Comparing the costs
Comparing the costs
A preliminary analysis of potential cost savings indicates that using mobile technology could dramatically reduce cost per farmer reached and bring greater economies of scale.
With demo plots, the main cost is CF training. These costs increase broadly in line with the number of farmers reached. With mobile technology, on the other hand, regardless of whether we reach 1,000 or 100,000 farmers, some of the costs (e.g. creating the training modules and maintaining the software) remain largely the same. This means, as the number of users increases, the total cost per person will fall. The chart below shows our initial estimates of cost per farmer.
The ICT method is estimated to reach farmers at around a third of the cost per head of the demo plot approach.This implies that, with the same resources, delivering training with ICT could allow us to reach 3-5 times as many farmers compared to using demo plots. Whether these cost savings can be maintained when implemented on a larger scale remains to be seen and we will be monitoring this closely in the next phase of our sesame project.
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Note this is not a full cost-benefit analysis, it simply compares direct financial costs associated with providing agronomic training to farmers. It does not include all project implementation costs or non-financial costs e.g. farmers’ time or the benefits - e.g. through improved training quality.
Limitations of the study
As noted, the pilot focused only on testing the link between training method and knowledge retention – it was not possible to evaluate any subsequent impact on sesame production or revenue. Moreover, we recognise that ICTs are enablers, and that the impact on both knowledge retention and any consequent behaviour change is as likely to be influenced by the nature of the learning materials and environment as the medium itself. It was not possible to assess the pedagogic aspects of the tablet course in this pilot, but this is something we will consider in more depth in our subsequent work.
Conclusion and next steps
While initial indications that mobile technology can deliver similar learning outcomes at a third of the cost of traditional approaches is highly encouraging, we still have a lot to learn about using ICT to reach smallholders at scale. We are delighted to have secured funding from Comic Relief for a new phase of our work in the sesame sector, which will allow us to deepen our experience in this area. In particular, we hope to learn more about: (i) whether and how ICT can increase access to knowledge and information for women and young people; (ii) how the approach can best become self-sustaining, without the need for NGO support; and (iii) the optimal pedagogic approach. Using mobile technology to improve the lives of smallholder farmers is an exciting and rapidly evolving field, and we hope to continue to explore new opportunities. We welcome opportunities for collaboration and joint learning to help us contribute to the growing evidence base and support more African smallholders to grow their incomes.