"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 ... al clients before designing the app. Pilot testing can fine-tune the app and introduce it to the users. Simple or fancy? Many users still lack a smartphone needed to display graphics, but have a “feature phone” that can send and receive text messages. Offering a text-based service is cheaper and easier than developing and maintaining a graphical interface. Face-to-face promotion and training familiarise users with the app and help build a large client base. In the medium term, however, user fees are unlikely to sustain such services; they will still depend on other sources of income, espcially donor funds. Partnerships are vital – both as a source of data to analyse and disseminate, and for support in promoting the app among clients." (Page 1) more

"Documentation of best practices on how certain individuals or organizations are changing the way communication works, how they are making a difference to the lives and livelihoods of rural people. About 40 organizations - government, non-government or academic - in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pac ... ific are described. The examples described are focussing on local or national initiatives that are doing good communication work despite all the constraints they face. A second criterion for inclusion was a track record, to focus on approaches that have been found to work. A third criterion was sustainability. The book has nine sections, each with up to six stories about particular institutions or sets of institutions. There are sections on radio and television, newspapers and newsletters, literacy and local languages, computers and telecommunications, farmers' groups and markets, farmers' knowledge, research and extension links, research networks, and libraries." (https://www.ircwash.org/resources) more