JUL 26 – Amrit Bhandari
Information technology has profoundly changed the way we live our everyday lives. While the prudent use of information and communication technology has definitely worked for the benefit of people who have easy access to it, such technology, if used wisely can also help disadvantaged and underserved communities. It can especially help grass root farmers increase their income and live a better quality of life. The extension of mobile phone services to remote parts of Nepal is benefiting poor farmers by ameliorating their access to the marketplace and other basic services. One such example is of farmers in Kailali District acquiring everyday prices on agriculture produce through their mobile and land lines phones. The benefit from this technology was made possible by the financial support of the European Union and operational support of Practical Action in partnership with the local Chamber of Commerce in Kailali.
“Gone are the days when I would aggrieve if cauliflowers and onions would fetch the right price that reflected my hard work, time and cost invested, from plantation to harvesting.” Suwas Devi Chaudhari of Joshipur, Kailali explains. She recalls her past: “We were always constantly manipulated by the wholesalers who possessed both information and purchasing power and we had to rely on the fake information about the prices of our vegetables.” The chamber of commerce, Kailali has managed to provide information on market prices of vegetable in the areas, thanks to development in information technology. Dilli Raj Sharma, Executive Director of Chamber of Commerce, Kailali says,” a committee formed to study the market prices goes to the major fresh produce markets and records the actual prices of vegetables and other staple items.” The prices are entered into the computer’s software and it provides the average prices automatically linked with the telecom network. The updated price information is then available in the mobile devices of farmers with a single dial to 1618. This is how farmers get the most recent information on the market prices of their vegetables produces and keep abreast of changes in market dynamics, without having to worry about price manipulation mechanism created by middlemen and wholesalers.
People from Kailali’s Dhangadhi and Attariya’s market centre can be cognizant of the wholesale and retail price of their produces through a single dial from their mobile and landline phones. The service has truly empowered farmers while instilling confidence and pride in their hard work and dedication, to doing something meaningful in their own land instead of choosing to fly abroad for substandard and hazardous work.
When Suhas Devi learns from her mobile phone that the market price of vegetables is on an upward trend, she wastes no time in collecting them from her fields and rushing to the nearby marketplace. Sometimes, wholesalers come at her doorsteps to buy vegetables. Amar Chaudhari, a farmer from Joshipur, Kailali says,” We don’t sell our vegetables without knowing the actual market price. First we dial 1618 and learn about today’s price of each vegetable and sell to the traders accordingly.” Before the mobile technology which enabled market price information became available, the traders would get more profit out of the farmer’s produce by misrepresenting the price information. The traders could benefit in the absence of this technology as they could buy vegetables at a substantially lower price than the market price.
Amar further says,” the traders used to fix the market prices with higher margins compared to the market rates and we had to believe them. For a long time,
we were reliant on their prices and we sold our vegetables for the price they demanded.” Amar recalls,” the traders used to make nearly one hundred per cent margins, while at times the profit margins soared to a whopping 200 per cent. Many can only repent for what they had to suffer; the newly introduced mobile enabled service has brought fresh smiles to an entire farmer community raising their income level and lifestyle to a new height. For observers, the farmers’ content seems to be testament of justice brought about by technology.
Rameswor Bohora, chairman of Agriculture Produces Seller Regional Market Committee, Attariya reports, “this service has helped mainly the farmers. Nonetheless, such information is not limited to them. A single phone call can provide the price details of vegetables to anyone.” The vegetable produces of Kailali have markets in Doti, Dadeldhura, Dipayel, Baitadi, Kohalpur, Surkhet and Nepalgunj.
It is estimated that fresh produces of vegetables worth of Nrs. 1,200,000.00 are traded daily in the two main markets of Kailali alone. Based on the information provided by the Chamber of Commerce there, half of the vegetables available in the market are produced in Nepal. The service has allowed the farmers to increase their income by 10 to 12 per cent, just from their produce. Recent data show that farmers in Kailali alone generate about Nrs. 100,000.00 in revenue from the daily sale of fresh produce. The availability of the market price at their fingertips has allowed farmers to make informed decisions whether to sell short or hold for the prices to go up. The service has bridged the gaps of information on market prices between traders and farmers. If similar services are made available across the country, thousands of farmers will be able to increase their income by securing right and just prices for their offerings
The services established in Kailali district simply make market price information easier to obtain to poor farmers. This shows that the appropriate use of technology can bring changes in poor communities. The right to information and in this instance, information being the market price, is an example that there are many ways we can reap the benefits of technology.
The writer works at Practical Action Nepal Office.
abamritofficial@gmail.com
Published in Kathmandu Post on 26 July 2011- Link - http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/07/25/oped/technology-happy-farmers/224430.html
