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A Digital and Financial Literacy Toolkit

Barbara Birungi Mutabazi, Brian Tomusang

Kampala: Hive Colab;United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) (2023), 53 pp.

"In this toolkit, our focus is on the use of mobile phones to the maximum benefit of women, men, youth, smallholder farmers and refugees, to enable them access digital financial services." (Background, page 11)

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Mobile Assemblages and Maendeleo in Rural Kenya

Leah Jerop Komen

Bamenda: Langaa (2021), 208 pp.

"In this book, Leah Komen explores the impact of mobile telephony on the lives of people in rural Kenya. The book analyses the outcomes of complex intersections and interactions between mobile phones, individuals, and the broader society as distinct from the traditional cause-effect relationships in ... more

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From Digital Divide to Social Inclusion: A Tale of Mobile Platform Empowerment in Rural Areas

Lisha Ye, Huiqin Yang

Sustainability, volume 12, issue 6: 2424 (2020), 16 pp.

"The digital divide in rural areas is an important social issue, especially in developing countries. Although Internet and broadband penetration have increased in the world generally, there are many obstacles for rural China to get access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and its ser ... more

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Smartphones: Die Macht in der Hand

iz3w, issue 376 (2020), pp. D1-D31

"Weltweit nutzen 3,3 Milliarden Menschen ein Smartphone, Tendenz weiter steigend. In nahezu allen Ländern des Südens ist die Verbreitung besonders groß. Nicht immer handelt es sich dabei um teure Topmodelle, aber gerade wegen ihrer Erschwinglichkeit sind allein in afrikanischen Ländern 700 Milli ... onen internetfähige Smartphones und nicht-internetfähige Mobile Phones im Gebrauch. Selbst in Ländern wie Somalia, wo Infrastrukturen gleich welcher Art kaum existent sind, funktioniert eines recht zuverlässig: das Mobilfunknetz. In einer High-Tech-Fabrik in Ruanda laufen seit neuestem täglich zehntausend »MaraPhones« genannte Smartphones vom Band. Die durch Smartphones und Mobile Phones entstehenden Möglichkeiten werden überall auf der Welt ausgiebig genutzt. Tiefgreifende gesellschaftliche und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen sind die Folge. Familiäre Beziehungen werden neu gestaltet und klassische Modelle sozialer Interaktion wie »Freundschaft« neu definiert. Praktisch jeder Wirtschaftssektor ist gründlich von den Handys auf den Kopf gestellt worden. Auch in der kleinbäuerlichen Landwirtschaft in Ostafrika gehören Smartphones längst zum Alltag. Ohne dem Kulturpessimismus zu frönen: Es liegt auf der Hand, dass all diese Entwicklungen nicht nur Chancen, sondern auch große Gefahren bergen. Mit keiner anderen systemrelevanten Technologie lassen sich Manipulation und Überwachung von Individuen besser bewerkstelligen als via Smartphone. Die mit erpresserischen Methoden exekutierte Datensammelwut der großen Konzerne hat durchaus eine Entsprechung in der Überwachung durch autoritäre Regime. Dagegen klingen frühere Dystopien à la »Big Brother is watching you« harmlos. Im Bereich des Politischen wird besonders deutlich, wie groß die partizipatorischen Potenziale einer Demokratie von unten via Social Media sind, aber auch, wie schnell diese in Regression, Manipulation und Repression münden. Der Arabische Frühling galt zu Recht als »Facebook-Revolution«, das hierarchische Sender-Empfänger-Prinzip war partiell aufgehoben. Was aber vor staatlicher Verfolgung nicht nur nicht schützte, sondern sie oft überhaupt erst ermöglichte. Perfektioniert wird politische Kontrolle via Smartphone einmal mehr von der KP der Volksrepublik China. Sie hält ihre 90 Millionen Parteimitglieder via App auf Kurs – und wehe, jemand liest zu wenig Beiträge und sammelt nicht genügend »Lernpunkte«! Beim Smartphone ist es eben wie beim Beton: Es kommt drauf an, was man draus macht." (Editorial, Seite D2) more

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Mobile Phone Communication in the Mobile Margins of Africa: The ‘Communication Revolution’ Evaluated from Below

Mirjam de Bruijn, Inge Brinkman

In: The Palgrave Handbook of Media and Communication Research in Africa

Bruce Mutsvairo (ed.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2018), pp. 225-241

"In this chapter we have offered an interpretation of the first twenty years of mobile telephony in marginal zones in Africa. With case-studies from central Mali, anglophone Cameroon and south-east Angola, we focused on the changes in both communication and mobility patterns, specifically in connect ... more

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A Village Goes Mobile: Telephony, Mediation, and Social Change in Rural India
Top Insights

Sirpa Tenhunen

New York: Oxford University Press (2018), ix, 200 pp.

"In A Village Goes Mobile, Sirpa Tenhunen examines how the mobile telephone has contributed to social change in rural India. Tenhunen's long-term ethnographic fieldwork in West Bengal began before the village had a phone system in place and continued through the introduction and proliferation of the ... more

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ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions
Key Guidance

Washington, DC: World Bank, updated ed. (2017), xxiii, 436 pp.

"This resource is designed to support practitioners, decision makers, and development partners who work at the intersection of ICT and agriculture. In this revised e-Sourcebook you will find updated modules on ICT in the work of producer organizations; in research, extension and innovation; and in v ... more

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Beyond the Hype: Mobile Phones and the Web to Improve Agricultural Value Chains
Inspiring Practice

Paul Mundy, Benjamin Kwasi Addom, Krishan Bheenick

Wageningen: Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2017), 16 pp.

"CTA’s ICT4Ag project (2014–15) enabled seven organisations in Africa and the Caribbean to develop, test and promote information services for smallscale farmers and fishers, traders and lobbying groups. Key recommendations: Understanding users’ needs requires intensive interaction with potenti ... more

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Going to Scale with ICTs for Agriculture

Elizabeth Willmott-Harrop

Wageningen: Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2017), 31 pp.

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Building an Ecosystem Around Data: Using Interactive Radio for Accountability to Farmers in Tanzania

Francesca Feruglio, Heather Gilberds

Brighton: Institute of Development Studies (IDS);Farm Radio International (2017), 15 pp.

"In 2015, Farm Radio International applied to Making All Voices Count for a practitioner research and learning grant. Farm Radio International (FRI) is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organisation working in direct partnership with approximately 600 radio broadcasters in 38 African countries to figh ... more

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Spectrum Innovation for Small-Scale Community-Owned Mobile Telephony: Strategic Considerations

Seán Ó Siochrú

AMARC World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters;World Association for Christian Communication (WACC);FAO (2017), 39 pp.

"This manuscript documents an innovative approach to providing access to mobile telephony and eventually internet services to communities in remote, rural areas. The innovation consists of the use of new technologies to access previously unused spectrum in these areas, and of a participatory and com ... more

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Use of Mobile Phones by the Rural Poor: Gender Perspectives from Selected Asian Countries

Gerard Sylvester (ed.)

Bangkok: FAO;LIRNEasia;International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2016), xii, 51 pp.

"A qualitative study was conducted in Indonesia and Sri Lanka to understand the varied perceptions on the use and ownership of mobile phones [...] The study was conducted amongst four groups of people (urban men, urban women, rural men, and rural women) in each of two countries. The study found that ... more

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Google Scholar (11)

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From Garamut to Mobile Phone: Communication Change in Rural Papua New Guinea

Amanda H. A. Watson, Lee R. Duffield

Mobile Media & Communication, volume 4, issue 2 (2016), pp. 270-287

"This article presents the attitudinal response of rural villagers in Papua New Guinea to mobile telephony, based on a threshold study made during the early stages of its adoption. The research indicates that the introduction of mobile telecommunications has generally been viewed positively, with mo ... more

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Exploring the Potential for Interactive Radio to Improve Accountability and Responsiveness to Small-Scale Farmers in Tanzania

Heather Gilberds et al.

Ottawa: Farm Radio International (2016), 36 pp.

"The research examines the possibilities of new digital technologies along with radio to facilitate adaptive management processes through rapid feedback to help ensure that agricultural development projects are farmer-centered, and meet the needs of those they intend to serve. Grounded in assessing ... Farm Radio International’s Listening Post—a methodology for collecting real-time, unfiltered feedback from farmers through a multi-channel platform linked to radio—the research highlights barriers to success and articulates lessons learned during the process of designing and implementing the model [...] The research demonstrates that linking a mobile-based crowd-sourcing tool with radio is effective at ensuring engagement from a large number of farmers. The radio stations offer a simple way to recruit participants from among the regular listeners of farmer radio programs. Also, the radio stations tend to be trusted sources of agricultural information among farmers, increasing motivation to participate. Further, the radio programs offer an easy way to close feedback loops by disseminating information about actions that stakeholders are taking in response to feedback. The Listening Post faced many of the same challenges documented by organizations utilizing similar tools—it was difficult to incentivize stakeholders to adequately respond to farmers, and competing motivations between extension officers, farmers, funders and partner organizations made it difficult to collect high-quality information that was usable and actionable. Moreover, an overarching focus on developing and implementing the technology and engaging a large number of farmers at the exclusion of other factors meant that many of the processes and mechanisms for effectively using the data collected and for responding to what farmers were saying weren’t fully developed. Despite these issues, there is significant evidence that the Listening Post model holds potential to act as a conduit for civic action if the correct stakeholders are engaged from the outset, if mechanisms for analyzing and disseminating relevant data from the platform to partners, local stakeholders and farmers is further refined, and if stakeholders ensure farmers can effectively use the technology." (Executive summary) more

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Manual de telefonía celular comunitaria: Conectando al siguiente billón
Key Guidance

Erick Huerta Velázquez, Peter Lawrence Bloom

México, DF: Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad (2016), 57 pp.

"En 2013 inició operaciones la primera red de Telefonía Celular Comunitaria indígena en la comunidad Villa Talea de Castro en la Sierra Norte del estado de Oaxaca, en un esquema de red privada y utilizando un segmento del espectro atribuido a uso libre. En 2014, la entonces llamada Comisión Fede ... ral de Telecomunicaciones aprobó una concesión experimental en la banda de 850 MHz en el segmento 845-849/890-894 que después fue ratificada y otorgada por el Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones. Esta concesión experimental tenía como finalidad identificar nuevos equipos para prestar el servicio de telefonía en comunidades rurales apartadas no cubiertas. El experimento, más allá de una prueba de equipos, pretendía demostrar que bajo un nuevo esquema técnico, organizativo y económico era posible prestar servicios de telefonía celular de manera sostenible en localidades consideradas comercialmente inviables. Al finalizar el periodo de la concesión experimental, el sistema contaba con 19 localidades de entre 200 a 3 mil habitantes operando bajo el esquema propuesto, lo que mostraba no sólo su viabilidad sino su posibilidad de expansión a otras comunidades a las que por años les había sido negado el servicio. Asimismo, la puesta en marcha de este sistema había propiciado entre los operadores tradicionales el nacimiento de esquemas que permitían atender a localidades rurales que antes no habían atendido, aunque de mayor tamaño (4 mil habitantes y más). El éxito del esquema dio lugar a un nuevo marco jurídico y a una modificación en la administración del espectro que, por primera vez en el mundo, asignaba una porción de espectro atribuido al servicio de telefonía celular para uso social [...] El presente manual es el resultado de dos años de investigación en los que, a partir de la sistematización de la experiencia, se identificaron elementos esenciales presentes en el modelo que posibilite a otros interesados la aplicación de un modelo similar en otras regiones de México o incluso en otros países. El manual está dirigido tanto a diseñadores de política pública, emprendedores sociales y comunidades interesadas en instrumentar el modelo de Telefonía Celular Comunitaria para atender necesidades de comunicación en zonas apartadas y distantes." (Presentación, página 5-6) more

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Side@Ways: Mobile Margins and the Dynamics of Communication in Africa

Mirjam de Bruijn, Inge Brinkman, Francis Nyamnjoh (eds.)

Bamenda (CM); Leiden: Langaa;African Studies Centre (2013), 202 pp.

"This book is about the workings of networks of the mobile in Africa, a continent usually associated with the ‘global shadows’ of the world. How do changes in the possibilities for communication, with the recent hype of mobile technology, influence the social and economic dynamics in Africa’s ... more

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Information Technology and Farm Households in Niger

Jenny C. Aker, Christopher Ksoll

UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa (2012), 17 pp.

"This technical report seeks to understand the impact of improved access to information technology on farmers’ agricultural production and marketing practices in sub-Saharan Africa, with a specific focus on Niger. Related research suggests in that access to mobile telephony can reduce communicatio ... more

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"Todos tienen celular": Uso, apropiación e impacto de la telefonía móvil en el área de influencia de dos ferias en Puno, Perú

Mariano Aronés, Roxana Barrantes, Laura León

Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP) (2011), 89 pp.

"Podemos concluir que en nuestra área de estudio, diversos factores dificultan el uso intensivo del teléfono móvil. Entre ellos se encuentran la poca asequibilidad del servicio, las escasas habilidades para manejar el aparato, y la poca confianza que se tiene en los proveedores o compradores. Ade ... more

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Early Experiences of Mobile Telephony: A Comparison of Two Villages in Papua New Guinea

Amanda Watson

In: Communication, Culture & Society in Papua New Guinea: Yu Tok Wanem?

Evangelia Papoutsaki; Michael McManus; Patrick Matbob (eds.)

Madang: DWU Press, Divine Word University (2011), pp. 157-169

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Comunicación móvil y desarrollo económico y social en América Latina

Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Hernán Galperin, Manuel Castells (eds.)

Madrid; Barcelona: Fundación Telefónica;Ariel (2011), 390 pp.

"La rápida difusión de la telefonía móvil en los países emergentes está cambiando las relaciones entre los actores económicos, los modos de relación interpersonal y la dinámica política de estas sociedades de forma acelerada y difícil de predecir. A lo largo de la historia, la tecnología ... more

A Village Goes Mobile: Telephony, Mediation, and Social Change in Rural India Top Insights

ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions Key Guidance

Beyond the Hype: Mobile Phones and the Web to Improve Agricultural Value Chains Inspiring Practice

Manual de telefonía celular comunitaria: Conectando al siguiente billón Key Guidance

A Village Goes Mobile: Telephony, Mediation, and Social Change in Rural India
Top Insights

ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions
Key Guidance

Beyond the Hype: Mobile Phones and the Web to Improve Agricultural Value Chains
Inspiring Practice

Manual de telefonía celular comunitaria: Conectando al siguiente billón
Key Guidance