1. SCOPING REPORT: ICT for RURAL LIVELIHOODS
Southeast Asia and the Pacific

2. Scoping Research Questions
What specific agricultural livelihood outcomes can be directly linked with ICT interventions?
Under what conditions are these interventions likely to produce these livelihood outcomes?
How does gender and social dimensions factor into these interventions and outcomes?
Are these interventions and outcomes replicable in other grassroots communities?
Are these interventions and outcomes scalable in other grassroots and communities?

3. State of Play
Reviewed ICT4RL environment in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Thailand and VietNam
Found that existing infrastructure and policy environments reflect a conscious effort of most governments to support ICT4RL
Reviewed frameworks relevant to ICT4RL
DFID’s Sustainable Livelihoods Framework
7 basic principles of SL; 8 basic principles of ICT4L
MDG Framework

4. Specific Livelihood Outcomes
Increased access to ICTs
Increased capacities of groups to offer marketable skills
Increased awareness and availing of basic services by communities as well as linkages with government service providers in the agriculture, health, education, micro-finance and others
Increased incomes among families.
Higher sales volume in users’ primary livelihoods (e.g. small retail stores, local eateries, local transport provision)
Development and evolution of support mechanisms and locally driven enterprises such as technical supply chains, marketing solutions, and other ICT-related services
Increased social capital generated through information sharing and networking

5. Conditions ICT4L projects are more likely to succeed
as secondary livelihoods, that is, if associated with already pre-existing primary livelihoods. if women groups run these.
if these are linked to basic services providers such as government agencies involve in agriculture, health and education sectors.
with the use of intermediaries and personalized user-friendly technologies such as mobile phones
ICT4L projects are more likely to be sustainable
if these have capacity building components
with public-private sector partnerships and cost sharing
ICT4L projects are more likely to have better outcomes if they are not technology-driven or donor-driven.

6. Social Dimension, Replicability, Scalability
Social Dimensions
Gender
Social Capital
Networking
Conscientization
Participation
Replicable if ICT4RL interventions go beyond sharing and reuse of information to community action and mobilization
Scalable if interventions reach critical numbers of participant-users/ communities

7. Proposed Frameworks Action Pilot Studies Ex Post Evaluation Studies
Strategic Framework
Indicative Logframe Matrix Template
M&E Framework
Action Pilot Studies
Research Framework

8. Research Agenda: Proposed Action Pilot Studies
Broad-based Networking through ICT for the Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Livelihoods in the Pacific Islands
Social Capital Formation and Livelihood Outcomes Among Women Users in Lao Telecenters
Factors Correlated to the Use of Mobile Phones as a Web 2.0 Platform for Philippine Rural Online Communities

9. Research Agenda: Proposed Ex-Post Evaluation Studies
Indonesia: Poor Farmers’ Income Improvement Project Through Innovation
China: Central Agricultural Broadcasting and TV School
Thailand: Agricultural Information Network
Philippines: Village Phone Direct
South Pacific: Development of Sustainable Agriculture ion the Pacific Islands

10. ICT4RL Research Network
Entities Involved in ICT4RL Research in Southeast Asia
Existing Research Networks
AGRIS
APAARI-APARIS
ASEAN
SEAMEO
Proposed Research Network
Subregional approach