(4) Collaboration with Local Public Entities
As economic development rapidly progresses in developing countries with continued urbanization, there is an escalating need for solutions to urban problems concerning water, energy, waste disposal, urban transportation, anti-pollution, and others, not only in larger cities, but also in regional cities. Under such circumstances, it would be extremely beneficial for the development of developing countries if local public entities in Japan with accumulated expertise in various fields could respond to the needs of those countries in a highly detailed and attentive manner. For this reason, the Government of Japan has promoted the participation of Japanese local public entities in ODA. Moreover, Japanese local public entities themselves also actively promote the overseas expansion of their initiatives, including their local industries, in order to stimulate the revitalization and globalization of the local regions of Japan Note 13 (see “Master Techniques from Japan to the World 2” for specific example).
Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, and UgandaPublic nomination
Building an e-Extension Platform for Smallholder Farmers
(1) Technical Cooperation Project (August 2020 – ongoing)*1 (2) The Nippon Foundation Funds (1986 onwards)
An agricultural extension worker checking GPS-based cultivation advice through the app (Nigeria) (Photo: SAA)
The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) is a non-profit organization established to support agricultural development in Africa in response to the devastating famine that hit East Africa at the beginning of the 1980s. It has been working to disseminate improved agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers in Africa for 35 years. In particular, SAA concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with JICA in the agriculture sector and, to date, has worked on projects to improve the income of farmers through a technical cooperation project including the market-oriented agricultural promotion (SHEP) approach,*2 among other activities.
In 2020, SAA conducted a survey concerning the impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture of Africa. The results revealed that farmers were having difficulty obtaining seeds and fertilizer, that access to the financial services and market was being affected, and that there were fewer opportunities for farmers to get advice from agricultural extension workers in their local public entities. In response to this, SAA initiated the launch of Africa’s e-Extension Platform*3 concept, aiming to strengthen the resilience of Africa’s food system from a medium to long-term perspective by eliminating the information gap between smallholders and their stakeholders and facilitating communication, while making full use of ICT.
For example, in Uganda, SAA has provided improved agricultural technologies and information on markets and weather to farmers and enabled two-way communication between farmers and agricultural extension workers, through an app developed by m-Omulimisa, a local venture. In Nigeria, the utilization of GPS-based agronomy advisory tools enabled the proper application of fertilizer by smallholder farmers, which resulted in an increase of the unit yield*4 of maize by 48%. In Ethiopia, now farmers are able to send information about diseases and insect pests via photos and social media, and agricultural extension workers quickly respond to give them advice through the apps. Going forward, SAA will continue its activities utilizing these digital tools to promote the digital transformation in agriculture in Africa.
*1 Project on Promotion of Market-oriented Agricultural Extension System for Livelihood Improvement.
*2 See the glossary.
*3 An ICT-based approach developed by SAA with three priority areas of technology transfer, labor-saving agriculture and access to inputs as a response to the logistical stagnation caused by lockdowns. SAA cooperated with local venture companies to introduce smartphone apps for spreading agricultural technologies and to develop new apps, thereby aiming to eliminate the information gap faced by smallholder farmers.
*4 The crop yield per area of an agricultural product.
- Note 13: Support for overseas development of local public entities through ODA: https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/oda/about/page23_000707.html (in Japanese only)