Impact of ICT on Livestock

Many of the pastoral communities in of the world have faced a complex set of challenges due to political and economic marginalization, inappropriate government policies, inadequate access to domestic and cross border markets, frequent and recurring droughts and other climate and environmental shocks. All these factors have led to a chronic food insecurity and high vulnerability in the areas inhabited by these communities, thereby threatening the livelihoods of millions of people. In recent years,the majority of the governments and donor agencies operating in the region have shown a renewed interest in improving the livelihoods, living conditions and the economic wellbeing of the pastoral communities. The global revolution in information and telecommunication technologies has created an opportunity to remedy the situation and to assist livestock producers, development practitioners, researchers and policy makers to make informed decisions and identify appropriate choices and strategies to cope with and mitigate the effects engendered by constraints in the pastoral livestock sub-sector. Communication and access to information and knowledge are vital for the economic development, alleviation of hunger and the overall improvement of the livelihood of the pastoral communities in the asia

RFID

The Veterinary Department of Malaysia's Ministry of Agriculture introduced a livestock-tracking RFID technology for easier identification, providing access to relevant data such as: bearer's location, name of breeder, origin of livestock, sex, and dates of movement. This program is the first of its kind in Asia, and is expected to increase the competitiveness of Malaysian livestock industry in international markets by satisfying the regulatory requirements of importing countries like United States, Europe and Middle East. Tracking by RFID will also help producers meet the dietary standards by the halal market. The program will also provide improvements in controlling disease outbreaks in livestock program in 2009 to track the estimated 80,000 cattle all across the country..

Computer-controlled devices (automated systems)

Automatic milking systems are computer controlled stand alone systems that milk the dairy cattle agricultural robot, a complex herd management software, and specialized computers. Automatic milking eliminates the farmer from the actual milking process, allowing for more time for supervision of the farm and the herd. Farmers can also improve herd management by using the data gathered by the computer. By analyzing the effect of various animal feeds on milk yield, farmers may adjust accordingly to obtain optimal milk yields. Since the data is available down to individual level, each cow may be tracked and examined, and the farmer may be alerted when there are unusual changes that could mean sickness or injuries without human labor. 

Mobile Phone

Although mobile phone coverage is mostly limited to major cities, it is making rapid advances into pastoral areas in most of the countries in the Eastern Africa region. Therefore the use of cell phone SMS to report and deliver livestock price information to the potential beneficiaries in those areas is seen as a viable option. SMS is a means to send and to receive text messages (words, numbers or alphanumeric) to and from mobile phones or to and from computers via the Internet (E-mail) to mobile phones (http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/sms/intro.shtml). SMS is a part of the GSM technology that has become increasingly popular worldwide since it is much cheaper compared to voice messages. LINKS project trained market monitors in the use of SMS and provided them cell phones and scratch cards to implement the technology (Figure 2). A Cell phone SMS server was installed in Nairobi by LINKS to facilitate sending data directly from remote livestock market locations in Kenya (Isiolo, Garissa, Nairobi, Wajir, Marsabit and Moyale) and relaying back analysis and reports to those areas.