The first Lango Forum on e-Agriculture was held on 31^st July 2008 in Omodi Hotel in Apac town. Participants came from different districts including Gulu, Lira, Oyam and Kampala. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP- EU (CTA ) supported the forum together with Hivos. This facilitated 42 women from Apac, Gulu, Lira, Oyam to attend the one day forum. Some of the organizations that attended the forum include the BOSCO project being piloted in Gulu diocese, the Refugee Law project, in addition to the hosting Apac community. The RDC of Apac town Mr. Alex Jurua opened the forum and the area MP Hon. David Ebong closed it.

Mr. Tom Oguta captured the participants’ interest with his presentation on SMS. Participants who were largely farmers quickly recognized SMS potential as a tool for marketing their agricultural products. Mr. Oguta easily demonstrated to the participants how to check for the market of simsim which is one of the flourishing agricultural products in the Apac area. Mr. Namaan Adimo, Coordinator of the Apac e-Society Programme captured the RDC and others’ attention through his opening presentation on what are ICTs and what are their potential use in agriculture. The RDC tasked Mr. Adimo to explain ICT in terms that the rural farmers present and beyond could appreciate. Betty Joken from NAADS-Apac, eloquently elaborated the use of community radio in agriculture using the Luo language which was the main medium of communication for the forum, while Harriet Olara a farmer surprised participants with her knowledge of ICTs. More about the forum, will be reported later.

 by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Senior Program Officer, Information Sharing and Networking