The area around Makola market is crowded with traders trying to carve out a small space to display their goods and attract the attention of potential customers. Rentable shops and market stalls are in short Read more…
Wondering what the research is saying about building ICT solutions in Agriculture? Our first ICT4D Technology Research Brief. Click to download the PDF:
There are now quite a number of experimental designs and RCTs (randomized controlled trials) of market information systems measuring revenue gained by rural agriculturalists (farmers, fishermen) and traders. While some show improvements to the prices Read more…
A warm welcome to visitors who’ve found their way to this page from the Catholic Relief Services ICT4D conference. To know more about the objectives of this 5+ year research project visit our about page. Read more…
Reposting this entry from The Connectivity, Inclusion, and Inequality Group blog at the Oxford Internet Institute. (see the original post here and download the full report on connectivity and the tea sector in Rwanda) by Read more…
In an environment where the mobile phone is reaching near ubiquity, how does a migrant worker manage his day to day life without a mobile phone, especially when it may be the only platform for communicating Read more…
The daily financial lives of the poor are, without doubt, immensely complex. Irregular, uneven income streams are frequently unable to meet recurring and emergency expenses. Savings deposits and insurance schemes are almost non-existent, and reliance Read more…
In the absence of agricultural extension officers (paid by the government to disseminate information and expertise on farming), many farmers rely on the local seller of agricultural inputs for tips and advice on handling crop Read more…
We are now in the process of analyzing data from last summer’s fieldwork on mobile phone use and money practices (conducted by Ishita Ghosh and Aisha Kigongo – with remote support thanks to Skype and Read more…
This month Janaki Srinivasan presented at the ICTD conference on her project revisiting the site of a canonical study on mobile phone use by fishermen in north Kerala. The original study (by economist Rob Jensen) Read more…
Ms Sun* is a university graduate in her mid 20s, originally from a village in the Shaanxi province. She graduated in geography from a university in Beijing, and on her last year as a student Read more…
Our first comparative case bringing together findings from fieldwork (by Jenna Burrell and Elisa Oreglia) among rural farmers in Hebei and Shandong provinces in China and fishermen and fish traders at Lake Victoria and Lake Read more…
This post continues the conversation that was started here: Vulnerability, Markets, and Insurance in Ghana. There is a particular event that occurred during my fieldwork in Uganda that is a reminder of how lower-income populations Read more…
Note: Three members of our team (Ishita Ghosh, Jenna Burrell, and Janaki Srinivasan) attended the IMTFI conference Dec 5th-7th at UC-Irvine as recipients of IMTFI research grants. This year’s annual conference at the Institute of Read more…
This post continues the conversation that we started here: Branding in Branchless Banking If you find yourself in East Africa, India, the Philippines, Brazil, South Africa, and a host of developing countries around the world, you Read more…
Family connections in areas where factories that manufacture phones operate provide supply for this mobile phone shop. Ms. Hua plays an important intermediation role offering her expertise to assist rural villagers in using their phones. Read more…
Misfortune and setbacks are a recurring theme both in my fieldwork among market women in Accra, Ghana and in my previous work on livelihoods in rural Uganda. The specific misfortunes frequently mentioned included theft, accidents, Read more…
Mobile market information systems for farmers: demand- or offer-driven? Market information systems (MIS) have become a very hot topic in development circles, with a wealth of private and public initiatives to bring market prices to Read more…
M-BANKING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD Imagine you have just migrated from the state of Bihar to the glamorous, full of promise, chaotic capital of New Delhi. You have moved so that you can earn more Read more…
The Ghanaian market is filled with a cacophony of sounds – vehicle engines and horns, the occasional radio playing music or talk shows, women calling to potential customers, and in some markets, loudspeakers blasting to Read more…
An experience with phone theft reveals how critical the phone had become for a wholesaler of plantains at a small market on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana. The mobile phone is critical to maintaining personal Read more…
A profile of a farmer whose main concern isn’t increasing profits, but being able to reliably predict his income. Read more…
Editor’s Note: This is an update from the field by Janaki Srinivasan who is currently researching the fishing industry in Kerala, India and the use (broadly) of tools and technologies ranging from trawlers, nets, and Read more…
A second infographic from Ivan Cole’s website, Afrographique, features a topic that came up in several interviews with market women, specifically cloth traders, in Ghana: China’s influence in African trade. According to ChinaDaily.com, China’s trade with Africa in the first half of 2012 expanded much faster than China’s overall foreign trade. Read more…