Défis et opportunités des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (TIC) pour le développement rural. Expériences de la Casamance, Sénégal

The success of innovative approaches in international cooperation projects for rural development, should lie not only in concrete actions carried out at local level, but also in a good level of digital penetration and training of involved actors. In countries like Senegal, which is experiencing rapid growth in terms of digital infrastructure, there is still a considerable disparity between urban and rural areas. In this context, the PPAT&RD project tries to tackle this challenge, made more complex by the Covid-19 pandemic, by training rice advisors to provide direct technical assistance to women rice farmers in the 23 valleys of Casamance. To support the work of advisors and their training, the project aimed at developing and promoting the synergy of social and dissemination tools (i.e., Facebook pages, Facebook group, Twitter profile, YouTube channel, project website), communication tools (i.e., WhatsApp groups) and data collection tools (i.e., KoBo Toolbox- KoBo Collect). The activities promoted were affected by digital divide both in terms of mobile/internet signal coverage, which was lacking in 60 % of the territory of the two regions involved (Sédhiou and Kolda), and in terms of the purely human component, in terms of willingness to use the proposed tools and technical skills owned. This is also confirmed by the 14 questionnaires submitted in two agricultural campaigns for a total of 4652 completed forms, for which the responsiveness to data collection in terms of time and accuracy of the data sent, in particular for which of agrotechnical characters, was only high in only 6 out of 23 valleys. Ultimately the digital approach in support of field activities has a good potential for implementation and development, if it is adapted to the specific context of the territory, when taking into account the human factor. Technology and knowledge transfer, along with active participation and involvement of local actors, can lay the foundations for an effective and sustainable outcome.