Several experiences in the region provide examples to demonstrate how rural
communities, and specifially smallholder farmers benefied from the use of ICTs. In
Uruguay, the CEIBAL Plan facilitates the digital inclusion of small communities. In rural
areas, the integrated use of ICT in meteorological centers improves the quality of
information provided to farmers, who in this way, are able to plan crop production
based on accurate and timely climate information, which ultimately increases
productivity; for example, in Chile (REDAGROCLIMA) offers weather-alerts by e-mail
and SMS to mobile phones of producers and farmers.
In Central America and the Dominican Republic a platform has been developed,
offering market information for fruit value chains in the region. In Costa Rica the
interactive platform PLATICAR promotes the exchange of information using ICTs
to support knowledge management, offering various online services. The new
technological conditions imposed by the market, including ICTs, also lead to the
need to change the relationship between the different levels of the agricultural value
chain. In Argentina, the National Health and Quality entity (SENASA) uses new ICTs in
their systems for traceability and food safety, which leads toward new relationships
among stakeholders.