The Impact of ICT on Agricultural Extension Service Delivery: Experience from Agricultural Information & Communication Centre in Bangladesh

This study examines the impact of ICT enhanced service delivery on agricultural extension services in Bangladesh. The gaps in supply of demand of information and production enhancing skills inhibit the farmers from effectively utilizing and adopting modern technologies. This paper seeks to find out the role of recent innovation of agricultural information delivery developed by the government initiative, started with 20 Agriculture Information and Communication Center (AICCs) that increased to 245 till 2015 in different parts of the country and planned to increase further to cover most of the Agro-Ecological Regions of the country. AICC developed recently with the participation of local community through the experiences of functioning IPM/ICM clubs in 1995. The paper also describes how the AICCs have affected the dissemination of agricultural information and modern technologies opened business opportunity and social integration. It analyzes those factors associated in further development of such initiative in the country or elsewhere and at the same time points out dynamics of the development process in the diverse agro-ecological situations. Assistance in supervision and monitoring in the development stage of the AICC by the sponsoring agency helped them grow as potential change agent. There are also indirect benefits from this ICT-enhanced services delivery system in not only greater awareness and knowledge in agriculture technology and information but also in terms of farmers’ attitudes towards trying new technology and new ways of life in future.