ACET-ONG’s proposal of this project to benefit ten women’s groups in the Communes of Dassa-Zoume and Savalou in the department of Collines in Benin was a result of the following observations: that little is being done to increase the interest of rural communities, especially rural women, in globalisation and familiarisation with ICTs and their advantages; and that state agricultural extension organisations are no longer active in providing grassroots producers with the opportunity to benefit from new growing techniques, or popularising their research.
We conceived the idea of this GenARDIS project through our experience with the implementation of RUNnetwork’s (www.runetwork.de) question-response system, from our experience in ICT extension to rural areas since 2000, and our goal of enabling rural women to benefit from our skills.

ACET-ONG, which I manage, has coordinated the activities of this project from start to finish, and these activities have been implemented in the following manner:

The NGO Levier pour le Développement (LDLD) was responsible for the identification of ten groups; activities with each group on the theme of ICTs and development; identification of the questions taken into account by SQR; and the selection of two members per group to participate in the introduction to internet usage that took place during the Rural Women and Internet Field Days.

ACET-ONG itself organised Rural Women and Internet Field Days, the question-response system in collaboration with experts, a series of ten surfing sessions, and also drafted a document (paper format) containing all the concerns of the groups and their responses.

The project beneficiaries are ten women’s groups working in the field of agriculture and change. These groups, who are totally excluded from decision-making bodies, are a part of the illiteracy layer generally characterised by subsistence agriculture or activities. They therefore lack financial means, cannot afford the luxury of the internet, and the computer still remains a myth for most of them even after the project’s implementation. More time is really needed.

We are in a society where women are not in fact equal in status to men, even if the contrary is stated on paper. Women are the first to wake up and the last to go to bed, and they spend all their time fighting for the welfare of their families.

Economically, women have their own income-generating occupations although they often lack working capital. The micro-finance structures that currently abound propose exorbitant rates of interest and rigorous reimbursement methods that scare people off. This means that the real beneficiaries generally do not profit, and continue to struggle for the welfare of themselves and their families.

• All sections of society have a need for information.

• That it is possible for experts to provide effective, relevant and personalised responses to the main concerns of the disadvantaged sections of society.

• The importance of information in improving the living standards of the disadvantaged sections of society.

• At least two members of each Women’s Group were trained to use the internet, and are able to create an email address, send and receive emails, do thematic research on the internet and find partners.

• Five concerns (in the areas of agriculture and processing) raised by each of the ten groups were solved by local, national and international researchers and experts.

• Barriers between women’s groups and information technology in general, and the internet in particular, were overcome

• Women’s groups received adequate information on issues of gender, ICTs and agriculture.

• The groups with whom we worked were very welcoming.

• Despite their illiteracy, they were very interested in the advantages of using this technology to increase their awareness and find support opportunities. They proposed that such activities take place at least twice a year and that sustainability be ensured by the involvement of their support partners, women’s promotion centres and local authorities.

Yes, we were astonished to note that, most of the time, the groups expressed a need for credit to launch or kick-start their income generating activities, despite the existence of a number of microfinance institutions. This shows us that the basics of these institutions need to be rethought.