The Potentialities of ICT4D 2.0 – An Indian Experience

Abstract

There are plethoras of ICT for development innovations that are happening in the Indian context. All problems of development are being sought to be addressed by them. While it is vital to address all problems of development, ICT4D projects which tangibly address the felt livelihood needs of the poor at the grassroots assume increased salience. One kind of such ICT4D projects which have the potential to directly impinge on the livelihoods of the poor are the ICT projects for helping in agricultural practices. It is a proven fact that ICTs can help farmers for a variety of uses. But what needs to be further explored at this juncture are the appropriate institutional mechanisms that can take ICTs to the farmers in a democratic manner such that farmers can have a control over their lives and livelihoods without becoming a victim of impersonal market forces. One such initiative, the EKutir project in Orissa is analyzed in this paper. The framework used to analyze this project is the ICT4D 2.0 framework which understands ICT4D evolution to be at the third stage, a stage which roughly started from the mid-2000s.

Index Terms – ICT4D, Farmers Interest Group (FIG), Stakeholders, Development 2.0

I. INTRODUCTION

There are a number of ICT for development (ICT4D) projects in India context which are being driven by a variety of institutional delivery mechanisms. For designing these kinds of institutional mechanisms, there could be different options like, purely through government channels, through people’s institutions like co-operatives, through the new institutional mechanisms like Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP), through the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) of the private sector done on a non-profit basis. Most private sector initiatives that engage with farmers through ICTs end up making farmers consumers of agricultural inputs like fertilizers or for FMCG goods and it creates a situation which does not empower farmers in a real economic or social sense.

But there could be one institutional mechanism which tries to create a win-win situation for both the farmer and the private agency. One well known example of this could be the ITC initiative “E-Chouppal” which is a large-scale initiative. Another small but equally ingenious initiative is the E-Agro project of “EKutir” in Daspalla block of Nayagarh district, Orissa. This project brings home the point that appropriate institutional design using the power of ICTs can lead to a transaction outcome which need not result in a zero-sum game. So, it is in order to study this initiative with a critical perspective to bring out the best practices which can serve to provide benchmarks and guidance to future such initiatives.

II. CASE STUDY - FARMERS EKUTIR MODEL

This project is happening in three different locations in Orissa. The project at Daspalla, a tribal block in Nayagarh district is taken up for this case study. The objective of Farmers EKutir Project, a project conceived and executed jointly by EKutir, an Indian private company & Grameen-Intel Co.(which is a joint venture between Intel and Grameen bank of Bangladesh), is to build a sustainable and scalable/replicable social business that targets the up-leveling of the small farmer whose numbers exceed 50% of the planet’s population, and over 60% of India’s - whose role in the food & water security situation is paramount, but whose situation is fast degenerating at an alarming pace[1].

The IT enabled individualized farmer portfolio approach towards agro product and service delivery/ fulfilment means that the farmer gets to do what he does best- ie concentrating on his farming, while he gets the requisite advice and transactional assistance thru the EKutir system- this helps the farmer optimize his time, resources and knowledge assessing and gaining the maximal realization from his main asset (his land) through efficient resource management, risk profiling, crop and financial advisory, risk mitigation techniques, as well as interventions that handhold them to improve productivity: resulting in reduced costs and maximizing returns during input procurement and output sale respectively, by providing them best quality buys, bargain options that bring home the benefits of aggregation & collective leverage. EKutir facilitate a regular and timely farmers meeting and discussion to invite suggestions and feedback to make the system stringent. Entrepreneur acts as a facilitator in forming Farmers Interest Group (FIG) and provides need based services on an ICT Platform at a cost. The FIGs inculcate the formation of social capital within themselves and this capital is leveraged to get other ICT based services.

Most of the following case facts have been collected by the author on a field trip to EKutir site in the month of October, 2010. E-Agriculture, wherein ICTs are used for bettering agricultural practices of the farmers, both in a technical sense and in a managerial sense, to improve their livelihoods has a lot of potential. EKutir has prominent advisors like the Managing Director of NABARD etc. As of now, all the stakeholders in the agricultural system are operating in silos and EKutir tries to bring them on the same platform using ICTs to create a win-win situation for both the farmers as well as the other stakeholders. This is an initiative in which even the small farmer has to pay money for getting services. It is basically a demand driven system in which whatever the farmer wants, will be provided by EKutir. ITC e-choupal’s 2012 vision plan is like EKutir’s plan. There is a highly personalized portfolio management for farmers. The project has no link with Panchayats.

ICT kiosks called E-Agro hubs provide agricultural solutions to farmers. Hub & Spokes model is there in which there is one kiosk which acts as the hub and other hubs act as the spokes. The computer used is a notebook PC specially designed by Intel for this purpose which has all features, which is physically robust and which has an 8 hour battery support. The software application developed by Intel is specific to the state of Orissa. It covers all crops and all kind of agricultural practices. The application has been validated by researchers from MIT, Boston. The access to the software application has not been given to all as of now. The application is icon-driven but is in English language as Oriya Unicode adaptability is not available. Centralized ICT alert through SMS is provided to all entrepreneurs. The screens for showing the profits garnered by farmers is currently being developed. The administrator password is with Mr. KC Mishra, the proprietor of EKutir. The server is located in the Hub. Each farmer has an unique ID which is highly secure. Internet is through BSNL broadband. The Intel notebook PCs cost about 100$ each and these have been given by Grameen Intel for free as of now. There is an offline software package and the data can be transferred to the server as soon as it becomes online. The main e-hub has a video conferencing facility.

These kiosks are manned by entrepreneurs who are chosen from the local populace. There is a concept of wealth-sharing in this project wherein wealth gets shared amongst the stakeholders, viz, Farmers, Entrepreneurs and EKutir organization. The financial risk that the entrepreneurs take is not much. As of now there are 6 entrepreneurs. About 300 farmers are registered for one e-Hub. There is a potential to scale up this initiative to all the villages in the block, viz 57 villages. The initiative is novel in terms of both the business process as well as the ICT innovation. Farmer’s group with one single interest one group is formed and named as FIG (Farmer’s Interest Group) through EKutir’s facilitation. By EKutir’s facilitation, we mean the facilitation through the EKutir’s entrepreneur. Farmers have to pay registration money of 100/- per annum to join and be a member of a group. All kind of data from all member-farmers are taken. There are four hubs and there is enormous data which is available. Each farmer is being monitored at a micro level. EKutir has collected lots of data about the farmers. This data is money because it can be sold to whoever wants it, which is generally the private sector. A portfolio management kind of is being implemented wherein all the different, specific needs of farmers are sought to be met.

ICT can provide a low cost and high return platform. Crop-planning need is identified through entrepreneur and EKutir software makes the analysis for appropriate crop-planning which will best benefit the farmer. The architecture is something like the EKutir system being at the front end and the agriculture input companies like seed, fertilizer companies etc being at the back-end. All the risk types in agriculture, viz, Product risk, Finance risk and Human risk are strived to be managed within this project. Provision for 21 days storage for selling at appropriate time has been provided. ICTs have helped in reversing the agriculture market from a buyer’s to a supplier’s market. In input management system, EKutir has been very successful. The agri-input companies like the seed companies give information and if that information is wrong, then they are liable.

At a particular hub, it was noticed that there was a combination of a micro-credit entrepreneur (who may have a linkage with micro-finance agencies like Basix) as well as an e-agro entrepreneur. The criteria for credit to be given to a farmer is that the land has to be assessed objectively for which also EKutir provides a software tool. The interest accrued is given back to the farmers by both the micro-credit & e-agro entrepreneur. There is a flexible need-based assessment. The agricultural expertise is being provided by OUAT (Orissa University for Agricultural Technology). As relevant data is not available everywhere, farmers value information a lot. The information need of the farmer is asked and answered. A new farmer can ask questions and get answers and this process will be recorded. Photos of the crop-diseases are sent to the experts. The agriculture expert who has a separate secure access may be anywhere in the world. The responses for the farmer’s queries is got within 24 hrs. There will be two experts for each sector and so if one is absent, the other person will do the job. Innovative agricultural practices have been introduced like say, soya cultivation has been started for the first time in Orissa through EKutir and this has gained international acceptability. EKutir has also taken the step to standardize cultural-agricultural practices of farmers through a 4 cropping season.

Soil testing through an ICT enabled soil-testing kit is a primary activity and it is one of the first things that is done for the farmer. Video conferencing facility is there and decisions are basically taken by the farmers. For the soil test, kit is given by Gujarat agricultural university and based on the colour of the soil, chemical is added. A kit with a voice interface is being developed. For every crop, soil report is given. Software tool & CD is there to help in soil testing. For soil testing 50/- is taken as fee.

Regarding the profit, out of 100 rupees, 50 goes to the entrepreneur, 25 goes to EKutir and 7.5 goes to the EKutir employees and 10 is not yet defined. All the stakeholders concerned, viz, the Farmers, Entrepreneurs, Employees and EKutir participate in a democratic manner and hence the whole initiative becomes participatory. 90% of the total revenue is got from service providers and not farmers. For the seed market, there is no MRP rate and EKutir is able to procure it for the farmers at the rack rate. For only soil-testing, 10% extra is being charged by EKutir. EKutir provides a sort of decision making tool to reduce risk. ICTs have brought in transparency and anger at the earlier financial irregularity in the pre-EKutir era wherein huge margins were appropriated by the middlemen.

For 500 farmers and for 2000 acres, 1 crore potential is there for each entrepreneur. The entrepreneur makes about 3000 to 6000 rupees pm. Within 3 months, break-even is achievable and has been achieved in each hub. ALI (Area Lucrative Index) tool to study in which area entrepreneur can start his operation is also available. For a hub, there has to be minimum 200 and maximum 500 members for it to be economically viable. Every hub is located at a distance of maximum 5-6 kms from each farmer. Farming I/Ps can be sourced through a hub and stored in a hub physically. The criteria that EKutir adopts for entering a new area of operation is an area where the markets and the product is defined. The service providers are chosen such that they have a pan-Indian identity. Based on the criteria of not compromising on the brand value, EKutir is open to tie-up with other actors in other states to scale-up.

Government of India has specified that EKutir farmers will get fertilizers at the rack-rate itself. The E-Hubs sell inputs. No inventory management is being done by EKutir, ie, no stocks will be kept. Locally available agricultural input is also used. The FIG (Farmers Interest Group) will bear the risk and not individual farmers. The middle-men who got eliminated through EKutir also get incorporated into the system at some level so that they don’t get too much disgruntled and cause problems. The entrepreneur has to communicate to the farmer in a continuous organic sense. Since the benefit is only for members, a ‘sense of ownership’ develops amongst the members.

By 31^st March, 2011, every farmer in Daspalla block is sought to be covered. EKutir has been offered option of rolling out 20,000 EKutir centres in other parts of India. Even in places where electricity may not be regular like in some parts of Orissa, solar based connectivity can be used. There is still a huge market where EKutir has not yet entered. There is a plan to associate ICRISAT with this project. EKutir is also getting into ICT enabled public health though the agriculture initiative will be the primary initiative.

Caselet on a farmer: Mr. Manoranjan Sahu

He has been a a member of EKutir for the last one year. He says that the entrepreneur facilitates the formation of the SIGs. Mosaic disease that he encountered in his crops has been solved by OUAT professor. He has interacted with 3 seed companies and he has got better seeds for lower price. He says that there has been a 240% increase in productivity. Earlier interest rate was 60% and now it is 24%.

III. ANALYSIS OF CASE

Now, we shall try to locate this project within an ICT4D (ICT For Development) framework. As we know, the ICT4D landscape has evolved over the years. The evolution is shown in the following table. The evolution is broadly towards a more demand centric paradigm rather than a supply driven paradigm. This process is accompanied by changes in technology as well as in the nature of the actors in the governance of these projects.

The following table gives a summary of the changes in the ICT4D landscape in the realm of technology, application, actors etc. The key technology has changed or is changing from PC to Tele-center to Mobile phone. The key application has changed from one to do with data processing to offering information (with some two-way interaction) to value-added service transaction and even virtual production by users. While the initial attempts in ICT4D was in identifying the poor and in making poor into consumers, the recent attempts have been to make them producers of value-added information and virtual services.

While the initial goals of the ICT4D initiatives were confined within the organization level, the next set of goals were to achieve certain set social development goals in Health, Education and other fields. The recent set of goals are to do with holistic notions of development that includes both the ‘Social’ and the ‘Economic’. The earlier focus on just making technology available has changed to scaling up technology and facilitating its uptake. Earlier only the government and NGOs were working in this area while now a plethora of actors including joint consortiums are working in this area. The focus has changed from providing ICT solutions to communities in an isolated manner to integrating them to the mainstream and also in trying to make them innovate. ICT4D increasingly has started turning into a more and more hybrid discipline involving disciplines like Computer Science, Information Systems, Development Studies (Applied Social Science) etc. Most importantly, while the earlier ICT4D initiatives worked within the existing development paradigms, the current ICT4D initiatives try to radically redefine “Development” per se.

Table 1: Summary of ICT4D Phases [1]

Issue / Phase	ICT4D 0.0 (1960s – mid-1990s)	ICT4D 1.0 (mid-1990s – mid-/late-2000s)	ICT4D 2.0 (mid-/late-2000s onwards)
Iconic Technology	PC Database	Telecentre	Mobile Phone
Key Application	Data Processing	Content (& Interaction)	Services & Production
The Poor	Who?	Consumers	Innovators & Producers
Key Goal	Organisational Efficiency	MDGs	Growth & Development
Key Issue	Technology's Potential	Readiness & Availability	Uptake & Impact
Key Actor	Government	Donors & NGOs	All Sectors
Attitude	Ignore --> Isolate	Idolise --> Integrate	Integrate --> Innovate
Innovation Model	Northern	Pro-Poor --> Para-Poor	Para-Poor --> Per-Poor
Dominant Discipline	Information Systems	Informatics / Development Studies	Tribrid of CS, IS and DS
Development Paradigm	Modernisation	Human Development	Development 2.0?

Now we shall try to locate EKutir within the ICT4D development framework as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: EKutir within ICT4D Frameworks

Issue / Phase	EKutir	ICT4D 0.0 (1960s – mid-1990s)	ICT4D 1.0 (mid-1990s – mid-/late-2000s)	ICT4D 2.0 (mid-/late-2000s onwards)
Iconic Technology	Combination of Telecenter & Mobile phone	PC Database	Telecentre	Mobile Phone
Key Application	Content (& Interaction) as well as Services & Production	Data Processing	Content (& Interaction)	Services & Production
The Poor	Innovators & Producers	Who?	Consumers	Innovators & Producers
Key Goal	Growth & Development	Organisational Efficiency	MDGs	Growth & Development
Key Issue	Readiness & Availability as well as Uptake & Impact	Technology's Potential	Readiness & Availability	Uptake & Impact
Key Actor	All Sectors with private sector taking the lead	Government	Donors & NGOs	All Sectors
Attitude	Integrate --> Innovate	Ignore --> Isolate	Idolise --> Integrate	Integrate --> Innovate
Innovation Model	Pro-Poor , Para-Poor & Per-Poor	Northern	Pro-Poor --> Para-Poor	Para-Poor --> Per-Poor
Dominant Discipline	Tribrid of CS, IS and DS	Information Systems	Informatics / Development Studies	Tribrid of CS, IS and DS
Development Paradigm	Development 2.0	Modernisation	Human Development	Development 2.0?

Now we will substantiate the analysis of EKutir within the above given framework. We find that as far as the iconic technology is concerned, then in EKutir, the e-hub is nothing but a tele-center and mobile phones are used to receive SMS alerts by entrepreneurs. There is a combination of Telecenters & Mobile phone being used with Telecenter playing the primary role. So, in this regard, it is more of an ICT4D 1.0 feature and less of an ICT4D 2.0 feature.

The key application over here involves both Content & Interaction (from ICT4D 1.0). Information content is made available to farmers regarding market prices, weather etc and Interaction with Agricultural experts is also facilitated. Services & Production (from ICT4D 2.0) also happens here in an enhanced sense. Agricultural input services are offered through ICT interface and through brick and mortar channels. Best cropping pattern and mix is also planned for the farmer through the software application. The marketing of the produce also is facilitated through ICT channels. So, in this regard, it is more of an ICT4D 2.0 feature and less of an ICT4D 1.0 feature.

The poor are regarded as less of passive consumers and more of innovators & producers. Through the Farmers Interest Groups, they are able to gear their agricultural production as well as consumption through innovative practices. So, in this regard, it is more of an ICT4D 2.0 feature and less of an ICT4D 1.0 feature. The Key Goal of this initiative is “Growth & Development” of the farming community in an economic sense. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is also a recent, secondary goal by virtue of EKutir’s forays into public health intervention through ICTs. So, in this regard, it is more of an ICT4D 2.0 feature and less of an ICT4D 1.0 feature.

The key issue becomes Readiness & Availability as well as Uptake & Impact. Here the emphasis is more on Uptake & Impact as EKutir is ultimately envisaged as a demand-led project though there is a supply stimulus provided by EKutir in the initial stages. So, in this regard, it is more of an ICT4D 2.0 feature and less of an ICT4D 1.0 feature. The key actor as far as governance is concerned are all sectors including government and the private sector, with the private sector taking the lead. So, in this regard, we can regard it is more of an ICT4D 2.0 feature though not exactly an ICT4D 2.0 feature since the number of actors is rather restricted. The attitude is one of integrating and innovating. Integration happens through the farmers getting integrated into the agri-input as well as the agri-output value chains, more importantly on their own terms and conditions. Innovation is through the innovative practices like planning of all their agriculture related portfolios by the farmers facilitated by the EKutir entrepreneur. So, in this regard, it is an ICT4D 2.0 feature.

Innovation model could be of Pro-poor, Para-Poor and Per-Poor types. Pro-poor innovations means innovations developed in an institutional context outside the grassroots development context but for the overall purpose of development. Para-poor innovations means innovations means those innovations developed in an institutional context in collaboration with the grassroots development context for the purpose of development. Per-Poor innovations means innovations developed in the grassroots development context itself for the purpose of development. The notebook computer by Intel can be regarded as a kind of Pro-poor innovation. The actions of the EKutir entrepreneur can be regarded as a set of Para-poor innovations. Per-Poor innovation is yet to take off but there is good potential for such innovation. So, innovations here are tending towards ICT4D 2.0.

The dominant discipline is a tribrid of CS, IS and DS with Economics & Management science also playing a prominent role. So, in this regard, it is an ICT4D 2.0 feature. Regarding the development paradigm, EKutir has successfully created a value proposition for itself, the farmer, the entrepreneur as well as the other stakeholders in the agri-business ecological system. It has shattered the earlier notion that development has to be a zero-sum game in which some have to lose for others to gain. So, we can assume that EKutir is striving for a new way of understanding and doing development, something which can be labeled as Development 2.0. So, in this regard, it is an ICT4D 2.0 feature.

IV. CONCLUSION

In total, when we put together all these aspects of EKutir, we can assume that it can be broadly understood as a ICT4D 2.0 project, a venture which has shown a new way of using ICTs for the development of the masses in general and farmers in particular. Most importantly, it shows that there is a possibility of a win-win situation for both farmers as well as any profit oriented entity that chooses to engage with farmers. The EKutir project may very well consider the possibility of involving the Panchayat system as one of the stakeholders which might bring in a better sense of accountability and democratization. It will also help in scaling up this project as the Panchayat system is spread all over India. The project has been proved to be a success at a small level. When it scaled up on a massive scale, there might emerge some unexpected problems with regard to the agricultural input and output markets. Also how initiatives like EKutir can possibly dovetail with other successful extant ICT4D agriculture initiatives like e-Choupal needs to be analysed.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.EKutir.net/services.asp, 2010-11, last accessed on 12/1/11

2. Richard Heeks, “The ICT4D 2.0 Manifesto: Where Next for ICTs and International Development?” Development Informatics Working Paper Series, Institute for Development Policy and Management University of Manchester, 2009

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper would not have been possible without the active support of Mr. KC Mishra of EKutir and other employees. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to them.