helpline service Krishi



Jigyasha 7676
Facilitated GP to launch agri helpline service 27676
Facilitated WIN INC for ICT based Agro Content Database
Developed Fertilizer Recommendation Software (FRS) in partnership with Soil
Resource Development Institute (SRDI)
 Partnership with BIID to develop e-krishok service
 and many more..
Current e-Agriculture Scenario through
Katalyst Lens
- 15 million farming
household
Demand
Side
- 84%* farmers own
mobile phone
Supply
Side
3 Agri helplines
3 telecom operators
-3 Content providers
-500 GPCIC
-4500 UISC
- Low end phone
available
-
* Orgquest Study 2013
- Reduced Tariff
rate
114
Mobile Subscription
71.5
7.5
2003
2010
2014
Mobile Phone subscribers (in millions) (Source:BTRC )
from
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The Farmer’s Story
Katalyst Studies on ICT
Katalyst recently conducted the following studies:
• Understanding the Need and User Preference for Weather and Market Price
Related Information Services - 2013
• Understanding Information Seeking Behavior and Media Habit of the Rural
Farmers – 2013
• Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro
Information Sources , Quantum 2014
Need for Information
Farmers have an acute need of information across any agriculture sector.
Type of Information
88.90%
83.20%
76.60%
75.60%
66.30%
High
Yielding
Varieties
Quality
Seeds
Pesticide
usage
Techniques
Fertilizer
Market
price
65%
Cultivation
Techniq
Source: Media Habit of the Poor 2013
56.60%
Weather
55.30%
Input
retailer
location
Different stages of vulnerability
(Source: Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources , Quantum 2014)
Source of Information
• Major sources for information for Farmers
• Input retailers/ Traders (64%)
• Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer (62.%)
• Lead farmer (62%)
• ICT can act as a complementary channel to provide timely
and reliable information to farmers
Source : Media Habit of the Poor 2013
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Use of Mobile phone & ICT
Agro service
Farmer’s Habit of using mobile
Mobile Phone Ownership
 84.1% farmers have own mobile phone
 66.1% farmers’ families have more than one
phone
 73.3% farmers have more than one SIM
 60% farmers carry economic Nokia phone
 Usage Type:
– 56% can use mobile on their own
– 46.3% reads sms while 34.7% send sms
– 26.3% listen to recorded calls
– Less than 5% send/receive mms
(Source: Weather and Market Price study with 700 respondent farmers conducted by Katalyst.)
No, 15.9
Yes, 84.1
% of farmers with mobile phone
Preferred Information Delivery Channel
When given options, almost all farmers prefer helpline to receive information
followed by telecenter, outbound call, IVR and SMS.
(Source: Weather and Market Price study with 700 respondent farmers conducted by Katalyst.)
Helpline Service
Telecom Opertor’s
Branded Agro Helpline
Call centre
agents provides
service to
farmers
Content
Provider backing
up Call centre
with Content
Database
Perception about the service: Helpline
User’s verdict
• Service availing is simple and easily accessbile.
• Short code and repeated number makes it easy to
remember
• Easy to communicate – local dialect was not a barrier
• Call for emergency situations
The leaves of maize plant were crumping and rotting. I used one spray for 3/ 4 days
but it didn’t work. Then my brother told me that he saw in wall painting about a help
line. I called the number and told agent about the problem. The agent asked what
medicines we have used so far and suggested a medicine. After spraying that for 3/ 4
days the problem was reduced” (Maize Farmer, Nilphamari)
Source : Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro
Information Sources , Quantum 2014
What Works: Impact of Making calls
Challenges: Aware- User farmers
• Premium Pricing
• Low overall spend on cell phone
• Call waiting
“I have heard about the helpline from another farmer. I recharged 10 taka in my
account and called. But the balance got exhausted before I could finish explaining
my problem” (Vegetable farmer, Comilla)
Source : Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources , Quantum 2014
Entry Barriers: Aware- non user and Non Aware Farmers
• Lack of awareness
– 15% farmers aware about helpline
•
•
•
•
Value assurance
Reluctance for paid information
Tech averseness
Reservation talking to unknown experts
Source : Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers & Effectiveness of Existing Agro Information Sources , Quantum 2014
(Weather and Market Price study with 700 respondent farmers conducted by Katalyst.)
Essentials of ICT Agro- service
Farmer centric Service
design and delivery
Quality Service
Delivery by Call centre
agents
Quality control of
content
Innovative Pricing
Mechanism to reduce
burden from Farmer
Appropriate
Promotional Strategy
Lesson Learned
Private Sector’s Perspective:
 Proper delivery channel not always used for promotion
 Linkage with right stakeholder is limited
 Fierce competition in the market forces to focus on high revenue generating
initiatives
Way forward
 Rural market posses immense revenue potential for ICT industry
 Enhanced collaboration among ICT stakeholders for best resource utilization
 Service providers need to promote services in effective and sustainable manner
 Revenue generation from this segment would require ongoing efforts
Thank You