When reading about a program to equip China's farmers with computers and IT training to improve their ability to track markets for their products and search for new technology to help crop quality, I was skeptical. After reading through the report in China Daily, I am quite interested in how simple technology can greatly help agricultural development in China's rural areas.
I think one main difference in this program is the origins of the idea. This is no inefficient plan from the halls of some global organization. This program comes from the Unlimited Potential Project, initiated by Microsoft China. Leave it to a business to create a simple and effective program which has much better chance of sustainable development.
The 30 Novebmer 2006 report in China Daily, entitled "Farming's new net profits" explains how China's farmers are finding new and unexpected solutions to their problems. Before, they "knew nothing about the market" and could only apply traditional agricultural techniques. That has changed.
One of the biggest issues brought up in the weblog before is the low prices of agricultural products at a county and village level. Farmers do not know the outside market and are usually dependent on bargaining with the outsiders who come to buy their products. The majority of the profit is made off the uninformed farmers who sell for far less than they could easily demand.
Under this program, farmers are given basic computer training and shown how to search for market information online, completely changing their business and greatly increasing their profit margins. Even one computer shack per village can change everything. Each day, farmers can use their internet access point to check prices in the bigger Chinese cities, thus enabling them to know where to start bargaining..
Another problem this project is solving is farmers access to modern agricultural technology. One farmer in this report was able to learn new methods of fertilization for his eggplants, gaining him more than 60% in his yield.
As one farmer said, "It is better to give us technology than just poverty relief funds." That is exactly the kind of development that will make the most difference in the long term. Indeed, one of Microsoft's biggest concerns is the sustainable development of the project.
This may be a simple idea that could be applied in many more locations across China. The biggest cost is computers, computer shacks, and training time with the farmers. With sufficient funding, just about any village, district, and county could gain incredible long-term benefits in both profit and crop quality.
