Outline

1. 1 Introduction Technology for Emerging Markets research group Why the BOP is different In general, for computing, and for Microsoft Warana Unwired SMS text-messaging information system for a sugarcane cooperative Digital Green Video and mediated instruction for agriculture extension Looking forward Vision for Microsoft Outline

2. 2 Agriculture Extension Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers “Training & Visit” extension popularized by governments and World Bank in 1970s Face-to-face interactions of farmers and extension agent 100,000 extension officers in India Extension agent-to-farmer ratio: 1:2,000 (610,000 villages in India of average population, 1,000) Typical extension officer salary: Rs. 4,000 per month

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4. 4 The Problem

5. 5 Video provides… Resource-savings: human, cost, time Accessibility for non-literate farmers

6. 6 Parameters Varied

7. 7 Digital Green System Participatory content production Video database Mediated instruction Structured sequencing

8. Participatory Content Production 8 Feature extension officers showing farmers new techniques. Standard extension procedure Rough “storyboarding” Repetitive pattern; easy to learn Minimize post-production Local farmers on their own fields implement practice on camera - Reduce perception of “teachers” - Promote “local stars”

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12. 12 Experimental Set-Up 9-month study 16 villages in Karnataka: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut 50-80 households each 10-20 with access to irrigation 1/3 of households with TV Kannada-speaking Metrics: Knowledge: Before-and-after Attendance: Farmers at each screenings Interest: Intent to take-up a practice Adoption: Number of households taking up each new farming practice or technology Controlled Comparison: Classical T&V extension (8) Same as usual Digital Green (8) Full DG system Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD player per village 25% increment in extension officer salary to pay mediator Daily reporting of metrics Support and monitoring by official extension staff

13. 13 Digital Green: Early Results

14. 14 We try to motivate farmers to become better farmers by exposing their existing social networks into public view using video. We stimulate a local competition as farmers see each other improving themselves. In this case, a farmer is watching a video of himself as he demonstrates a particular practice. His neighbor is also in the audience and asks why he too cannot be in the video, so we incentivize him to be recorded adopting better practices as well. Without computers or the Internet and just TVs, DVD players, and camcorders, we can use the network effect of a YouTube-type of environment to encourage communities to participate because of the network effect.We try to motivate farmers to become better farmers by exposing their existing social networks into public view using video. We stimulate a local competition as farmers see each other improving themselves. In this case, a farmer is watching a video of himself as he demonstrates a particular practice. His neighbor is also in the audience and asks why he too cannot be in the video, so we incentivize him to be recorded adopting better practices as well. Without computers or the Internet and just TVs, DVD players, and camcorders, we can use the network effect of a YouTube-type of environment to encourage communities to participate because of the network effect.

15. 15 The application that is lasting for the last 8 years is a sugarcane accounting application. Farmers get access to their own accounts through the kiosk, register their land with the cooperative, and buy fertilizer. They also use this to issue harvesting permits/dates on when the farmer’s plot is ripe for harvesting. This application was developed by the local cooperative personnel with the help of government of India’s official software unit (NIC). This application made sense as the farmers without these kiosks had to walk about 40 kms to get these transactions done and often used to result in lost income and huge lines in the cooperativeThe application that is lasting for the last 8 years is a sugarcane accounting application. Farmers get access to their own accounts through the kiosk, register their land with the cooperative, and buy fertilizer. They also use this to issue harvesting permits/dates on when the farmer’s plot is ripe for harvesting. This application was developed by the local cooperative personnel with the help of government of India’s official software unit (NIC). This application made sense as the farmers without these kiosks had to walk about 40 kms to get these transactions done and often used to result in lost income and huge lines in the cooperative

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17. 17 At reasonable cost, potential seven-fold increase in effectiveness of agriculture extension via Digital Green Current one-year experiment to isolate the effects of DG “social engineering” Future work - Research Create more motivational “currency”, without money Improve mediation by annotating videos Build instant feedback mechanisms Develop an easy-to-use platform for sharing content - Practical Spin-out an independent NGO to scale Digital Green The farmers are now able to access it anytime and even in the night times by looking at our log data; it was unheard of in the previous situation to expect a kiosk to be open. We found the use truly mobile; they were using the system at odd places like the Tea stalls at the farmers fields. Number of accesses for data same as expected (10/village)   Telcos interest has perked up and this is a huge win for them as the number of SMS messages have significantly increased.The farmers are now able to access it anytime and even in the night times by looking at our log data; it was unheard of in the previous situation to expect a kiosk to be open. We found the use truly mobile; they were using the system at odd places like the Tea stalls at the farmers fields. Number of accesses for data same as expected (10/village)   Telcos interest has perked up and this is a huge win for them as the number of SMS messages have significantly increased.

18. 18 Lead Researchers Rikin Gandhi Rajesh Veeraraghavan