Abstract
Can computer and information technology (IT), widely used in the development of livestock health and production, be of any benefit for Third World farmers and institutions? And if so, how can they be implemented on a large scale? The authors try to answer these and related questions based on experiences with computerized dairy herd health and production programs in Costa Rica. They conclude that IT is becoming a key instrument in the planning and operation of modern extension services and on-farm research for meeting the farmers' increasing needs for information and for enhancing their ability to manage the available resources efficiently. IT enables private sector extension services provided by farmer groups and advisors to give farmers access to information that they previously lacked. These services facilitate bottom-up planning. Where IT does not allow the farmer or extension agent to solve the problem, IT can be used to articulate the problem for researchers or policy makers to address. For low-resource smallholders, access to IT can be provided through local farmer organizations. At the institutional level, IT is giving a strong impulse to the improvement of on-farm research, teaching programs, institutional and disciplinary cooperation, regional networking, and to a better linkage with the productive sector.
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Additional information
Mees Baaijen has worked as a veterinary practitioner, farm manager, teacher, and project coordinator in several developing countries for the last 15 years, mostly in association with the Dutch International Cooperation Service.
Enrique Pérez, a veterinary epidemiologist, has worked since 1985 at the Veterinary School of the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, as a teacher, researcher, farm advisor, and, currently, as team leader of the Costa Rican-Dutch Herd Health Project. He has two Master degrees, one in epidemiology and the other in preventive veterinary medicine, and he has a Ph.D. from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Both are members of a multidisciplinary team at the Veterinary School, Costa Rica, which, since 1988, has been working on the development and transfer of information technology supported methodologies for the management of herd health and production and to supply information for livestock development.
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Baaijen, M., Pérez, E. Information technology in the Costa Rican dairy sector: A key instrument in extension and on-farm research. Agric Hum Values 12, 45–51 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02217296
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02217296