It is with great pleasure that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) announce the winners of the Photo and Essay competitions that have been organized to celebrate NEPAD’s 10th Anniversary. This competition also falls in the framework of CTA activities on youth, women and ICTs.

By Riten Chand Gosai, Pacific Regional Winner of the CTA ARDYIS Essay contest

Abstract
Agriculture continues to be the economic mainstay of the Fiji Islands and is metaphorically referred to as the backbone of the country. The sector, however, is not immune to obscurity and faces many challenges. Two of such challenges are the lack of agricultural information being disseminated to needy farmers and reluctance of small scale farmers to commercialize production. This essay examines how information and communication technology can be used to address these predicaments. Firstly, it will discuss how information poverty can be eradicated by the use of mobile phone applications, rural ‘telecentres’ with internet, video satellite presentations and the use of traditional media namely radio and television. Then it will entail how small holder farmers in Fiji can be encouraged to commercialize through interactive use of ICTs. These include enhancing production techniques, improving market access, stock control, quality control and the use of global positioning systems (GPS) in innovative farming. The essay also includes several examples of technologies that have been successfully implemented in other parts of the world in similar situations as the Fiji Islands.