AKIS Aid

In October 2020, with support from the European Union, Trócaire Sierra Leone established the Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) Aid in collaboration with its implementing partners, ReCentDST Ltd and Orange Sierra Leone, an information mechanism designed to collect, process, and disseminate information on agricultural markets (prices and other information relevant) to farmers, traders, processors, and others interested in agricultural commodities. Women farmers' market power is often hindered by their lack of information on price at different points of the marketing chain; AKIS Aid aims to strengthen their bargaining position through better access to information.

AKIS Aid is a Management Information System that records, stores, disseminates and analyzes data collected on extension services as well as advisory services from rural women farmers. The solution enable users - especially women in agriculture in remote rural communities - with a mobile phone to access extension, advisory technical advice, and market prices within the coverage of the mobile phone network. It combines mobile phone access with database information system and data collection to intuitively provide latest weather, average market prices, nearest periodic market (Louma) locations, radio stations with agricultural information programs, fertilizer and seed vendor access details, contact information for Agricultural Business Centers (ABCs) and Financial Service Associations (FSAs).

Why AKIS Aid?

INCREASED ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION

Providing information on weather trends, farming best practices, and markets helps guide farmers to determine when to plant seeds and where to sell their products or buy inputs. In Sierra Leone, extension services and access to information and knowledge by farmers is limited, mixed, pluralistic, and nongender sensitive. AKIS Aid addresses the information gap by providing women with free access to the information they need to make agricultural and economic decisions. Users do not pay any charges or have mobile phone credit to access the platform.

IMPROVED AGRIBUSINESS OUTCOMES

Access to information concerning weather trends, best farming practices and market prices can support women farmers to make informed decisions. When surveyed, 62% of AKIS Aid users said that the platform helped them to make more profit using information about market prices. Women were able to save money on transportation, as well as identify where local agribusiness centres and financial service providers were available in their regions to further support their business development. In addition, market information can be used by farmers' organizations for advocating for more producer-friendly policies.

SUPPORTING WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT & LEADERSHIP

Limited technology and infrastructure prevent women farmers from achieving their full potential to access and control productive resources such as land, financial services, markets, and other extension services. AKIS Aid enables rural women to take leadership over their agribusinesses and make informed decisions and negotiate for better prices. When used in conjunction with robust women's empowerment programming and leadership training, it can also further contribute to women's participation in decision-making spaces.

STRENGTHENED LINKAGES WITH GOVERNEMENT & STAKEHOLDERS

AKIS Aid supports the integration of all relevant key stakeholders such as Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Extension Services, Local Councils, and Civil Society organizations (CSOs) that work with women farmer groups. In December,2021 Trócaire trained 47 Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry (MAF) staff in Port Loko, Bombali and Kambia District to operate the platform and input updated information into the dashboard. This has strengthened the linkages between female farmers and their extension service providers and has the potential to inform policy and decision-making at the district-level.

How does it Work?

The AKIS Aid Solution comprises of a USSD Application, SurveyCTO Collect and a website Dashboard application. Enumerators or field officers collect data on relevant market information which is then inputted into SurveyCTO Collect and uploaded onto the server database through the Dashboard application. The Dashboard provides for the addition of more extension information including radio stations in the district, access to inputs and seedlings, and contact details of relevant organisations and input providers. The end user has free and direct access to the data entered via their mobile phone. The extension services data is presented to the end user through an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) application by dialing the short code *342#. The information is then displayed through a text-based menu system. The web dashboard provides backend administrative access to store, edit and manage the data in AKIS Aid.

The AKIS Aid Solution comprises of three main parts

AKIS Aid App

A text based application that allows users to interact directly from their cellphones by making selections from a menu
SurveyCTO Collect Average Price Survey Form

SurveyCTO is an online application tool that facilitates data collection through electronic devices of different types online as well as offline.
The Web Dashboard

The Website dashboard is a backend tool for an administrator to access the information in the database of AKIS Aid and update information in the database.

The USSD Application (AKIS Aid app)

This text driven technology allows users to interact directly from their cellphones by making selections from a menu The application accesses a backend database on the cloud server that contains information uploaded through the Web dashboard and/or the survey collect tool.

The Website Dashboard

The Website dashboard is a backend tool for an administrator to access the information in the database of AKIS Aid and update information in the database. An AKIS Aid Administrator can access the web dashboard. The dashboard presents the administrator with a snapshot of the totals of each of the categories required for the various menu options in the AKIS Aid solution.

The Survey Tool

The AKIS Aid database is fed information through an Application Programming Interface (API) linked to a survey tool database. The survey tool used in this assignment is SurveyCTO Collect. SurveyCTO is an online application tool that facilitates data collection through electronic devices of different types online as well as offline.