Document(s) 3 de 11

Introduction to ALPID

The principal objectives of a proposed Youth Leadership Program for Information and Communication Technologies and Community Development in Africa (ALPID) are the following:

To use skilled youth volunteers to train and popularize the use and absorption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in various producer, service, and administrative communities in Africa; and
To collect, store, and disseminate information on development needs and achievements, from these communities.

Through these processes, communities will learn to use ICTs to improve their capacity for decision-making on development issues. Through ICTs, they will have opportunities to upgrade their indigenous systems and knowledge in the areas of health, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and land use and environmental management.

ALPID is based on the principle that youth can be employed as vehicles of change for existing and emerging technologies in communities where lack of access to information constitutes a binding constraint on development potential. Established youth-to-community education programs have had successful impacts and have contributed to the quality of life in Africa, indicating that youth can be useful agents of change. Youth have quickly adapted to using information technology (IT), and many adults are already learning IT skills from younger members of their societies.

ALPID is to be implemented as a subtheme within the Acacia Initiative. Under Acacia, ALPID is designed to contribute to the development of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by facilitating the timely flow of information for decision-making in rural communities. ALPID will test the proposition that ICTs can have as significant a transformational effect in the developing world as they have had in developed economies. If rural communities in Africa use ICTs to their own ends, they may be able to shift some decision-making away from metropolitan centres and international development organizations and back to their own communities, where the development challenges are most acutely felt. The initial target countries will be Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda; however, the workshop discussions focused on the three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Acacia aims to achieve three mutually reinforcing goals that combine to promote equitable, sustainable, and self-directed development in disadvantaged and rural communities in SSA:

To discover and demonstrate the ability of disadvantaged SSA communities, especially women and youth, to use information and communication to solve local development problems;
To learn from Acacia’s research and experience and disseminate this knowledge widely; and
To foster international interest and involvement in using ICTs to support rural community development, thereby increasing community access to information and communication.

al issues for the program include ensuring project sustainability after donor resources are exhausted, focusing on rural communities, using appropriate technology, and incorporating youth into the program. Workshop participants critically analyzed these issues during the presentations and working-group discussions.

The East African context

Four papers at the workshop were on ICT development in East Africa. They gave an overview of the existing ICT infrastructure and its national distribution in ALPID’s target countries, as well as discussing the policy environment in these countries and the impacts of these policies on ICT development. Finally, they considered the feasibility of increasing ICT applications in rural communities.

The presentations indicated that these countries have some aspects of ICT development and evolution in common. For instance, although all these countries have ICT infrastructure, this is of far lower quality and quantity than the world average. Teledensity ranges from a low of 0.23 per 100 people to a high of 0.98, in Uganda and Kenya, respectively. Personal-computer (PC) density is closer to 0 per 100 people than 1 per 100 people, and the annual rate of telephone failures is as high as 191 faults per 100 lines in certain areas. In 1995, the comparable world average teledensity was 12.14 per 100 people; PC density, 4.23 per 100 people; and telephone failure rate, 28.8 faults per 100 lines. The ALPID target countries also show a wide disparity in national ICT-infrastructure distribution, largely to the disadvantage of the rural populations. In each target country, the rural population constitutes on average 80% of the national population but shares fewer than 20% of all telephones. In many areas, these countries have no telephone systems at all. Lack of other supporting infrastructure in the rural areas (such as commercial power, support and maintenance facilities for ICTs, and training) exacerbates the already poor availability of ICT infrastructure and its use. Low income levels in rural areas, coupled with higher operating costs, further disadvantage the rural populations.

Yet, it is now accepted that the use of ICTs would have a profound impact on rural communities by enabling them to make better informed decisions. It is therefore imperative that ICTs be extended to these areas. New technologies are available to extend ICTs, particularly telecommunications, to rural areas. These include radio-based technologies for datacasting, data over high-frequency radio, and stationary and mobile satellite communications. Technology is not the problem. The problem is government policies inhospitable to ICT development, combined with the economics of extending ICTs to rural areas vis-à-vis the ability to pay for services. Another major challenge is illiteracy, which affects the ability of rural communities to effectively harness ICT facilities. For ALPID to succeed, it has to be anchored in a sociopolitical environment that fosters the development of ICTs, with emphasis on the development of rural areas. At the time of the workshop, all the ALPID target countries were reforming their ICT sectors and creating structures to support rural access to ICTs. Uganda and Tanzania, especially, have made advances in this regard.

ALPID will apply ICTs in its thematic areas through information bureaus (telecentres), which should be anchored in national programs to ensure synergy and sustainability. For example, in Kenya, land use should be linked to the Agricultural Sector Improvement Programme; health for rural communities should be related to the Community Based Health Information Service, which is promoted by the African Medical and Research Foundation and IDRC; and SMEs should be linked to trade-information dissemination mechanisms being established by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Export Promotion Council.

From 1991 to 1995, Makerere University, Kampala (MUKLA), Uganda, alone provided e-mail services within Uganda and East Africa. In 1995, Uganda pioneered the full use of Internet services in the region. Today, MUKLA continues to deliver reliable links with a global reach to government, business, international agencies, community groups, and nongovernmental organizations. It was a founding member of the East African Internet Association and the Internet Society of Uganda.

Private-sector companies in Kenya are now exploiting ICTs in commercial activities. A presentation from Media Street (a private firm), including a practical demonstration on the use of the Internet in commercial applications, was very helpful. The workshop was informed that a group of Kenyan companies (Shell BP, Document Handling Limited [DHL], Securicor, and Media Street) had formed a consortium to pioneer e-commerce in Kenya. Media Street is maintaining a website (www.eastafrica.com), and the other companies are responsible for distributing purchased goods, internationally (DHL) and locally (Securicor). The goods are distributed through petrol stations across the country (Shell and BP). One advantage of e-commerce is the direct contact it affords between traders and consumers, which eliminates intermediaries who do not add value to the final product. The consortium is considering setting up communication centres in petrol stations to facilitate public access to the Internet.

A presentation by Mr Ali Mfuruki, from Infotech Tanzania, offered insight into the status of ICT development in Tanzania. The Tanzanian telecommunication network is poor, with a teledensity of 0.3, and unevenly distributed. The policy and regulatory framework had changed in the four years since sector reform began. Customers now have a choice of services from a competitive market, largely dictated by market forces. Consequently, Tanzania has three Internet access providers (IAPs) (Datel, WilKen, and Sita), serving 13 Internet service providers, who in turn serve 2000 dial-up clients. Licencing of IAPs in Tanzania is restrictive, which affects the pricing of Internet services. The Tanzania Communication Commission restricts the number of licences to three and requires a fee of 100000 United States dollars (USD) for each licence. This is a barrier to competitive Internet services, as it transfers the financial burden to the customer.

Other services in Tanzania (such as cellular telephony, datacasting, paging, and broadcasting) are now provided competitively, with prices much lower than in other ALPID countries. Computer density is even lower, at 0.3%. High taxation on hardware, at 32%, is cited as a major obstacle. The greatest problem is not the structural weakness of the sector but a low-performing economy and therefore affordability to citizens. Per capita income is 200 USD, so basic ICT facilities are way beyond the reach of the majority.

Based on the presentations and the discussions on the floor, it was agreed that ALPID will focus on disadvantaged communities, where ICTs are not often available. For making progress on extending the infrastructure, an ICT-friendly environment is critical. An enabling environment for fast development of the telecommunication sector was already in place in both Tanzania and Uganda because of government-implemented sector-reform programs. Kenya, in contrast, had yet to undertake sector reform. It was noted, however, that the Kenyan government had published documentation on policy reform in the telecommunication sector and was expected to establish a new regulatory framework by 1998. In the meantime, satellite technology, such as Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs), could not be used in Kenya to serve the rural areas, as the government had policy restrictions on such technologies.

In none of these three countries did the workshop participants report barriers on the importation or use of IT. Taxation was high in Tanzania (32%), which affected affordability, but Kenya had lowered the import duty on computers to only 5%. In addition, the introduction of computer education in Kenyan secondary schools was giving IT development a big boost. However, commercial power was unavailable in most rural areas, and even where it was available outages and voltage fluctuations occurred frequently. Solar power was becoming a feasible alternative, and the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation was using it extensively to power small rural exchanges.

Workshop participants recommended that in places where telephone land lines are unavailable, other technologies should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. These would include high-frequency radio, extensively used by relief agencies in relief operations; datacasting over radio or television broadcast signals or via satellite; mobile communications, including cellular radio, in areas with coverage; mobile trunk radio; global mobile personal communication systems; satellite VSATs, where allowed by the regulatory authorities; and offline technologies, such as audiovisual and audio tapes, floppy diskettes, and CD-ROMs.

A number of constraints still inhibit the use of ICTs, the most marked being that target countries have low per capita incomes. A modem costs as much as the average annual income of a citizen of the region. At the end of 1995, per capita incomes in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda were 267, 124, and 244 USD, respectively, whereas the price of a modem ranged from 200 to 280 USD. Other constraints include high illiteracy levels. The human–technology interface also needs to be addressed, because many people do not know how to operate the ICTs and find the technology intimidating. Workshop participants emphasized the need for training, specifically to teach technical and communication skills in the target communities.

Youth volunteers will need to have good research, communication, and social skills to effectively carry out their responsibilities. By applying these skills, in combination with their knowledge of their particular sectors, the volunteers will be able to design and package community-based information systems to help the communities identify resources within their environments and use them for self-advancement. To effectively transfer knowledge to adults, the youth volunteers will have to be familiar with methods of adult learning.

Graduates of the ALPID program will become new role models in the communities through their work in transferring knowledge to the adults. The youth will become involved in various management roles in the program, from the initial needs assessment, to information dissemination, to management of the information bureaus (Box 1). It will be important to combat high turnover rates. As graduates, the volunteers will be looking for permanent jobs, and if good opportunities come up they might leave the program midstream. A competitive package must be included as an incentive to stay. The package could include training opportunities or perhaps some remuneration that is within the salary structure of the implementing partners.

Graduates leave public universities in Kenya at around 25 years of age, which is outside the range initially proposed for ALPID. The age bracket therefore needs to be reconsidered. It was noted that the lower age limit would bring in youth not who do not yet have the necessary skills but the upper limit would have to include people looking for future job opportunities and beginning to look for professional stability.

Youth representatives at the workshop expressed support for the program and saw ALPID as an opportunity to repay the community. An example of a youth contribution to society and self-development cited at the workshop is Mesh Mentors, a group in Uganda that champions the role of the graduate youth volunteer in community development, focusing primarily on women.

All three countries have problems that ALPID could address, and they each have basic ICT infrastructure and a large pool of youth. Kenya, for example, is already implementing complementary programs that could help anchor ALPID. Tanzania and Uganda are creating ICT-friendly policy environments, and both countries have very specific programs to develop telecommunications in the rural areas and have set up funds to support ICT development in such areas, indicating a readiness to engage in the ALPID program.

Certain crosscutting issues for the program were identified. The youth in Africa do not constitute a homogeneous group, and one will need to observe a gender balance when selecting youth to run the program. In selecting the core focus of ALPID activities, one will need to ensure that the operational area is chosen to promote gender equity. In farming, for example, women would be disadvantaged by programs focusing on cash crops, as this is an area in which men have more interest and control. The workshop noted that in practice women are under societal pressures arising from pregnancy, marriage, etc., that negatively affect gender equity in volunteer programs in the long run. The method of information delivery should be carefully selected. It was noted that in the rural areas the radio is man’s domain, and women have limited access to radio as a source of information. The introduction of new technology should be implemented equitably. Workshop participants also stressed the need to include measures to assure sustainability. Cost-based services should be encouraged. The returns to the user community should rise progressively, in line with increasing awareness and use. Where possible, cheaper technology, which is easier to maintain locally, should be used. In all cases, ALPID should use existing infrastructure to reduce costs, and it should work in partnership with active government programs.

If the program is to be successful, it must fully address the needs of the community. A complete needs assessment must be carried out to ascertain community priorities. Where the community is fully sensitized, it should be prepared to provide counterpart resources (for example, physical infrastructure or even volunteer services). Community support is necessary to sustain the program and is a direct indication of the program’s usefulness to the community. Workshop participants stressed the need for continuous monitoring and evaluation and the use of outcomes to continuously improve and adjust the program.

Thematic areas and recommendations

ALPID will target support to firms in the SME category that have 3–50 employees. Such firms exhibit high growth rates, have a high level of employment generation, constitute about 70% of regional local enterprises, and have extensive presence in rural Africa. Support will be extended through telecentres in major towns and in areas close to, or linked to, technology nodes. ALPID should take into account the high mobility of the enterprises.

The fields targeted in the health sector are adolescent health and sexuality; and preventive and curative health care. The main sites for implementation will be underserved areas with highly transient communities, such as border and fishing communities. The working-group reports highlighted these in more detail.

Considering the region’s high dependence on agriculture, workshop participants emphasized a focus on the land-use sector as a way to increase agricultural productivity and farm incomes and protect the environment through sound ecological management. The participants highlighted the importance of using indigenous knowledge, as well as the need for information on weather and climate patterns, farming techniques, farm production, storage methods for farm produce, and market information.

The initial steps for successful implementation will be to prepare a comprehensive project document for ALPID, taking into account the workshop proceedings; secure funding for the project; and identify project partners. Being a regional project, ALPID should find partners with regional reach or, where this is impossible, partners with extensive national activity. Soliciting ideas for a needs assessment from professionals within the thematic areas is essential. Finally, establishing an operational framework for community sensitization will ensure good takeoff for the project.

¹ Youth Leadership Programme for Information and Communication Technologies for Community Development in Africa (ALPID) Workshop, 2–3 March 1998, Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. Return

Document(s) 3 de 11