The Efficacy of ICT in Weather Forecast Information Dissemination: Evidence from Farming Communities in Mbale and Rakai Districts, Uganda

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has pervaded all spheres of life from the upscale rich to the rural poor in developing countries. ICT is increasingly being harnessed universally to better the quality of life of communities. This chapter highlights the need to utilize ICT tools to improve livelihoods of farmers in Uganda, in the face of climate change and variations in seasonal weather. We investigated the use of ICT tools and services in enhancing farmers’ access to weather forecast information to improve agricultural productivity in Uganda. The ICT tools in question included mobile phones and computers/laptops, while the services included the use of emails, websites, and social network sites. We used focus group sessions with farmers in Mbale and Rakai districts to (1) capture their perception of the use of ICT tools and (2) establish the mode of ICT-supported dissemination that would be most effective and efficient for relevant weather forecast information dissemination. Extra information was sourced from key informant interviews with agricultural extension workers and personnel from Uganda National Meteorological Authority. We transcribed the information gathered into descriptive narratives, used thematic analysis and coding with spreadsheets for analysis. We found the mobile phone to be the ICT tool that most farmers have access to, and we found them open to solutions designed around the mobile phone. We establish and recommend using ICT tools to complement existing and conventional weather information dissemination strategies such as mass media. ICT tools allow for customized information to be sent to farmers in text, graphic, audio, or visual formats. We also found that ICT tools enhance user control and interaction, allow farmers to query and receive specific responses of weather forecast information they are interested in, provide a mechanism to collect crowdsourced feedback that can be used to improve the weather information services and products provided by UNMA, and promote timely and easy access to weather information. We noted that if fully exploited, ICT tools have the potential to contribute to effective dissemination of tailored weather information, which would help to improve the livelihoods of the farmers in Uganda.