GenARDIS rewards bright ideas

A dedicated cellular phone network for women working in Lesotho s agricultural sector and a training video used for promoting gender advocacy in Tonga. These were just two of the winning ideas that caught the eye of the judges in this year s GenARDIS contest, which seeks to support work on gender-related issues in ICTs for ACP agricultural and rural development. The 10 winners of the 2005 GenARDIS Small Grants Fund will each receive a 5,000 grant to help turn their ideas into reality. Now in its second year, the fund, which is run by CTA with the support of the International Institute for Communication and Development, the International Development Research Centre and the Dutch NGO Hivos, offers help to organisations wanting to implement innovative activities that will foster better use of ICTs by rural women in ACP countries. This year, no fewer than 310 entries submitted proposals. The list of winners gives some idea of the many different and creative approaches that can be used to address the issue of gender and agriculture in the information society. GenARDIS Winners Mabela Khabele, Lesotho. Creating and using a dedicated cellular phone network for women in Lesotho s agricultural sector Gabriela Demergasso and Bettina Koelle, South Africa. Participatory GIS in the rooibos tea lands of the Suid Bokkeveld (Northern Cape Province, South Africa) David Dolly, Trinidad and Tobago. Proposal to test the use of mobile cell phones among female and male farmers in Trinidad and Tobago Eric Ilboudou, Burkina Faso. A project to improve the ability of 30 women farmers to use ICT tools James Onyango, Kenya. A health and agricultural community-based information and communication system Anil Naidoo, South Africa. Mobile learning for change Brigitte Kasongo Mawazo, Democratic Republic of Congo. A sensitisation programme for rural women in Uvira on the use of ICTs as an advocacy tool Ofa Guttenbeil, Tonga. Production of a training video to be used as a training methodology at gender and CEDAW advocacy Collins K. Osei, Ghana. Promoting the cultivation of healthy vegetables by farmers: a gender approach to using ICTs Guy Raoul Gbaguidi, Benin. A project to set up an ICT-based agricultural information system for use by 10 women s groups in the district of Dassa-Zoumé, Benin Honourable Mentions: Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu, Nigeria. Helen Lwemamu, Uganda. Joseph Kandeh, Sierra Leone. Joyce Endeley, Cameroon. Della Ablavi Koutcho Diagne, Senegal. The programme was developed in recognition of the constraints and challenges encountered by rural women in ACP countries with respect to ICTs. The challenges include cultural factors that hinder women s access to ICTs, limited time for participating in training, poor access to technology and inadequate information in local languages. The 10 winning projects listed below are now in the process of being implemented, and project leaders will present the results at a workshop in late 2005. Five further entries received an honourable mention, and their representatives will also be invited to the workshop.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Format:	News Item biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation 2005
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10568/47880 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99623
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