Opportunities, constraints and challenges to the introduction of ICT services for sustainable agricultural development in West Bengal, India

Abstract: The application of information and communication technology (ICT) in socioeconomic development often referred to as “ICT for development” (ICT4D) is an increasingly relevant concern both academically as well as within development organisations on all levels.   This master thesis project has explored opportunities, constraints and challenges to designing and implementing mobile phone based ICT services for an organisation working with sustainable agricultural development in West Bengal, India. Through a participatory design process with smallholding farmers a simple, low-cost platform for prototyping and implementing mobile phone based ICT services using interactive voice response as interaction modality was developed. It was found that even inexperienced and illiterate users were able to understand and make use of such services with minimal training. On the basis of services deployed on this platform, context specific constraints and opportunities were identified as well as the appropriateness of the ICT design evaluated. Finally, use of participation was critically reviewed and found to be a necessary element of ICT design in this context yet requiring a high level of reflexivity and contextual understanding from the researcher or designer in order to contribute to development goals.