TIC y medios de comunicación
BROSDI
FARMERS SHARING THEIR KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ICT
Imagine that you are a farmer in Uganda. Your years of experience in the fields have given you a treasure trove of farming knowledge. Other farmers would be more than happy to have that knowledge. The other way round is also true: they are sure to have tips that could come in handy for you. But how do you get in touch with them? Through the Busoga Rural Open Source and Development Initiative (BROSDI).
Hivos partner BROSDI enables farmers in Uganda to exchange their experiences and to learn from each other. ‘This helps them to find more and better methods for working their soil,’ says Ednah Karamagi, director of BROSDI. ‘This way they have a larger chance of a stable and high income.’ Although men can also participate in this knowledge exchange, Karamagi’s organisation specifically focuses on rural women from lower income groups.
Hivos has been supporting BROSDI since 2004. Hivos employee Margreet van Doodewaard explains why. ‘In order to facilitate knowledge exchange, BROSDI applies a smart mix of communication methods such as ICT: from mass gatherings to mobile telephony and online blogging.’ At knowledge fairs, for instance, farmers publicly talk about the ways in which they raise their livestock and grow their crops. The tips offered in these speeches – such as the advantages of orange sweet potatoes as compared to local sweet potatoes – are recorded with high-tech equipment and placed on the BROSDI audio blog. They can be downloaded both in English and in Luganda, the local language.
BROSDI’s way of working fits with Hivos’ objective of supporting organisations as much as possible through the strategic use of ICT. Another reason for this support is that BROSDI has its headquarters in the countryside, in order to concentrate on both the central and the Busoga districts. Hivos pays particular attention to organisations in non-urban areas. ‘The special thing about BROSDI,’ says Van Doodewaard, ‘is that they don’t focus on knowledge from, for instance, the West. This partner assumes that the local farmers themselves have most of the knowledge and experience needed. They only do not share them sufficiently and therefore need help with that.’
Tipo de organización
Service organization /non-profit
Sector
ICT & Media
País
Uganda
Fundado
2003
Contraparte de Hivos desde
2004
Sitio web
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BROSDI
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