This report
provides an assessment of the ICT infrastructure, the enabling regulatory
framework and the state of deployment of ICT services in agriculture by various
service providers in Kenya. On infrastructure, Kenya is served by the East
African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), the East African Marine System (TEAMS),
the Lower Indian Ocean Network 2 (Lion II) and Seacom cables. The cables
provide high speed internet connectivity ranging from 193 to 2,840 gigabytes
per second (GBPS) and comprises a bundle of glass threads each of which is
capable of transmitting messages modulated into light waves. On land, the
country is served by six major terrestrial broadband providers, namely:
Safaricom, Liquid Telecoms, Internet Services (IS), Telkom Kenya, Jamii Telecom
and Wananchi Online. Safaricom has the highest coverage and is closely followed
by Liquid Telcoms and Telkom. In addition, Kenya has a National Optic Fibre
Backbone Initiative (NOFBI) which is a joint venture between Kenya and Chinese
governments, with the aim of connecting all national and county government
agencies. There are five major
operators, Safaricom PLC, with a market share of 64.2%, followed by Airtel,
with a 22.3%, Telkom Kenya Limited, Finserve Africa Limited and Mobile Pay
Limited at 9.0%, 4.2% and 0.2%, respectively. A report released by the
International Data Corporation (IDC) indicated that as at 2017, Kenya mobile
subscription surpassed 40 million, with 90.4% mobile penetration of the adult
population. Despite this impressive mobile penetration, internet penetration
was less than 10%. Conversely, there is a big disparity in regional access to
computers in Kenya, with Nairobi residents having the highest access, while
North Eastern, Western and Coast have the least access. These ICT end user
devices and their applications are mostly driven by off-grid and on-grid
electric power; users’ habits, preferences and trends are the key drivers in
the choice of use, with SMS, email, social media, browsing and direct call
being the major uses.
The journey of Kenya’s ICT sector
liberalization had several setbacks owing to the stringent conditions set by
the regulator; but through advocacy and legislation, the sector was
liberalized. Within a short period, the government has become a key facilitator
and advocate of the use of ICT through creation of a state department of ICT
and the rolling out of various initiatives, such as e-government, Konza city
NOFBI, and open data. Improvements in the regulatory framework, capacity
building of the young generation, establishment of the various incubation hubs,
such as i-hub, Nailab, and others have led to the emergence and development of
useful ICT systems, such as mobile applications and prototypes. However, to
sustain the gains made in the ICT environment, the current support provided by
the government to the ICT sector will need to be doubled. Moreover, for
seamless operations, the array of players that include network operators,
software developers, content providers, device manufacturers, government agencies
and users have to work closely together. It is also apparent that sectors such
as agriculture, health and manufacturing need to grow to the same level as the
financial sector. This will only be possible if the requisite enabling
environment is developed and maintained.
Various ICT4Ag service providers have been active in the Kenya mobile
application (M-apps) environment. A total of 68 service providers were
identified and analysed to understand how they work. The providers were grouped
into seven clusters; the information-providing cluster had the highest number
of m-apps, which implied the need to remove the information asymmetries in the
agricultural sector, particularly in the rural areas.
To download a copy visit: https://library.faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Status-of-ICT-Infrastructure-Innovative-Environment-and-ICT4AG-Services-in-Agriculture-Food-and-Nutrition-in-Kenya-.pdf
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