Executive Summary

The purpose of this paper is to promote expansion of Internet services in support of rural and agricultural development. It presents a vision of an integrated approach that can lead to the growth of vibrant rural and agricultural communication networks across nations, regions and the globe. An integrated approach recognizes that rural people can benefit from communication networks that enable information to flow to and from rural communities and agricultural organizations. An integrated approach also fosters communication among the many intermediary organizations that work for rural and agricultural development. Thus, the paper focuses both on establishing rural access to the Internet as well as on creating communication networks that help all stakeholders involved in rural and agricultural development to better communicate with one another.

The Internet is not a panacea for rural and agricultural development, but it does bring new information resources and can open up new communication channels for rural communities and agricultural organizations. It offers a means for bridging the gaps between development professionals, rural people and agricultural producers through the initiation of interaction and dialogue. It can foster new alliances and inter-personal networks together with lateral and cross-sector links between organizations. Most importantly, it can support mechanisms that enable the bottom-up articulation and sharing of needs, and local knowledge. Primary benefits include increased efficiency in the use of development resources, less duplication of activities, reduced communication costs and global access to information and human resources. None of these benefits are guaranteed by the technology of the Internet. Instead, these benefits are realized when people work together to make the most of a decentralized and accessible communication tool.

There has been a rapid increase in the use of the Internet in developing countries (Richardson, 1996a). With regard to rural and agricultural development and the Internet, organizations that support the betterment of rural populations and improvements in agriculture have important roles to play. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (http://www.fao.org ), is playing an historic role in assisting the establishment and growth of Internet services for rural communities and for agricultural development. In partnership with indigenous stakeholders and other agencies, organizations like FAO can help rural communities and agricultural organizations realize the benefits of improved communication and access to information.

Enormous benefits await rural communities and agricultural organizations when communication improves between the non-governmental organizations, government services, private sector entities and educational institutes that support rural and agricultural development. By sharing information about their activities in the fields of agriculture, rural development, forestry, fishing, mining, health, and education these agencies can better serve rural people and farmers. They can make use of "lessons learned," determine and use "best practices," and coordinate information about particular regions or successful development approaches. At the same time, rural communities and agricultural organizations can benefit equally from improved vertical channels of communication that enable rural stakeholders and farmers to communicate with decision-makers and the rest of the world.

An integrated approach to the expansion of Internet services will promote the necessary (but often neglected) horizontal communication between agencies linked to rural and agricultural development. At the same time, an integrated approach will provide the tools to enable rural people and farmers to enter directly into new vertical communication relationships with such external agencies. Improving horizontal communication may improve the quality and relevance of information resources and communication channels and resources available to rural people. Improving vertical communication between rural people, farmers and decision-makers may improve the quality of decisions that affect rural communities and agricultural organizations. An integrated approach will provide for vertical communication through establishing rural Internet access sites, and it will enhance horizontal communication between such entities as agricultural colleges, agricultural input and equipment suppliers, government extension services, rural development organizations, health care agencies, and agricultural research and documentation centres.

Improved horizontal communication can also include existing media services that serve rural stakeholders. For example, throughout the developing world, rural radio and, increasingly, television broadcast services, are important information delivery mechanisms. Their services improve significantly through the exchange of information and news by way of the Internet. African news items are commonly circulated among African news agencies via the Internet. Rural African radio stations are able to take advantage of Internet services to provide extension and rural development information from qualified research sources from around the world (c.f. the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network - http://www.web.net/~dcfrn/index.htm).

Internet services, in conjunction with existing and more widely used communication media such as rural radio, will enable the broadest enhancement of information and communication resources for rural people. For example, national or regional agricultural market information systems or extension information systems hosted on the Internet can be excellent news information sources for the staff of rural radio stations throughout a region or nation. Using information on current market prices broadcast by rural radio stations (including national variations and international figures), farmers can negotiate better prices from local buyers.

Improved horizontal communication and improved information resources can improve the quality of the decisions and interventions that impact upon rural people. At the same time, these improvements can enhance rural peoples’ direct participation in development. Establishing rural Internet access sites and facilities in concert with efforts to enhance horizontal communication networks among the agencies involved in rural and agricultural development is the essence of the integrated approach highlighted in this paper.

A recent survey or rural Internet users in North America (Mayhew and Richardson, 1996) highlights the value of Internet access as perceived by current rural users. Rural Internet users indicate that the Internet provides them with a very convenient method for quickly accessing a large volume of information without being impeded by geographic barriers. They further report finding significant information value from the Internet in the form of new ideas, discussion groups, access to expert advice, continuing education resources, increased global understanding and cultural awareness, and information that helps make them better and more informed citizens. Additionally, they report social benefits including new opportunities to overcome geographic isolation, increased social interaction, opportunities to organize and advocate for social change, equalization of urban/rural disparities and new links between urban and rural communities. Rural business and agri-business users highlight the Internet’s value in enabling them to expand their markets to global audiences and to establish national and global business networks and alliances that would otherwise be inaccessible to rural based businesses.

Current evidence suggests that to achieve sustainability and success, Internet projects for rural and agricultural development must begin with the real needs of the local community of users. Project planners need to be aware of current rural and agricultural producer user needs, such as those identified in the above survey. This requires an approach that catalyzes local participation, supports information and communication needs assessments, builds awareness of potential Internet uses, helps build communities of users, and facilitates locally managed, self-supporting communication and information networks. It also requires attention to capacity building and institutional strengthening for the intermediary agencies that serve rural populations (i.e., NGOs, extension services, health care agencies, various government bodies, and the private sector) so that they can make the most appropriate and creative use of Internet tools.

At the policy level, the success of Internet projects in development activity requires dialogue with national telecommunication agencies to help transform and liberalize the monopolistic telecommunication service environments common in developing countries. Monopolistic services tend to stifle the technological innovation, infrastructure investment and price improvements that often come with competition. Many analysts indicate that where telecommunication reforms have occurred, telecommunication services have "expanded and improved at a faster pace, productivity has increased, new services have become available, and in some cases, international capital markets have been tapped effectively" (Saunders, Warford and Wellenius, 1994).

Understanding communities of Internet users and building capacity for local management of communication and information sharing applications lies at the heart of the integrated approach suggested here. FAO, through its Electronic Information Systems Working Group, is in the process of developing an integrated rural Internet approach that begins with the needs of people in rural and agricultural communities. This approach is based on FAO’s twenty-five year experience with a "communication for development" methodology.

A communication for development methodology typically begins with partnerships with local people and organizations to assist them in developing indigenous communication processes by using tools such as community radio and small format video. Within small pilot projects in Chile, Mexico (FAO) and Southern Africa (FAO and IDRC) this methodology is being used with rural stakeholders and agricultural producer organizations to assist in developing user managed, Internet communication systems. At the same time, these initiatives work in concert with projects to create national agricultural information and communication networks that strengthen communication and information sharing both horizontally and vertically. Such integrated approaches are achieving important economic and social benefits for rural users, while enabling national agencies to realize significant inter-organizational efficiencies.

Communication for development methodologies deserve wider understanding. They are linked to participatory development methodologies and resemble basic computer science systems analysis approaches which (should) start with the needs of computer users. Communication for development methodologies do however provide development planners with a conceptual approach that puts rural people, rural organizations, farmers and agricultural organizations in positions where they can help direct communication and information network development (FAO, 1990a). Communication for development methodologies can be important factors in achieving sustainable development:

This paper outlines the elements of an integrated communication for development approach applied to the Internet and rural and agricultural development, together with recommendations for strategy and activity, and a summary of Internet activities in developing countries. The key recommendation is that development agencies adopt an Internet and development strategy focused on enhancing communication and information sharing, both vertically and horizontally. Specifically, communication can improve between and among rural communities and agricultural organizations, and with the intermediary agencies that serve those communities and organizations with advice, project support, research, extension, and training. The cornerstone of this strategy is capacity building activities for rural and agricultural organizations to catalyze and enhance locally managed Internet use, tools and resources.

Collaboration among agencies supporting Internet and development initiatives can achieve important "multiplier" effects as agencies harmonize their efforts while ensuring that they serve their particular constituencies. Ideally, development agencies, in partnership with stakeholders, could make full use of Internet tools such as the World Wide Web and interactive discussion tools to assist in the harmonization of Internet and development efforts (e.g. the Canadian International Development Agency’s recent Internet and development discussion forum (http://www.bvx.ca/ict), or the Bellanet initiative (http://www.bellanet.org/)).

All stakeholders must encourage development agencies to engage in collaborative efforts that lead to activities and projects focused on rural and agricultural development. Collaborative activities that enhance understanding of the Internet’s role in development are important for all stakeholders, including development planners. Through sponsoring workshops, publishing case studies, producing audio-visual resources, catalyzing policy dialogue and providing forums for creative discussion of Internet and development strategy, development agencies can ensure that the Internet remains an appropriate development tool.

This paper presents an optimistic vision. It is a vision based two key critical assumptions. First, achieving an integrated rural Internet development approach in a given nation or region requires the collaborative participation of a variety of agencies, organizations and government services. At the best of times, such collaborative participation is difficult to achieve for any endeavor.

An integrated rural Internet development approach also requires leadership among individuals who can put aside considerations of "institutional turf." Such leaders must demonstrate, through action, their belief in the value of information sharing over information hoarding, and their dedication to rural and agricultural development. Achieving the vision presented in this paper requires us to assume that organizational collaboration is possible and that the leaders of rural and agricultural Internet initiatives are committed to participatory communication and information sharing. This is not always the case.

Lessons learned in North American rural and agricultural Internet development initiatives point to the fact that effective projects begin with the leadership of individual champions who are predisposed to collaborative and participatory development. Their leadership often compels less enthusiastic leaders to join with Internet initiatives. Identifying and supporting such champions is the key to facilitating sustainable and effective projects. Without enthusiastic champions, most Internet projects will fail. It is not enough for development planners to build wonderful network systems and provide people with computers and modems. Potential users must identify with a vision for beneficial applications and they are most likely to respond to the visions of enthusiastic peers and colleagues.

Canada’s "Open Government" project, for example, began in 1993 with the goal of providing government information through the Internet. The project used an integrated approach to horizontal networking among government ministries. At the same time, it focused on promoting community, private sector and educational access to the Internet in order to generate vertical demand for services from the grassroots.

This vast project was initially led by only three young civil servants with a small budget and the support of a handful of high level government champions. In its early stages the project met with a great deal of resistance across many ministries. Despite resistance, the project staff worked diligently to identify and empower institutional champions, most of whom were located at relatively low levels within the Government. Within two years, almost every Government ministry had at least one champion working to place useful information on the Internet and strengthen links between ministries and with the public.

In 1995 approximately 12 percent of Canadian adults had used the Internet (Leitch, 1996). As the public became more adept at accessing available Government information, they began to demand more resources, while often providing vocal praise for the initiatives underway. Before too long, a momentum had developed that could no longer be resisted by reluctant bureaucrats, and eventually the provision of government information on the Internet became a matter of public policy. Parallel federal and provincial government efforts to strengthen community, private sector and educational access to the Internet helped push further demands for government information, along with mechanisms for engaging the government in new forms of electronic dialogue. By July of 1996, almost 30 percent of Canadian adults (one of the highest usage rates in the world) had used the Internet. This remarkable doubling of use is attributed to greater access; at work, through community Internet services, and through community centres and libraries (Ibid). Government supported information resources are among the most popular Internet sites used by Canadians.

The lesson to be learned from the Open Government experience is that open and collaborative electronic information systems require dedicated champions. Elaborate project plans and large budgets do not ensure that people engage in collaborative communication and information sharing. Champions can be identified by looking toward those agencies and staff members who already evidence a predisposition to information sharing, dialogue and people’s participation. Once identified, they must be encouraged, provided with recognition and be given access to technical and human resource development support.

Despite the positive Canadian success described above, the percentage of rural Canadian adults who have used the Internet is less than 15 percent, or less than half the national average. Rural communities represent the "last mile of connectivity" in both developing countries and developed countries. Rural communities around the world tend to be underserviced in their access to the various technologies, Internet services and telecommunication connections that help transmit those services. In Canada, poor Internet access relates directly to a poor rural telecommunication infrastructure. This situation is the result of antiquated telephone lines in many rural areas combined with a general policy myopia about the needs and desires of rural people. Several developing countries have better rural telecommunication systems than many parts of rural Canada.

This situation is changing quickly, and the Internet is the catalyst. Rural peoples’ desires to use the Internet are resulting in unprecedented and vocal demands for rural telecommunication improvements (Richardson, 1997). In Canada, strong rural Internet champions are emerging from agricultural producer organizations, rural economic development agencies, health care groups and educational bodies. Their advocacy efforts are quickly leading to change and to government and private sector support for rural telecommunication enhancement and Internet support services. For example, a group of a dozen rural Internet advocates, supported by farmer organizations, were successful in persuading a major private sector telecommunication company to spend over $200,000,000 to upgrade rural telephone services in two major provinces. In the last eighteen months, over 50 rural and agricultural producer organizations in the Province of Ontario alone have joined the Internet community by establishing electronic information resources.

Similar scenarios are being played out in developing countries as desires for Internet service open peoples’ eyes to the quality of their telecommunication systems. The Internet has sparked an unprecedented interest in telecommunication infrastructure among people who previously had little interest in telephone wires. A decade ago telephone systems could only be expected to carry voice conversations between two people. Now they are expected to move vast libraries of information, photographs, music and even video while enabling dozens of people to communicate with one another at the same time. Where once we could tolerate static and interference during a telephone call over poor rural telephone lines, we tend to become quickly frustrated by the very same lines when they are responsible for limiting our access to information and multiple communication channels.

The demands telecommunication improvement tend to be most acute among those who are most marginalized from information resources and communication services: rural people, rural organizations and farmers’ groups. People who once had very little interest in telecommunication infrastructure are now learning what they need to know to advocate for the communication and information tools they desire. In some cases rural people and farmers take it upon themselves to create their "homegrown" services when established telecommunication bodies do not meet the demand. Evidence of this can be found throughout the developing world. Examples include the entrepreneurial farmers in Zambia who are working to create a rural telecommunication infrastructure based on cutting edge digital wireless and fiber optic technologies, and farmers in northern Mexico who have created an Internet service to enable producer organizations to better communicate and access market information.

This paper challenges development agencies to coordinate their activities to assist rural stakeholders in completing the "last mile of connectivity." Obviously the challenges to rural Internet development in developing countries are greater than those in rural regions of North America. However, the benefits of rural Internet use and access are equal, if not greater.

Investments in development require vision. Development initiatives that involve technology will sometimes lose sight of the human dimensions of development. The goal of an integrated approach to improving Internet services for rural and agricultural development is to enable rural people to enhance the community resources they require to improve their lives. Communication networks that enable information to flow to and from rural communities and agricultural organizations, as well as between and among the many intermediary organizations that touch rural communities and farmers directly or indirectly, will strengthen community resources. This requires a vision of all the stakeholders involved in rural and agricultural development communicating with one another, with rural organizations and people having access to the same communication tools and information resources as their urban peers.

The Internet suits this vision well. The Internet is a medium of communication, and is perhaps the most flexible medium currently available. It has the potential for integration within a wide variety projects that have objectives such as local participation, training, education, research (especially participatory research), technical support and institutional strengthening. In short, it is a tool that can be of value to integrated rural and agricultural development. Whenever a project involves people who need to communicate and share information across geography, across social groupings, between organizations, and throughout production systems, there is a need to create flexible systems of communication and information sharing. Thus, projects that might find a role for Internet applications could range from apiculture training to community forestry to veterinary medicine.

The Internet is a multi-purpose tool that, in its essence, enables people to learn from one another and work together. The results of Internet projects are not technical, but human and social. The Internet is essentially a tool for enhancing human relationships. Projects need to be driven, not by technical concerns, but by human knowledge, communication, and social relationship concerns. Thus, the intended results of an Internet project ought to relate directly to improvements in social relationships, improvements in knowledge sharing and knowledge access, and enhancement of communication among people and organizations. Such project results can happen through efforts to enhance rural community resources and agricultural resources to achieve project outputs (depending upon local circumstances) such as:

• Indigenously developed learning tools, learning games, learning networks
• Interactive and collaborative extension information networks among farmer organizations, government extension services, rural media, research bodies and educational institutions
• Rural "folk schools" and "farmer field schools" similar to those created by rural radio and non-formal education initiatives such as farm radio forums and radio listening groups
• Market information networks (regional, national, local)
• Distance learning programs and networks
• Participatory research and action networks
• Interactive and collaborative "expert systems" and decision-support networks
• Early warning system information dissemination and data gathering networks
• Shared curriculum databases and curriculum development networks
• Research sharing and information dissemination systems
• Training tools
• Small and medium enterprise development networks and marketing mechanisms
• Rural media networks (e.g., rural radio, newsletters, etc.)
• Agro-ecosystem health networks (e.g., Australia and New Zealand’s Landcare "Integrated Systems for Knowledge Management" approach: http://www.landcare.cri.nz/sal/
• Indigenous knowledge networks (e.g., Indigenous Studies WWW Virtual Library: http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/wwwvl/indig-vl.html)
• Disease and pest monitoring action networks (plant & animal)
• Water management information networks
• Agricultural product and service trading networks (regional, national, local)

When considering project outputs, the question is not simply "how do we provide Internet access and infrastructure." The question to be asked is: "how can we use this flexible medium to help people meet their information and communication objectives to obtain their development goals?" Improving rural community information and communication resources must also link to efforts to improve the capacity of rural organizations and rural people to make the most effective, and sustainable, use of those resources.

Internet initiatives for rural and agricultural development need to be approached with a degree of caution. Different regions, organizations and communities will have different application, capacity building and technical needs. In some areas it is possible to have farmers and rural residents as direct Internet users (e.g., Chile, Mexico). In other areas the challenge will be to help build the capacity of intermediary organizations (such as extension field offices, rural NGOs, rural schools, rural libraries, health clinics, government satellite offices, and church organizations) or assist in the establishment and promotion of community information centres linked to the Internet. In all cases it will be important to link Internet activities with existing media and indigenous communication methods and patterns. Every initiative is likely to have its own unique characteristics as a result of the unique characteristics of the local people involved and their social, cultural and economic backgrounds.

Special attention also needs to be given to women’s’ involvement in these initiatives. Overall there are more male Internet users than female Internet users. North American surveys place the ratio in that region of the world at between 3 to 1 and 4 to 1, male to female Internet users. This situation seems to be improving over time, however special efforts must be made to insure that women have a chance for early participation in new Internet initiatives for rural and agricultural development. Concern for gender equity is one reason for this recommendation. Another is evidence which suggests that women can play a role in ensuring that community oriented Internet services remain focused on community needs and do not get carried away by technological gimmickry (Richardson, 1995).

FAO’s twenty-five year experience with a communication for development approach to rural and agricultural communication (FAO, 1989, 1990a, 1990b, 1994, 1995a, 1995b, 1996a, 1996b), using media such as rural radio, small format video ("participatory video"), photography and print, is now being applied to the Internet in three small scale initiatives. This simple and common-sense strategy of involving people in assessments of their knowledge and communication needs is the cornerstone of communication for development methodologies. This strategy is essential to achieving outputs such as those listed above.

Much of FAO’s historic success with communication for development approaches has involved the use of a medium that many development planners first dismissed as too "high-tech" and as being "inappropriate technology." This medium is small format video (consumer grade video cameras and portable television monitors). Facilitators use small format video to enable rural residents to articulate their ideas, aspirations, needs and solutions.

Using video people can speak directly to distant decision makers and researchers, gain access to knowledge presented in audio-visual forms by experts (often other farmers!), and share their experiences with one another across distances. In "participatory video" work, the communication process is more important than the production of a video. This aspect of the process is frequently misunderstood by observers of communication for development projects. It is not important for participants to become communication professionals: the goal is to provide media that are flexible enough to allow people to articulate and share their ideas. Integrated into development planning activities, such a communication for development approach enables farmers and rural residents to actively participate in development processes. These approaches enable rural stakeholders to articulate their knowledge, organize local activities, take part in decision making and fully recognize the value of sharing their ideas.

Like participatory video processes, the Internet may help people to attain their development goals, but it must be used as a communication process tool and not simply as a static "information technology." Otherwise, Internet tools will be relegated to the junk heaps of inappropriate development technologies or dismissed because of previous failures to make the medium locally relevant and useful. If, for example, the information outputs derived from highly technical electronic information systems such as famine early warning systems or food security databases are not made available to the people whose lives are the subject of those systems, then we are failing to fully leverage the large infrastructure investments involved, and we are failing to assist people in making appropriate decisions based on such valuable information. Before we even create such tools, we ought to involve the ultimate beneficiaries in determining the value of these initiatives and discussing planning approaches should these tools be deemed appropriate by the beneficiaries.

We must avoid contributing to the gap between the information haves (experts, academics, researchers, policy makers, etc.) and the information have-nots (usually the ultimate beneficiaries of development work), a gap that can emerge when we create Internet applications to serve only elite researchers and bureaucrats. A review of African Internet projects and Internet project proposals archived at the Bellanet Secretariat (http://www.bellanet.org) will reveal to any interested party that only a handful of dozens and dozens of project plans (some funded, and many in the discussion stage) go beyond providing services to elite researchers and bureaucrats. Few project plans show evidence of participation from ultimate beneficiaries. A scarce few (e.g. the IDRC Acacia Project) involve community based organizations.

We must strive to find ways to bring knowledge producers, such as researchers and policy makers, closer (in the social as well as geographical sense) to the other less recognized knowledge producers: the people who are the ultimate beneficiaries of development programs. (C.f. the Indigenous Studies Virtual Library: http://www.halcyon.com/FWDP/wwwvl/indig-vl.html). The Internet helps make this possible. Thanks to the Internet, farmers can (and do) now have access to the same information, and many of the same information publication and dissemination tools, as researchers at major agricultural universities and research centres. We must insure that Internet projects are planned with and for the ultimate beneficiaries of development programs.

A fact that is well known to current Internet users is that the Internet has the power to cut across social and geographic distance and help people find new ways of facilitating the flow of information and knowledge. In many ways the Internet has always been a development communication tool. Within bureaucratic organizations it has a way of leveling hierarchies, facilitating new communication patterns, and helping enable activities that might not otherwise occur (Negroponte, 1995). This factor makes it an especially attractive medium within communication for development efforts. The key to achieving similar results in new Internet and development projects is to begin with a grassroots, beneficiary-inclusive communication for development approach during the planning process.

The range of locally initiated Internet services in developing countries is remarkable. Many of these services have emerged with little or no external support, and many have become viable commercial services or not-for-profit services operated by NGOs. A large number of these Internet services have been around for almost a decade, coming into existence years before most donor agencies recognized any potential in the Internet as a development tool. Today, however, many international development agencies and international NGOs are finding ways to assist in the development and strengthening of indigenous Internet services, infrastructure and information providers.

The list of these agencies is long. Notable examples include:

• World Bank [a multi-lateral financial institution] which is soliciting discussion on a number of Internet projects including Increasing Internet Connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (http://www.worldbank.org/html/emc/documents/africa0395.html#summary). The World Bank is also managing the Information for Development Program (infoDev) which is a global, multilateral donor program to help developing economies fully benefit from modern information technologies (http://www.bellanet.org and look for infoDev). TechNet (http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/technet/technet.htm) is an initiative of the Finance and Private Sector Development Vice Presidency of the World Bank, designed to encourage understanding and promote the use of science, technology and information in development. The TechNet World Wide Web page contains a comprehensive list of resource materials and hosts a number of interesting interactive discussion groups.
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) [a multi-lateral financial institution] which is supporting the "FIDAMERICA" project to assist the rural poor in Latin America and the Caribbean to access agricultural market information, technical information, improve access to financial systems and access commercial channels via an approach that involves significant use of information technologies (http://fidamerica.conicyt.cl:84). IFAD is discussing a similar project, "FIDAFRIQUE," for West Africa.
• United Nations Development Programme (http://www.undp.org/undp/comm/index.html) whose Sustainable Development Networking Project (http://www3.undp.org/) is operating in several African countries including Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
• International Development Research Centre (IDRC). IDRC has been active in supporting the use of Internet tools for sustainable development since 1982. Many of the earliest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Africa and Latin America received initial support through IDRC. Current Internet related programs include the Pan Asian Networking program (http://www.idrc.org.sg/pan/index.html) which supports the development of indigenous commercial Internet service providers (eg. Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) and providers of information, via the Internet, on sustainable development in Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Vietnam and Thailand). IDRC is also a sponsor of the African Networking Initiative (ANI) (with UNESCO, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)). ANI is assisting in developing indigenous plans for the further development of African network infrastructure (http://www.idrc.ca and look for ANI) IDRC also houses BellaNet (http://www.bellanet.org) a multi-lateral donor project which includes the Indigenous Knowledge Programme. This Programme incorporates Internet tools to help support the development of indigenous communities based on their own culture, traditions, knowledge systems and practices, to ensure the continuation of indigenous knowledge systems, and promote the equitable sharing of benefits from possible commercialization of this knowledge.
• US Agency for International Development (USAID - http://www.info.usaid.gov/). USAID supports the Leland initiative (http://www.info.usaid.gov/regions/afr/leland/) which seeks to bring the benefits of the global information revolution to the people of Africa, through connection to the Internet and other Global Information Infrastructure (GII) technologies. The Leland initiative is the core element of USAID's Africa strategy, "Empowering Africans in the Information Age."
• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA - http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/). CIDA has taken an innovative approach in hosting a free and open global dialogue on the Internet on the use of information and communication technologies for development, in order to assist in developing strategies and programs (http://www.bvx.ca/ict/). CIDA is also working in Vietnam, funding a training and technical assistance project to improve information systems. In West Africa, CIDA is helping 10 Francophone countries to access the Internet, and is taking an active role in supporting the development of South Africa's telecommunications policy. In Bolivia the Agency is funding the establishment of radio-telephone networks in rural areas. Recently the Canadian Government announced that its foreign aid program will re-focus its priorities and "will soon join the information age, with media training and Internet sites overtaking hydroelectric dams and hospitals as development priorities for the 21st century" (Stackhouse, 1997). A special focus of the program will help facilitate the use of the Internet by rural organizations in developing countries (Ibid).

Along with the larger agencies working in this field, there are several NGOs which specialize in providing Internet services to NGOs, governments, educational institutions, healthcare organizations and other parts of civil society in developing (and developed) countries. Examples include:

• Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA - http://www.vita.org/)
• The Internet Society. The Internet Society (http://info.isoc.org/)is a non-governmental International organization for global cooperation and coordination for the Internet and its internetworking technologies and applications. It provides technical training services and sponsors one of the largest annual international Internet conference events, "INET" (http://info.isoc.org:80/isoc/whatis/conferences/inet/97/index.html). The Internet Society is also providing training in technical support development to the Leland initiative (http://www3.undp.org/aif/isocprop.html).
• SangoNet. (SangoNet - http://wn.apc.org:80/) is an example of an indigenous NGO that is also an Internet Service Provider. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, it provides technical assistance throughout much of Southern Africa. Like many other indigenous Internet Service Providers throughout the world, it received assistance from IDRC long before other donor agencies recognized the potential of the Internet.

Despite the wide range of organizations supporting Internet services and applications in developing countries, obtaining accurate and up-to-date information on these activities is difficult. Donor agencies, and project staff are not communicating about their initiatives very well. Despite the obvious potential of the Internet for sharing information on Internet projects, there is no single source that enables interested parties to quickly access information on specific projects, country activities and donor agency strategies and plans. As a result, the lessons being learned are being lost. Leaders in the donor agency community must remedy this problem soon to ensure that lessons learned are shared and that interested parties can quickly and easily identify opportunities for collaboration and for using Internet services and applications in developing countries. The Bellanet Secretariat is making a good start on this, but until the maze of donor agencies and project teams begin to make concerted efforts to contribute to Bellanet’s databases, we will still be faced with a lack of coordination and sharing of ideas among programs.

The Internet was conceived in 1963 by Larry Roberts while he was working for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) with funding from the U.S. Department of Defence (Negroponte, 1995). The fact that, at its essence, the Internet is a human relationship enhancement tool is reflected in its history, and the very human relationships of its early developers.

ARPAnet, as it was called in the beginning, emerged as a communication tool in the late 1960's for a handful of Defence workers and contractors. It was designed to be a fail-safe communication system because it would be a fundamentally decentralized network. Computers could send packets of information from one computer to another, across the United States, and those packets could travel through a variety of different routes to reach their destination. If one or several routes is destroyed or malfunctioning, the packets find alternative routes and eventually reach their destinations.

The wife of one of the ARPAnet engineers was hearing impaired. To communicate with her while he was at the office and she was at home, the engineer used a telephone attachment that was then commonly used in the United States. A telephone text messaging device (TTY) enabled he and his wife to converse through text messages sent through the telephone system. This relationship enhancing tool influenced the engineer to incorporate text messaging between people (not just between computers) as a feature of ARPAnet (Brummel, 1995). This feature became known as electronic mail or email, and now millions of email messages now cross the globe every day. What was initially a tool for computers to talk to computers became a tool for enhancing relationships because of one persons positive experience with a similar relationship enhancing tool.

ARPAnet grew during the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's because new "nodes" and routes were added to reach University researchers. As a wider community of faculty and students outside the Department of Defence began to use the tool, electronic mail quickly gained popularity across university and college campuses in North America. Because it was a decentralized network, there was little way to control its popular expansion, and it soon transcended its Department of Defence mentors.

The Internet today is a peoples’ network. Anyone with basic computer equipment and a phone line can connect to it, communicate through it, host information on it, and look through it. Unlike many other media such as television and radio, every user of the medium can be an information producer and knowledge sharer. No one knows for sure how many people are using the Internet today, but estimates range from 50 to 100 million people, and it is growing fast. In countries such as Thailand, Internet use is growing at a current rate of close to 1,000% per year.

The Internet is essentially millions of people connected together via millions of computers that are connected together. By now, almost everyone who reads this paper will know something about the Internet, but not everyone will know quite what it is or what it represents. There are at least 5 million information-containing computers serving information to the millions and millions of Internet users. Each of those 5 million computers may contain thousands, or hundreds of thousands of pages of information. If current trends continue, there will be over 100 million computers connected to the Internet by the year 2000 (Carroll & Broadhead, 1995). Any one of those computers linked to the Internet might support one individual or thousands of individuals, together with the wealth of information they can contribute to the Internet.

There two powerful tools that form the basis of the Internet. The earliest on the scene, and still the most popular, is email. Using a simple address to guide them, email messages jump from computer to computer, rapidly finding their way to their recipients. The more recent tool, and the one that has catapulted the Internet into popular culture, is the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web is the part of the Internet where we are witnessing the emergence of a vast global library of information.

Electronic publishing of information on the World Wide Web is much less expensive than print publication. It is also very easy to become a provider of information on the World Wide Web and have people use your information almost instantaneously from virtually any location in the world. As a result the World Wide Web is propagated with information on every subject imaginable. In fact, virtually any Internet user who wants to publish a work can do so for little or no money and make that work available around the globe. The World Wide Web is in its infancy, having only been developed in 1994, yet only three years after its birth it is one of the most popular information sharing tools in the world. Use of the World Wide Web is growing at a rate of 25% per month and it is estimated that some 100 to 400 new information sites are established on the World Wide Web each week (Carroll & Broadhead, 1995).

Prior to the World Wide Web, Internet users were limited to email communication and cumbersome methods for retrieving files of information from other computers. The World Wide Web changed that quite dramatically. Now we can retrieve information, documents, and a wide variety of audio-visual material simply by pointing and clicking. We do not even have to know the location of the computer from which we retrieve information. We just click on a highlighted word, or a picture and within moments a document is transported to the screen in front of us. Some argue that the Internet’s World Wide Web is humanity’s second major communication revolution; the first being the Gutenburg Press in 1439 (Burke & Ornstein, 1995).

Compared to the costs of using telephones or faxes, communicating and sharing information using email or the World Wide Web can be hundreds of times less expensive. Because information flows through the Internet in discrete packets of digital bits, those packets are able to share telecommunication lines with hundreds of other packets. Where a traditional trans-Atlantic telephone call will tie up a single phone line for only two people, an email message can travel along a phone line with hundreds and even thousands of other messages. Some creative computer software developers have even made use of this feature of the Internet to create Internet telephone services that allow users to speak with other users, around the globe, while completely avoiding long distance phone charges.

I have identified twelve common elements among successful rural and agricultural Internet communication and information systems:

1. Preliminary participatory communication and information needs assessments with intended users.
2. Awareness building campaigns designed to sensitize decision makers to the possible uses of Internet services.
3. Executing agency committed to participatory rural and agricultural development
4. Local "champions" identified and supported.
5. Open participation of user community in design, implementation and management of communication and information services.
6. Institutional and user commitment to manage and sustain Internet services.
7. Involvement of the full community of users, including women and youth.
8. On-going provision for technical training, user support and outreach within the user community.
9. Combination of centralized and decentralized information production, analysis and distribution
10. On-going provision for technical support and system maintenance/upgrading.
11. User community with a financial stake in the communication and information system (eg. ownership of hardware, user fees, salaries, infrastructure, etc.).
12. Local private sector or not-for-profit (university or NGO) Internet Service Provider with a social service orientation.

Local private sector or not-for-profit Internet Service Providers tend to be able to operate efficiently and profitably while providing customers with reasonable service prices. They are able to quickly troubleshoot and solve service problems, they can access capital through investment and credit (not as easily obtained with government-focused or donor agency services), and they are able to offer strong local user support, customer troubleshooting (often with house calls), and local training. Because they are dependent upon customer revenue for profitability, they are likely to respond quickly to customer needs and demands. Government operated ISPs tend to be less able to meet customer needs and are often less responsive because they have other sources of support than customer fees. Local private sector and not-for-profit ISPs also contribute to the local economy and stimulate local interest in telecommunication through personal contacts and relationships.

One small FAO supported initiative that exhibits the above elements is in Mexicali, Mexico (http://cucapah.mxl.cetys.mx/). In 1994, as part of FAO’s Latin American communication for development effort, community animators initiated an extensive participatory communication and information needs assessment among six hundred local farmers and their organizations (personal communication with Emilio Canton, FAO-Mexico). The results indicated that farmers strongly desired an improved communication system, and local leaders required a better management communication system for organizing activities, and for agricultural and irrigation planning among twenty-three local organizations. As well, the farmers wanted better methods for general communication and information sharing to assist in the planning of current and future work and activities. One strategy that they proposed was a computer-based communication system that would provide for both horizontal and vertical communication.

In the Fall of 1995 ninety farm organization representatives took part in a workshop on development communication where plans were developed for an Internet based computer communication system. Most equipment would be purchased and owned by the farmers’ organizations, and preliminary technical support would be provided by a local private technical university (CETYS: http://infux.mxl.cetys.mx/indexeng.html) already offering commercial and not-for-profit Internet services in the region. A communication for development expert from FAO provided initial logistical coordination and technical backstopping for the first nine months of the initiative. A computer network server was installed at the university and each farmer organization was issued an account for dial-in access to a small pool of three modems connected to the server. By June of 1996, twelve farmers’ organizations were connected and using the system, several World Wide Web information services were available, and plans were being made to improve the system and involve all twenty-three farmers’ organizations in the Rio Colorado Valley. Existing users make use of email on a daily basis, and submit daily reports on irrigation quotas and planting activities to the local irrigation water authority.

Current plans include providing a directory of each farmer organization, its membership, its agricultural activities and production figures, and information about local conditions. Much of this information will be gathered through electronic mail, and retrievable through an Internet World Wide Web site. The farmers are proud of their community and its history, so they decided to organize a photograph contest to collect historical photographs of the region and its agricultural heritage to place on their World Wide Web homepage. They are planning to post their newsletters on the homepage as well, and hope to provide easy access to locally relevant market and weather information. Links will soon be made with the Technical Information and Communication Unit (TICU) (another FAO supported initiative in Sonora, Mexico) to expand access to TICU’s a market information bulletin (currently distributed in Sonora by fax) (Fraser, 1996) by placing bulletin information on the CETYS University server for access throughout Mexico and the world (personal communication with Emilio Canton, FAO-Mexico).

These farmers’ organizations have proven that Internet communication and information services are practical and beneficial when developed with full participation of users. While the system has a long way to go in order to develop further applications and enhance user involvement with new applications, it is already attracting significant interest within the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and other farmer organizations in Mexico. For example, Assistance and Services for Agricultural Marketing (ASERCA) is investigating the Mexicali experience in order to develop strategies for expanding farmer access to electronic information services related to marketing and the development of national and international trading links. There are even plans for developing an electronic trading system for agricultural products and services. The development communication approach used to form the Mexicali system is the key to its initial success and its future sustainability. Using this approach has enabled the organizational leaders to fully understand the value of the system and its applications, and led to the farmers’ decision to take ownership of the infrastructure and network development.

In Chile, FAO’s Communication for Development in Latin America Project (GCP/RLA/114/ITA) is pioneering a participatory approach to the development of Internet information and communication networks among the farmer organizations of small scale producers (http://fao.cl/). These networks provide farmer organizations with data on crops, international crop status and market timing, prices, market conditions (regional, national, international), weather, technical and training information, and information about the various organizations that support their work. As well, the users have full access to the Internet to find other information relevant to their lives and communities (eg. health, social service, education, etc.), and they can use electronic mail to communicate with other farm organizations in Chile, as well as any of the millions of people using the global Internet.

The most important aspect of this initiative is its specific attention to local information needs assessments, and provision of assistance to farm organization personnel to help them develop the skills necessary to analyze and disseminate information that is locally relevant. This methodology emerged from previous development communication experiences using small format video, print media, and rural radio (described previously in section 3.1). It is very likely the most user oriented approach to developing Internet services in the developing world, and it is focused on rural and remote agricultural communities that would normally have little opportunity to access the benefits of Internet tools.

Small information centres are located within the offices of farmer organizations and NGOs, and some of these offices are beginning to open up their Internet resources to non-agricultural community members such as youth groups and social service agencies. The network of users is currently small (five organizations), and may become a model for the development of a much wider network within Chile, and, with some external assistance, throughout Latin America.

Much of the information available through the Chilean network is useful to other Spanish speaking Internet users (the same is true for the Mexican initiatives discussed above). Indeed, after only a few weeks "on-line", the statistics generated for the Chilean World Wide Web site show that within a one month period, there were over 1,000 "hits" (Internet jargon for the number of accesses) from Latin Americans outside of Chile, and a further 1,000 hits from Internet users everywhere from Europe and North America to Asia and Australia. The site is now listed on the popular "Yahoo" Internet index, and is accessible through comprehensive keyword searches on various Internet search tools.

The Chilean experience provides a model for an integrated approach to Internet service development that is sustainable and can be replicated and leveraged for other regions of Latin America and the world. It clearly combines horizontal communication with vertical communication.

The Mexican and Chilean experiences are unique examples of using a communication for development approach to create horizontal and vertical communication systems for small producers and rural and remote communities. Throughout the other countries visited on the author’s FAO fact-finding mission, it was generally observed that rural and remote access to the Internet is emerging slowly. To their credit, many organizations in Africa, including FAO and its supported projects, are developing World Wide Web based information tools that may someday be of direct benefit to small producers and rural and remote communities. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, for example, FAO projects are busy developing Internet-based market information tools, household food security information systems, famine early warning systems and other sophisticated tools to assist decision makers. These systems are developed primarily by researchers and policy making bodies to fulfill their own internal information needs. Thus far, links to the ultimate beneficiaries of these initiatives are weak.

In Africa, indigenous Internet Service Providers such as ZAMNET (which also services the HealthNet project that connects rural health centres to the Internet), SangoNet, MangoNet, Enda-Dakar and Internet Africa, appear to be the only organizations with the tangible experience of providing Internet services to organizations and individuals in rural and remote areas. Their track records speak for themselves. They have managed to provide Internet services to many of the intermediary organizations that serve small producers, rural communities and agricultural organizations.

Many of the field officers of UN agencies and multi-lateral donor projects make use of electronic mail and Internet information services provided by these indigenous services. The individuals who work within these Internet Service Providers tend to be extremely dedicated to their work and to improving Internet service in Africa. These services are "natural" examples of the horizontal and vertical communication channels integral to the integrated approach promoted in this paper.

Future Internet development activities for rural and remote communities, and farm organizations in Africa and Latin America ought to begin with the experiences and services of existing Internet Service Providers and existing user groups. There is a wealth of experience, talent, creativity and local understanding available, and development agencies would be wise to utilize these resources at every opportunity.

With regard to Internet use in support of rural and agricultural development, applications fall into five main areas: economic development for agricultural producers, community development, research/education, small and medium enterprise (SME) development, and media networks.

Rural communities and small scale agricultural producers are deeply affected by global economic, environmental, and political forces. The idea that communities of small scale agricultural producers are isolated and living in closed, self-sufficient societies is a myth. Global trade relationships, such as GATT, NAFTA, and MERCOSUR, place rural communities and small scale agricultural producers, squarely in the middle of global market realities. Trade decisions in Rome or Chicago today affect campesinos in Mexico within hours. Interest rates, global commodity situations, changing trade patterns, transportation developments and tariff structures all impact upon even the smallest farm operation. Without knowledge and without the communication capabilities required to access, analyze and share the information required to create knowledge, small producers remain at the mercy of global market forces.

With knowledge, small producers can have a competitive edge over larger farm operations and corporate agriculture. Small producers often have the flexibility to quickly change crop choices, develop products for small niche markets and even market directly to the consumer or commodity broker in distant countries (c.f. Bridgehead - OXFAM Canada: http://www.web.net/oxfamgft/index.htm -or- International Small Business Consortium: http://www.isbc.com/). Small scale, labour intensive farming can reduce input costs and provide consumers with higher food quality, improved food safety and better food taste.

When knowledge is harnessed by strong organizations of small producers, strategic planning can be used to provide members with lower cost inputs, better storage facilities, improved transportation links and collective negotiations with buyers. The International Federation of Agricultural Producers (http://www.ifap.org), recognizing the value of the Internet to its members, is investigating the possibility of establishing a global Internet communication network among farmer organizations. If successful, this initiative could enable farmer organizations to gain a much greater voice in the world of international agricultural policy (vertical communication) and enhance communication between farmers and farmer organizations (horizontal communication).

Organizations of small producers want and need instant information on global market prices, negotiation techniques and strategies, analyses of product potentials in various markets, new production and marketing techniques, new transportation systems, and global trade rules. Information that can reduce the costs of transactions and improve prices received at markets (or open new markets) is highly valued. These organizations can and do act as communication conduits or intermediaries, facilitating the flow of information between local people and the rest of the world.

The global Internet is one tool that can enhance this flow of information for organizations of small producers. It is an inexpensive way to communicate and access global information. Local Internet services can be easily managed by well organized local user groups and farmer organizations. Information and analyses can be tailored to local, regional and national knowledge and communication needs and realities. When combined with national and global market information systems, and with the ability to communicate quickly with potential buyers and brokers, local Internet systems become valuable strategic planning and decision making tools.

Local agricultural producers can benefit from the Internet without having access to computers or phone lines. Thoughtful community information centre personnel can easily post market prices at places where farmers gather, can liaise with local radio stations and newspapers, and can channel information through interpersonal networks, simple newsletters and posters. Used wisely, the Internet can be part of an extended media mix for both gathering information from vertical channels and disseminating information through existing horizontal communication channels.

Local community oriented Internet services are also valuable when placed in the service of rural and agricultural development organizations which act as local communication conduits or intermediaries. Along with providing improved market knowledge, they can also:

• develop locally appropriate applications and creative services
• provide knowledge about successful development strategies,
• enable efficient regional, national and global organizational efforts (the use of the Internet as a global communication and organizing tool in Chiapas, Mexico is an excellent example of the latter),
• provide improved access to a huge variety of information, training, research and educational resources (including distance education services) that are typically unavailable in rural and remote areas due to the costs associated with accessing printed materials and books,
• enable rural young people to learn about computers and to have access to the technologies and information available to their urban peers,
• provide access to critical technical information for rural professionals such as physicians, health care workers, technicians and engineers, thereby providing further encouragement for these professionals to continue practicing in rural and remote communities,
• be used as marketing tools to promote rural tourism and market the products of small secondary industries and home based businesses,
• enable local NGOs to gain a global presence and make better contact with potential donors and supporters through on-line publication of resources and information, and through the use of electronic mail, and
• Sensitize urban policy makers to the realities and needs of rural populations.

Within national, regional and international research communities, there is increased attention toward "participatory research" strategies (Chambers & Gujit, 1996). These strategies place farmers and rural residents at the centre of the research process and enable them to enrich their knowledge base and share that knowledge base with one another, field workers, researchers and decision-makers at various levels. Internet use among intermediary organizations and leaders involved in participatory research can provide a cost effective method for documenting and sharing lessons learned and research results.

Internet use also has the potential to strengthen linkages between and among farmer organizations, extension workers, researchers, policy makers and other actors in the farming system. For example, international organizations such as the Information centre for Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA: http://www.cta.nl/index.htm) are working to advance knowledge and communication systems to enable intermediary organizations to create local information resources and share them around the world, and to access common information databases and learning tools related to sustainable and low input agriculture.

The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (http://www.cgiar.org) has a highly advanced Integrated Voice and Data Network (IVDN) (http://www.cgiar.org:80/ivdn/) to link member research organizations around the world and provide low cost member voice and data communications using Internet protocols. In only a year the CGIAR has linked three quarters of the international agricultural research centres to the system. IVDN services include:

• Internet services (FTP, Telnet, Gopher, WWW, etc.)
• Free telephone calls within the network
• Lowest-cost international direct dialing (no need to use call-back services)
• Detailed call reporting and cost control
• Voice mail (optional)
• Audio conferencing
• Desktop computer conferencing ("digital whiteboard")
• Electronic mail (with value-added services: fax, telex)
• Directory management services

This powerful network of research organizations has not yet developed significant electronic linkages to intermediary organizations and National Agricultural Research centres (NARS) that might assist in the dissemination of information and establishment of participatory research strategies. However, once intermediary organizations are connected to the Internet through local means, or through international networks such as the IVDN, the potential to develop and strengthen these linkages is very high. The same is also true for educational institutions in developing countries whose students and faculty members could gain access to research information, and share their own research results with the CGIAR, NARS, FAO and with other institutions involved in rural and agricultural research.

An investigation of the possibility of enabling NARS to access the CGIAR IVDN would be a very good fist step in the process of assisting NARS and intermediary organizations to harness the power of the Internet. In addition, the vast information resources of the CGIAR system (including information databases such as AGRIS) can be made generally accessible via the Internet, thus providing the world, including information-poor researchers in developing countries, with easy access to a huge depository of international agricultural research and information.

The cost of accessing printed academic materials within developing countries is usually so high that students and faculty members have great difficulty acquiring books and journals. As well, the time required to obtain printed materials from overseas can be long enough to render some information out-dated by the time it arrives. Via the Internet, any information published on-line can be accessed almost instantly and at a tiny fraction of the cost of obtaining printed materials. Information on the Internet is easy to access and archival lists of resources can be easily reviewed and assessed in remote locations.

Electronic distance education services are already in use in North America, Australia and Europe (particularly among people in rural areas), and with the continued growth of Internet access in developing countries, there is a very good chance that similar services will develop significant demand. Over 87% of the rural Internet users involved in the University of Guelph’s Rural Internet User Survey indicated that they were very interested in taking advantage of on-line courses and other structured learning opportunities via the Internet (Mayhew & Richardson, 1996), yet there are few such opportunities available to meet their level of interest.

Distance education (as well as traditional education) partnerships between universities in the North and the South (such as the partnerships between the University of Guelph and universities in Cameroon and India to develop distance education extension worker training programs (http://tdg.uoguelph.ca/res)) have proven to be beneficial to the institutions involved. With the assistance of Internet tools, these partnerships can be further strengthened, and Internet learning resources can be cooperatively developed across oceans to be utilized by participants in developing nations. Of course, this process can work in the other direction too, to enable students in the North to learn more about the conditions, challenges, potentials and knowledge development of the South.

Overall, the Internet holds significant potential to enhance learning and research relationships among researchers, academics and students wherever they might be located. The list of potential applications is infinite and thousands of informal linkages of this sort take place every day on Internet discussion groups. Development agencies such as FAO can play a role in helping to formalize and provide credentials and diplomas for people who participate in specific electronic learning initiatives delivered via the Internet.

Within FAO’s Sustainable Development Department, for example, there are existing training and curriculum development projects focused on communication for development and extension worker training. Other FAO Departments and many other agencies have similar projects. The materials and processes created within these projects can be adapted for Internet distance education delivery. Such distance education projects could leverage the power of the Internet to facilitate local and international learner interaction and team learning contexts based on group learning projects, as opposed to the traditional "correspondence" style of distance education.

Private sector businesses, large and small, are using the Internet to reach new markets, promote products and services globally, and access critical business and financial information.

Semex Canada (http://www.semex.com/) and Gencor (formerly United Breeders of Canada) (http://www.ubi.com/), major producers and international exporters of bull semen for artificial insemination, advertise their genetic resources with full colour Internet catalogues with pictures of sires. These companies now receive requests for products from beef and dairy producers from countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Japan who learn about their products only from the Internet. Rural food producers in North America now use the Internet to sell a wide variety or products including live lobsters, and packages of apples, oranges, grapefruit, cheeses, smoked meats, cookies and pies. Rural craft and manufactured goods producers sell everything from clothing to furniture over the Internet , and use the Internet to organize support networks (c.f. Women in Rural Economic Development: http://www.sentex.net/~wred/). The Internet represents a global storefront for such rural and remote businesses, providing them with a degree of access to customers never before possible.

The tourism sector has been quick to recognize the benefits of the Internet for advertising destinations, tours and holiday services. For all of the countries visited my recent FAO Internet fact-finding mission, the I was able to make use of World Wide Web travel information from the host countries in order to make travel plans. With full colour pictures, and information on hotels, weather, attractions, events, travel tips, currency conversion rates, visa information and much more, travelers are able to obtain timely and accurate information and make informed destination choices.

Of particular interest are the World Wide Web sites for "ecotourism," game parks, and adventure tours in rural areas of Southern Africa where rural tourism is a growing industry (c.f. Africa Tour Net: http://wn.apc.org/mediatech/tourism/index.htm). Tourism operators in rural and remote areas have a difficult time marketing their destinations through traditional media due to production and distribution costs. The Internet now represents a very inexpensive way for them to showcase their sites to the world, and interact directly with potential tourists.

The news media in developing countries have also been on the forefront of developing Internet applications. For example, in Zambia, both national daily newspapers mirror their daily copy on the World Wide Web (http://www.zamnet.zm), making the local news accessible to local Zambian Internet users as well as to expatriate Zambians who live around the world. Email discussion groups provide expatriates and nationals with an opportunity to discuss the daily news with one another regardless of where they reside. A discussion group I joined to research this paper generated a minimum of thirty email messages per day! Such email discussion groups for expatriates and nationals exist for virtually every developing country in the world and represent a relatively untapped resource for accessing the views, ideas and creativity of members of civil society with regard to development policy and initiatives.

In addition to the latter news and information applications, organizations such as Inter Press Service Third World News Agency (IPS) (http://www.link.no/IPS/eng/intro.html) use the Internet to source news stories from local writers in developing countries and share those stories with international wire services such as Associated Press. IPS is also able to provide Internet feeds that enable African news media to have access to African news from around the continent. This is particularly relevant to rural radio stations and other rural newspaper and newsletter producers that would otherwise have been unable to obtain the same news from other sources. IPS can also provide an outlet for rural news writers to share their stories regionally, nationally and globally. Similar Internet strategies for rural radio networks, which might also incorporate digital audio transmissions, may well emerge in the near future.

At the end of the Twentieth Century, people in rural and remote areas of developing countries are facing many unprecedented challenges brought on by the changing global economy, dynamic political contexts, environmental degradation and demographic pressures. The number of food insecure around the world continues to increase. To deal with these challenges, and to make critical decisions, people at all levels of society, and especially the food insecure and the organizations that serve and represent them, must be able to access critical information and communicate. Improved communication and information access are directly related to social and economic development (World Bank, 1995). Participatory development is fully dependent upon communication and information sharing processes.

One cannot expect poor farmers and food insecure residents of rural communities to list computers and digital telecommunication services as high priority items for improving their lives. However, there exist various intermediaries that serve these populations, which together with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas, can take advantage of these technologies to improve their work, improve communication capacity, gain efficiencies and reduce telecommunication costs. An integrated approach that fosters horizontal and vertical channels of communication is key to insuring that such benefits are realized.

Intermediary organizations such as extension field offices, rural NGOs, health clinics, government satellite offices, and church organizations, together with SMEs can offer benefit to their rural client groups in numerous ways. Strategies for improving Internet access and use for rural and agricultural development will necessarily involve full participation of intermediary organizations and other rural stakeholders. As Internet services become more widely used among these organizations, it becomes more important to facilitate the exchange of lessons learned and best practices that emerge from on-the-ground experience.

This discussion paper recommends eleven activities to assist rural stakeholders in gaining access to, and developing creative uses for, Internet services:

1. Promote regional coordination of Internet strategy for rural and agricultural development
2. Establish pilot projects
3. Use a communication for development approach
4. Support efforts to liberalize telecommunication policies in developing countries
5. Support local Internet entrepreneurs and other service providers in developing countries
6. Assist stakeholders in advocating for Internet service provision and telecommunication infrastructure and policy improvements
7. Orient existing Internet information services to users in developing countries
8. Support rural & agriculture educational sector Internet capability
9. Provide Internet awareness building and demonstration
10. Support rural and remote infrastructure development
11. Support creative Internet applications and information services for rural and agricultural development.

The Internet expansion in the developing world is led primarily by non-governmental organizations, universities, and private sector Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These organizations are typically small and underfunded, but manage to utilize new and emerging technologies to provide reliable Internet services to civil society at competitive rates. With little or no donor support they have emerged as the most effective and sustainable service providers in developing countries.

Governments participate, directly or indirectly, through the provision of improved telecommunication services (such as fibre optic and satellite backbones), improved policy and regulatory environments that enable private sector initiatives, Information and Communication Technology Consulting Centres (such as the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC) in Egypt: http://ritsec_www.com.eg/index.html), information and communication technology assistance to the educational sector, and in some cases government telecom Internet service (such as Senegal). Rural and remote regions, however, experience many barriers to receiving the benefits of Internet services. For example, many African capital cities have reasonably reliable Internet service available, but outside such bureaucratic and infrastructure focal points, service is poor or nonexistent.

Donor agencies can play important roles in influencing national policy with regard to rural and agricultural development and national telecommunication improvement strategies. For example, they can:

• encourage governments to support private sector knowledge and communication technology innovations and services targeted to rural and agricultural communities.
• encourage the creation of National Information and Technology Consulting Centres, and work to ensure that such Centres target some of their services to under served communities.
• encourage National Agricultural Research centres (NARS) to investigate the potential of national research knowledge systems and participatory research systems via the Internet.
• encourage governments involved in telecommunication service improvement to recognize the needs of rural and agricultural communities for service upgrades
• encourage governments to involve women and women’s organizations in the development of Internet and telecommunication strategy development and activities
• assist national educational sectors in establishing rural and agricultural knowledge and information systems learning programs in universities and technical schools, as well as assist in developing innovative rural learning program delivery strategies such as electronic distance education.
• encourage governments to utilize knowledge and communication technology for administrative improvement, extension, and for civil society liaison within rural and agricultural communities (via existing field, extension, research, and administrative offices).

Recently, many funding and aid agencies have been "jumping on the Internet bandwagon" to support a collage of Internet related projects in Africa and Latin America. Only recently have some of these agencies begun supporting coordinated and collaborative activities to support establishment and enhancement of Internet services to rural and remote areas (e.g. IDRC in partnership with FAO in Southern Africa). These areas are, however, the locations with the greatest need for improved communication and information services. Assisting in the coordinated establishment and enhancement of Internet services to rural and remote areas is an activity that donor can support to achieve many benefits for rural populations. In doing so, donor agencies can ensure that their initiatives leverage the gains made by other agencies, while serving a niche community - the people of rural areas - that may otherwise continue to be neglected.

An African Networking Initiative report (Jensen, 1996) (http://www.idsc.gov.eg/aii/sota.htm) commissioned by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) contains a number of useful recommendations for regional coordination of strategy in Africa, including:

• encourage more agencies to become involved in the African Networking Initiative (http://www.idrc.ca/ipr/ipr_text/ipr_doc.html#ani) which is coordinated by indigenous African information and communication technology stakeholders
• achieve commitment among development agencies to collaborate on a clear strategy for information and communication technology support in Africa in order to improve planning, resource sharing and eliminate the current "overlap in the multiplicity of projects in certain countries and activities" (Jensen, 1996 - over 100 information and communication technology projects were identified and over 350 organizations were noted for their involvement in information and communication technology developments in Africa)
• Improve the availability of information on the existing information and communication technology infrastructure and projects
• Improve access to technical skills
• Improve information and communication technology for African use, which can include non-African knowledge network administrators becoming familiar with the specific challenges faced by African or Latin American Internet users to insure that information available in Europe or North America is equally accessible (in terms of speed and consistency) in developing countries
• Increase support for the development of "local content" and the conversion of existing "stand-alone computerized information systems to networked access, integration with decision support systems, and develop new information-based services that exploit local potential."
• Develop and publicize key pilot projects

Because this report was produced by the African Networking Initiative (http://www.idrc.ca/ipr/ipr_text/ipr_doc.html#ani), the leading African effort to coordinate information and communication technology initiatives, it deserves special consideration. It provides valuable information and provides a vehicle for the voices of Internet and information and communication technology users in developing countries. Hopefully, those of us associated with development agencies are listening to those voices.

Internet pilot projects can enable the development of indigenous applications related to the range of outputs suggested above. These projects should start at a small scale (even small investments of $18,000 US are known to achieve important results), which would allow them to be implemented soon, and take advantage of collaborative opportunities with other agencies. Results should be well documented and shared locally, nationally and internationally via reports, videos, Internet World Wide Web sites, and local and international media. Ties to existing Internet services and projects (urban or rural) that involve significant local participation would improve chances of success. Pilot projects should endeavour to involve women and young people (often the most energetic proponents of Internet communication initiatives) in the planning, development and implementation of activities. Small pilot projects will help establish "best practices," provide avenues for sharing "lessons learned," and act as vehicles for expanding the impact of Internet initiatives, and enhancing coordination.

Pilot projects can also document and highlight the challenges of supporting participatory communication for development initiatives. Research on impacts can not only focus on users and local applications, but also focus on people who do not participate directly in local Internet initiatives (perhaps older people or people marginalized from power structures) and suggest mechanisms for enabling them to benefit directly or indirectly from these initiatives. Research can also help provide reliable data on the most appropriate technologies and the essential infrastructure requirements for rural Internet services.

The most effective and beneficial Internet communication and information services are managed and operated by the members of the organizations served. User management ensures that information is appropriate, and actually desired, by local users. Many of the information services currently designed to serve rural and agricultural users are created with little or no collaboration with the intended users.

Non-governmental organizations, such as farmer associations and cooperatives, that serve rural and agricultural communities, are best suited for developing and providing information and communication services to those communities. FAO project activities in Mexico (http://cucapah.mxl.cetys.mx/), Chile (http://fao.cl/) and Southern Africa are pioneering communication for development approaches that ensure that this critical component is present within Internet services. They promote local development of processes for information analysis and locally appropriate techniques for information dissemination. Within these projects, collaboration with private sector, government, and/or university technical support and technical service enables non-governmental organizations to focus on information content and communication processes, while delegating technical service to more qualified personnel.

Developing information services with users and catalyzing sustainable user management of communication networks, is not a common strategy among funding agencies. It is common to find that intended users are unaware of the information and communication services being developed for them. The FAO communication for development approach being pioneered in Latin America helps to develop communication and information services that begin with user information needs assessments, and helps to create system ownership and management strategies that are financially sustainable. Mechanisms for providing training and continuous support, delivered for and by the organizations and users involved, are an important part of this approach. It is relatively easy to install the technology for electronic information and communication networks. It is much more difficult to create systems that people actually use and from which they receive tangible benefits.

Connecting small producers and rural residents directly to Internet systems is, for most residents of communities in the developing world, impractical. However, many of the intermediaries (the non-governmental organizations and government units) that serve these people can use Internet systems to provide better services to the people they serve. This issue highlights the importance of the integrated horizontal and vertical communication approach promoted by this paper. Organizations that are pre-disposed to open collaboration with the people they serve can become focal points for information analysis and Internet communication access. Such organizations can become Community Access Telecommunication Services (CATS), providing locally relevant information analysis and dissemination, together with public access to Internet telecommunication services such as electronic mail.

The latter function is emerging as a service in its own right in many developing countries. The "TeleCentres" of Senegal and the "cybercafes" of Mexico and Zimbabwe, developed by local entrepreneurs, are examples of such basic telecommunication services. Basic electronic mail services are beginning to replace fax and telegraph services as an extremely low cost medium for sending messages between individuals and organizations. As the Internet expands (doubling its number of users each year), various forms of CATS, telecentres and cybercafes will find their niche in developing countries where the purchase of a personal computer is beyond the means of most individuals.

The concept of "community information centres" is not new, but the Internet opens new possibilities for establishing such centres in rural areas. A computer, modem and phone line can place an ever-expanding global library of information at the fingertips of people in rural and remote communities where books are seldom seen. People can gain access to the information resources and tools they need to solve their own problems, set their own development agendas and empower themselves through knowledge. Community centres, schools, rural libraries, local NGOs, producer associations, municipal organizations, church centres and health clinics can act as local hosts for community information centres.

In Canada, a federal government initiative known as the Community Access Program (CAP) (http://cnet.unb.ca/cap/), has greatly enhanced rural Internet access by providing over 800 (and ultimately a total of 1,500 by the end of 1998) grants to rural and remote communities with the greatest need for Internet services. CAP may be a useful model for assisting rural stakeholders to establish Internet services in developing countries.

CAP offers a relatively low-cost method for introducing Internet tools to rural areas. Community organizations submit proposals consisting of action plans, resource needs, evidence of community support and evidence of matching in-kind and cash contributions. Proposals are evaluated on the basis of community need and evidence of commitment to local projects. Funding is offered to a maximum of $25,000 US, with most proposals receiving between $4,000 to $18,000 US. CAP encourages communities to partner with universities, schools, libraries, health care institutions and local non-governmental organizations. People in CAP recipient communities are generally enthusiastic about the project and the benefits it brings. Several communities that established simple Internet services in rural resource centres have been successful in catalyzing local entrepreneurs to establish community-wide commercial Internet services.

CAP is a community driven funding mechanism. Projects are designed by community members who must determine technical requirements, appropriate community applications and Internet access locations, together with long term financial sustainability frameworks. Rural communities that demonstrate need and have researched their proposals well are most likely to obtain funding. The CAP administrators provide a great deal of support in the way of information about successful CAP project applications, and the facilitation of horizontal channels of communication between CAP communities. Technical support is the responsibility of the community which must identify the most appropriate level and source of technical support. CAP works well because it is a non-paternalistic, community initiated funding model with few bureaucratic layers between the funding agency and the recipient community. There are lessons to be learned here for donor agencies working in developing countries.

Digital wireless telephony has reached the stage where it is now less expensive to build a new local wireless telephone infrastructure than it is to build a traditional copper wire telephone infrastructure. For many people in developing countries, their first telephone is hand held, portable and wireless. In Zambia, for example, by the end of 1997, an enlightened group of local entrepreneurs (led by wealthy farmers) will provide likely be providing digital wireless telephone service to rural and remote regions of the country that have never had telephone infrastructure. This new technology provides basic telephone service for less capital cost than a traditional copper wire infrastructure, and also enables the high speed data communication necessary for Internet access. Early planning for involving Zambia’s main Internet provider, ZAMNET, in this initiative is underway, making the possibility of full Internet access, to even the most remote rural areas of Zambia, a strong probability by the end of 1997.

In other countries, such as South Africa, wireless telephone booths are providing telephone service to rural and remote areas of South Africa, thus providing basic telecommunication service to all residents of the country. Fibre optic telecommunication "backbones" and new microwave and satellite telephone systems are making their appearance throughout the developing world, drastically reducing telephone service costs and dramatically improving telephone service quality and reliability. Internet services are enhanced, or begin emerging, as a direct result of these telecommunication improvements. In many cases, demand for Internet access is driving the effort to improve telecommunication infrastructure.

There is a strong correlation between such telecommunication improvements in developing countries and national telecommunication policies that help liberalize telecommunication services. The Zambian wireless telephone initiative is possible because of a telecommunication regulatory environment that enables private sector initiatives and competitive service. Relatively restrictive regulatory environments in Zimbabwe, in contrast, have so far prevented the release of portable telephony, despite significant demand. Uganda and Ghana, countries in which Internet use is increasing exponentially, have also adopted liberalized telecommunication policies. The Egyptian government’s decision to support private sector Internet service provision is resulting in an explosion of Internet services and parallel growth in Internet subscribers. Countries which have poor Internet access also tend to be countries with monopolistic national telecommunication policies and little or no service competition in the telecommunication sector.

Donor agencies have an important role in advocating for liberalized telecommunication policies that enable competition and the growth of private sector telecommunication and Internet services. It is also important to ensure that liberalized telecommunication environments balance competition with the needs of under served populations, including rural and remote communities. Some of the progressive telecommunication policy initiatives in South Africa, which highlight the needs of under served populations and rural areas, could prove to be useful models for governments around the world (in the North and South) (personal communication with Kate Wild, IDRC - Johannesburg).