Giving Farmers a Voice
Available from people.ischool.berkeley.edu
Page 1
Giving Farmers a Voice
Giving Farmers a Voice
Tapan S. Parikh • parikh@berkeley.edu
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tapan S. Parikh • parikh@berkeley.edu
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 2
Agriculture and Development
•
The majority of the world’s poor make
their living from agriculture
•
Improving productivity and profitability is
the main pathway for development of the
poorest countries (WDR 2008)
•
Doing this efficiently can reduce natural
resource consumption and impact
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
The majority of the world’s poor make
their living from agriculture
•
Improving productivity and profitability is
the main pathway for development of the
poorest countries (WDR 2008)
•
Doing this efficiently can reduce natural
resource consumption and impact
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 3
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 4
Farmers Need Information
•
Knowledge about inputs
•
Dealing with pests and diseases
•
New practices, technologies
•
Access to markets, buyers
•
Transportation
•
Weather forecasts
•
Access to capital
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Knowledge about inputs
•
Dealing with pests and diseases
•
New practices, technologies
•
Access to markets, buyers
•
Transportation
•
Weather forecasts
•
Access to capital
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 5
Challenges
•
Access to technology
•
Infrastructure (power, connectivity)
•
Education and literacy
•
Social, economic, cultural, linguistic
and institutional gaps
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Access to technology
•
Infrastructure (power, connectivity)
•
Education and literacy
•
Social, economic, cultural, linguistic
and institutional gaps
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 6
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 7
Mobiles and Voice
•
Mobile phones are rapidly reducing the
physical limitations of access
•
However, information must still be usable,
trusted and relevant
•
Voice-based content can be accessed, and
created, by farmers with low-cost handsets
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Mobile phones are rapidly reducing the
physical limitations of access
•
However, information must still be usable,
trusted and relevant
•
Voice-based content can be accessed, and
created, by farmers with low-cost handsets
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 8
•Hisaab - UI Design for Microfinance
•
Avaaj Otalo - Farmer to Farmer
Knowledge Sharing
•
Digital ICS - Quality Control and
Communication for Cooperatives
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Avaaj Otalo - Farmer to Farmer
Knowledge Sharing
•
Digital ICS - Quality Control and
Communication for Cooperatives
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 9
Hisaab
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 10
Microfinance
•
Provision of financial services to under-
served communities
•
Organized into groups that decide who
gets loans, monitor repayments, and
maintain accounts
•
Poor records (due to lack of literacy and
training) limit performance, complexity of
products and access to capital
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Provision of financial services to under-
served communities
•
Organized into groups that decide who
gets loans, monitor repayments, and
maintain accounts
•
Poor records (due to lack of literacy and
training) limit performance, complexity of
products and access to capital
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 12
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 13
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 14
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 15
Design for Low-literacy
•
Leverage existing representations
•
Use icons that are familiar and realistic
•
Provide guidance throughout the task
•
Numbers are more accessible then text
•
Local language audio is very important
w/ HFI, CCD, Media Lab Asia
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Leverage existing representations
•
Use icons that are familiar and realistic
•
Provide guidance throughout the task
•
Numbers are more accessible then text
•
Local language audio is very important
w/ HFI, CCD, Media Lab Asia
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 16
Orality (Ong, 1982)
•
Oral communities have their own ways of
representing and managing information
•
Aggregative - tolerant of repetition,
redundancy and inconsistency
•
Situational - tied to specific situations and
people; not abstract concepts
•
Dialectic - reinforced by dialogue
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Oral communities have their own ways of
representing and managing information
•
Aggregative - tolerant of repetition,
redundancy and inconsistency
•
Situational - tied to specific situations and
people; not abstract concepts
•
Dialectic - reinforced by dialogue
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 17
Avaaj Otalo
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 18
Neil Patel
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 19
•Farmers have many questions
•
Treating specific pests?
•
Amount, type of inputs to use?
•
Extension programs are costly, but still don’t
reach most farmers
•
Difficult to contextualize knowledge
•
Only accessible resource is local input dealer
Agricultural Extension
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Treating specific pests?
•
Amount, type of inputs to use?
•
Extension programs are costly, but still don’t
reach most farmers
•
Difficult to contextualize knowledge
•
Only accessible resource is local input dealer
Agricultural Extension
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 20
Avaaj Otalo
•
Farmers and experts call an IVR-based
voice system to:
•
record questions
•
provide answers
•
review previous questions and answers
•
Popular questions broadcast on radio
•
Early days of Usenet; using Voice
w/ Neil Patel, IBM, DSC
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Farmers and experts call an IVR-based
voice system to:
•
record questions
•
provide answers
•
review previous questions and answers
•
Popular questions broadcast on radio
•
Early days of Usenet; using Voice
w/ Neil Patel, IBM, DSC
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 21
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 22
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 23
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 24
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 25
Current Results
•
Pilot with 50 users since December 2008
•
Averaging 1000 calls per month
•
One farmer self-reported a $6K increase in
income due to information from AO!
•
Questions covered a variety of topics
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Pilot with 50 users since December 2008
•
Averaging 1000 calls per month
•
One farmer self-reported a $6K increase in
income due to information from AO!
•
Questions covered a variety of topics
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 26
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 27
Major Findings
•
Numeric input was more intuitive, less error-prone
then limited vocabulary speech recognition
•
Farmers preferred expert advice, but also learned
from questions and experiences of other farmers
•
Farmers patiently waited through (and even
enjoyed) lots of irrelevant (free) content
•
Lots of uses for voice forum, both for farming, and
for non-farming activities
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Numeric input was more intuitive, less error-prone
then limited vocabulary speech recognition
•
Farmers preferred expert advice, but also learned
from questions and experiences of other farmers
•
Farmers patiently waited through (and even
enjoyed) lots of irrelevant (free) content
•
Lots of uses for voice forum, both for farming, and
for non-farming activities
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 28
Orality (Ong, 1982)
•
Oral communities have their own ways of
representing and managing information
•
Aggregative - tolerant of repetition,
redundancy and inconsistency
•
Situational - tied to specific situations and
people; not abstract concepts
•
Dialectic - reinforced by dialogue
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Oral communities have their own ways of
representing and managing information
•
Aggregative - tolerant of repetition,
redundancy and inconsistency
•
Situational - tied to specific situations and
people; not abstract concepts
•
Dialectic - reinforced by dialogue
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 29
Digital ICS
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 30
Yael
Schwartzman
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Schwartzman
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 31
•Internal control system for agri-cooperatives
•
Maintain quality, certifications (organic, fair trade)
•
Voice feedback and questions from farmers
Inspectors use
mobile phones
to monitor farms
Evaluators use a
web application
to give feedback
Generate reports
for extension and
certification
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
w/ Yael Schwartzman, CEPCO, Asobagri
Digital ICS
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Maintain quality, certifications (organic, fair trade)
•
Voice feedback and questions from farmers
Inspectors use
mobile phones
to monitor farms
Evaluators use a
web application
to give feedback
Generate reports
for extension and
certification
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
w/ Yael Schwartzman, CEPCO, Asobagri
Digital ICS
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 32
Current Results
•
Deployed in a Mexican coffee cooperative
with over 2700 farmers
•
More efficient reporting, decision-making
•
$10,000 yearly savings for cooperative
•
Voice feedback used to target extension,
governance, allocation of premiums
•
Service contract established
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Deployed in a Mexican coffee cooperative
with over 2700 farmers
•
More efficient reporting, decision-making
•
$10,000 yearly savings for cooperative
•
Voice feedback used to target extension,
governance, allocation of premiums
•
Service contract established
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 33
• Trace coffee to parcel
•
Growing history
•
Farmer’s stories
•
Two-way communications
Digital ICS: Producer-2-Consumer
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Growing history
•
Farmer’s stories
•
Two-way communications
Digital ICS: Producer-2-Consumer
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 34
Giving Farmers a Voice
•
Rural communities want to be heard!
•
Using text and forms is like “threading an
elephant through the eye of a needle”
•
Voice is a much better medium for
expression and engagement
•
Voice not only useful for interacting with
information, but for aggregating and
representing information itself
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Rural communities want to be heard!
•
Using text and forms is like “threading an
elephant through the eye of a needle”
•
Voice is a much better medium for
expression and engagement
•
Voice not only useful for interacting with
information, but for aggregating and
representing information itself
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 35
Future Research
•
What is the best way to organize
information for oral users?
•
Can we efficiently index, search and
browse user-generated voice content?
•
Can we use collected voice data to
improve speech recognition?
•
What is the impact of such technologies,
and can we use voice to document it?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
What is the best way to organize
information for oral users?
•
Can we efficiently index, search and
browse user-generated voice content?
•
Can we use collected voice data to
improve speech recognition?
•
What is the impact of such technologies,
and can we use voice to document it?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 36
Conclusions
•
Tools for people to help themselves
•
Empowering institutions
•
Cooperatives, NGOs, farmer networks
•
Models can be transferred
•
Improving feedback
•
Peer-to-peer sharing
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Tools for people to help themselves
•
Empowering institutions
•
Cooperatives, NGOs, farmer networks
•
Models can be transferred
•
Improving feedback
•
Peer-to-peer sharing
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 37
Other Projects
•
CommCare - Mobile Tool for CHWs
•
Surveys, Clinical Protocols
•
Mobile MIS for SHGs
•
Improving Data Entry using ML
•
Voice-based Data Collection
•
OpenRosa - Mobile Data Collection
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
CommCare - Mobile Tool for CHWs
•
Surveys, Clinical Protocols
•
Mobile MIS for SHGs
•
Improving Data Entry using ML
•
Voice-based Data Collection
•
OpenRosa - Mobile Data Collection
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 38
Discussion
•
Can these models be applied to
•
Improve the accountability of public
programs?
•
Engage rural communities in
discussions about climate change and
environmental issues?
•
Disseminate and discuss other kinds of
information?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Can these models be applied to
•
Improve the accountability of public
programs?
•
Engage rural communities in
discussions about climate change and
environmental issues?
•
Disseminate and discuss other kinds of
information?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 39
Thanks!
•
Kaushik Ghosh, Apala Chavan, Sarit Arora,
Puneet Syal, Neil Patel, Yael Schwartzman,
Yaw Anokwa, Kuang Chen, Brian DeRenzi,
Kurtis Heimerl, Neha Kumar
•
CCD, Asobagri, CEPCO, DSC, Media Lab
Asia, HFI, IBM Research India
•
Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Unamesa, Transfair,
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Kaushik Ghosh, Apala Chavan, Sarit Arora,
Puneet Syal, Neil Patel, Yael Schwartzman,
Yaw Anokwa, Kuang Chen, Brian DeRenzi,
Kurtis Heimerl, Neha Kumar
•
CCD, Asobagri, CEPCO, DSC, Media Lab
Asia, HFI, IBM Research India
•
Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Unamesa, Transfair,
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 40
E-Z Rural Computing
Easy to Use: Max outreach
Easy to Teach: Word of mouth
Easy to Access: Travel is hard
Easy to Share: Amortize high costs
Easy to Create: Local ownership
Easy to Adapt: Localization essential
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Easy to Use: Max outreach
Easy to Teach: Word of mouth
Easy to Access: Travel is hard
Easy to Share: Amortize high costs
Easy to Create: Local ownership
Easy to Adapt: Localization essential
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 41
Internal Control
•
Certification (organic, fair trade, etc.) and
quality can allow small farmers to earn
price premiums
•
Cooperatives use Internal Control Systems to
ensure farmers are following best practices
•
Internal control, certification and
responding to farmers’ needs are labor,
feedback and data-intensive
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Certification (organic, fair trade, etc.) and
quality can allow small farmers to earn
price premiums
•
Cooperatives use Internal Control Systems to
ensure farmers are following best practices
•
Internal control, certification and
responding to farmers’ needs are labor,
feedback and data-intensive
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 42
Digital ICS
•
Management, monitoring and quality
control tool for agricultural cooperatives
•
Field staff use mobile phones to document
•
Compliance with organic requirements
•
Farmers’ questions and feedback
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Management, monitoring and quality
control tool for agricultural cooperatives
•
Field staff use mobile phones to document
•
Compliance with organic requirements
•
Farmers’ questions and feedback
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 43
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 44
Digital ICS
Cooperative’s field
staff use mobile
phones to document
•
Organic certification
•
Growing practices
•
Farm parcels
•
Equipment
•
Neighboring crops
•
Substances used
•
Questions and comments
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
w/ Yael Schwartzman, CEPCO
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Cooperative’s field
staff use mobile
phones to document
•
Organic certification
•
Growing practices
•
Farm parcels
•
Equipment
•
Neighboring crops
•
Substances used
•
Questions and comments
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
w/ Yael Schwartzman, CEPCO
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 45
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 46
Evaluators use
web application
to review data,
provide feedback
and follow-up
Digital ICS
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
web application
to review data,
provide feedback
and follow-up
Digital ICS
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 47
Reports for:
•
Buyers
•
External certifiers
•
Internal records
•
Decision-making
•
Extension follow-up
Digital ICS
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
•
Buyers
•
External certifiers
•
Internal records
•
Decision-making
•
Extension follow-up
Digital ICS
Inspection Evaluation Report Generation
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Page 48
• Honey Bee shares grassroots knowledge and innovation
• Publishes 7 regional magazines about agricultural practices
and other innovations
• Interested in new ways to share content and facilitate
communication between innovators
• Developed multi-media distributed database and
communications application
• Networked using asynchronous CD-based updates
• Implemented at kiosks in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
Knownet-Grin
Knowledge Network for Grassroot Innovators: A Honey Bee Project
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
• Publishes 7 regional magazines about agricultural practices
and other innovations
• Interested in new ways to share content and facilitate
communication between innovators
• Developed multi-media distributed database and
communications application
• Networked using asynchronous CD-based updates
• Implemented at kiosks in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
Knownet-Grin
Knowledge Network for Grassroot Innovators: A Honey Bee Project
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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