Okewu, Emmanuel and Okewu, Jonathan (2015) From Murky to Transparent Agricultural Sector: Mainstreaming e-Agriculture in African Development. In: 2nd Covenant University Conference on African Development Issues (CU-ICADI), 11th - 13th May, 2015, Africa Leadership Development Center, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria..
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Abstract
Agriculture remains the mainstay of African economy. However, factors such as the subsistence nature of African agriculture, the dearth of information and corrupt practices in the sector have retarded growth and development. To take agriculture to greater heights for inclusive economic development and social cohesion, adequate and timely information needs to be shared on agricultural inputs distribution (e.g. seeds and fertilizer), research findings on modern farming techniques have to be disseminated in a timely fashion, real-time conversation on climatic change vulnerability and environmental risk has to take place among stakeholders, and the use of online payment systems for agricultural services has to be internalized, among other measures. All these underscore the exigency of mainstreaming technology in this allimportant real (social) sector. Leveraging on existing inclusive innovation initiatives such as production of lowcost computers and mobile devices for developing economies by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), we proposed ann-tier e-Agriculture system. Using Nigeria as case study, Microsoft SharePoint as development platform, and component-based software engineering as development approach,this study designed and implemented an eAgriculture software application as a viable technology option for galvanizing agriculture in Africa. The researchers gathered requirements, modelled proposed solution, implemented and evaluated the new system. The outcome is a web-based multi-tier system that drives conversations among agriculture stakeholders on an online real-time basis. This proposed dialogue platform will inject transparency into agriculture business, mitigate age-long corrupt practices inherent in distribution of farm inputs, promote inclusive development and scale up the overall contribution of agriculture to national gross domestic products (GDPs) of African countries.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | African Development, Agricultural inputs, Component-based software engineering, e-Agriculture, Farmers, Inclusive innovation and development, |
| Subjects: | N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources > ZA4050 Electronic information resources |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics > School of Electronics and Computer Science |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Patricia Nwokealisi |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2015 13:38 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2015 13:38 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/5319 |
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