Progress 10/31/14 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Members of the target audienceincluded soybean growers, food manufacturers, livestock feed manufacturers, feeding organizations, and the agricultural community at large. Changes/Problems:The goals of the first phase were met in the past year but the obvious issues with cell phone and internet access in the selected markets necessitates a reconsideration of this technology as being the information access point. For this reason, the Information Technology co-PI from the past year was not be needed in year 2. There is a renewed emphasis of increasing local production of soybeans in low-income countries across the world. Due to this increase, there may be expansions of infrastructure to ensure soy effectively reaches its intended uses for human and animal nutrition. In addition, at least part of this increase in local production is due to increases in demand for soy. This expansion and increase in demand represents an excellent opportunity for U.S. soybean farmers insofar as locally-produced soybeans are not going to suffice. Phase II focused less on creating a technologically-driven communications environment for key audiences and instead worked to explore more traditional outreach and education capacities. In particular, we explored the most effective ways to set up an NSRL INTSOY On the Road course. This entailed building on the enormous success of NSRL INTSOY which is a long-standing week-long course here at University of Illinois on various topics pertaining to soy. The advantage to NSRL INTSOY On the Road is that it doesn't need extensive technologies and, instead, uses experts from both the U.S. and the host country to reach a wide audience directly. In order to do this course, we examined issues pertaining to the relevant gaps in knowledge with respect to soy, the most effective way to address these gaps within the specific cultural context of the countries, and the local groups and experts that would be most well-suited to help NSRL in the implementation of NSRL INTSOY On the Road. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objectives for this phase did not include training and professional development or dissemination of information. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Work in the past year focused on Phase 1 objectives: Investigate communication technologies and information outlets (modes) used by communities to share information about soy protein applications in the developing world. Research into preliminary background data was gathered on market capacity for U.S. soy protein and oil products and information technologies in Haiti, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique. In summary, the slow penetration of dependable broadband technologies in all of these countries would translate into difficulties meeting expectations for soy processing and usage being useful via internet and mobile applications. The African countries reviewed wish to grow their own market for domestic soybean. At this juncture, Haiti does not appear to have the infrastructure toeffectively use information technology in the realm of soybeans. Phase I results Cell phone technologies and broadband access and domestic soybean production and market demand were researched for Haiti, Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique. The summary by country follows: Haiti: There are issues with the speed and sustainability of telecommunication technologies in Haiti. Digicel had 85% of the cell phone market, with banking services offered, but limited availability in rural areas where information about soy is most important. Overall use of internet on the phone has low market penetration (21%). It is very premature to expect target populations of farmers and processors to use their cell phones as a dependable information source for U.S. soybean processing and protein applications. Ethiopia: Ethiopia has just 24% of its population using cell phones, and the company providing the technology has a monopoly on fixed, mobile, internet and data communications. Ethiopia has one of the lowest internet penetration rates in Africa at 1.5%. The country has created several initiatives to expand internet access, with limited success. Malawi: Cell phone and internet access in Malawi is expensive and is very slow to be adopted. There is just 4% of the population with internet access. Mozambique: Mozambique has a higher rate of cell phone and internet access than the other countries in Africa reviewed, with three cell phone providers. There is rapid growth in the mobile-cellular network with mobile-cellular coverage in the main cities. The penetration rate isstill low, withabout 35 per 100 persons having cell phone access. This is much lower in the rural areas. As discussed below, due to limited cell phone coverage and internet access, we suggest moving in a different direction with respect to the utilization of soy in these countries. Availability of U.S. soybeans and soy products Haiti: Soybean production is limited, with almost all oil dependent on imports. The Haiti government desires more Haiti based processing of soybeans into animal feed and oil toincrease the country's food and feed infrastructure. Ethiopia: Ethiopia produces about 49,110 tons of soy per year, and there are initiatives to produce more soybeans and sunflowers to reduce dependence on imported soy. Ethiopia uses its soy for edible oil, meal, and soy milk. Malawi: Growing soybeans in Malawi is growing with production increasing 55% between 2000 and 2010. Yet the farmers are not meeting the demand for oil with Malawi importing 67% of their oil. Government and non-governmental organizations are actively promoting the growing and use of soybeans in Malawi. Mozambique: There was a large increase in soybean production in Mozambique between 2000 and 2010, with 44% more soybeans produced. This is still not sufficient to meet the country's demand for oil, and internal transport from soybean producing areas to where end users are located is poor. There is increased promotions and support for improving the domestic soybean production and less emphasis on importing soybeans.
Publications
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Progress 10/31/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Members of the target audience will include soybean growers, food manufacturers, livestock feed manufacturers, feeding organizations, and the agricultural community at large. Changes/Problems:The goals of the first phase were met in the past year but the obvious issues with cell phone and internet access in the selected markets necessitates a reconsideration of this technology as being the information access point. For this reason, the Information Technology co-PI from the past year will not be needed in year 2. There is a renewed emphasis of increasing local production of soybeans in low-income countries across the world. Due to this increase, there may be expansions of infrastructure to ensure soy effectively reaches its intended uses for human and animal nutrition. In addition, at least part of this increase in local production is due to increases in demand for soy. This expansion and increase in demand represents an excellent opportunity for U.S. soybean farmers insofar as locally-produced soybeans are not going to suffice. Phase II will focus less on creating a technologically-driven communications environment for key audiences and instead work will be done to explore more traditional outreach and education capacities. In particular, we will be exploring the most effective ways to set up an NSRL INTSOY On the Road course. This will entail building on the enormous success of NSRL INTSOY which is a long-standing week-long course here at University of Illinois on various topics pertaining to soy. The advantage to NSRL INTSOY On the Road is that it doesn't need extensive technologies and, instead, uses experts from both the U.S. and the host country to reach a wide audience directly. In order to do this course, we will pursue the following three research questions in three countries: 1.What are the relevant gaps in knowledge with respect to soy? 2.What is the most effective way to address these gaps within the specific cultural context of the countries? 3.What are the local groups and experts that would be most well-suited to help NSRL in the implementation of NSRL INTSOY On the Road? Phase III - Include research and industry data using static and dynamic resources to broaden the use of U.S. soybeans and soy processing and utilization technologies. Remove Shailesh Patel as one of the Co-Project Directors. Mr. Patel has left the University of Illinois. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objectives for this phase did not include training and professional development or dissemination of information. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objectives for the next phase are modified to reflect the need to minimize the focus on information exclusively accessible via cell phone and internet. Work could be done in Haiti with similar outreach. We wish to note that due to the lack of soybean production in these countries along with limited imports of U.S. soybeans, there is enormous potential to increase exports of U.S. soybeans to those countries. This is especially true insofar as there is increased demand for soy in both human and animal nutrition in these countries.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Work in the past year focused on Phase 1 objectives: Investigate communication technologies and information outlets (modes) used by communities to share information about soy protein applications in the developing world. Research into preliminary background data was gathered on market capacity for U.S. soy protein and oil products and information technologies in Haiti, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique. In summary, the slow penetration of dependable broadband technologies in all of these countries would translate into difficulties meeting expectations that soy processing and usage being useful via internet and mobile applications. The African countries reviewed wish to grow their own market for domestic soybean. At this juncture, Haiti does not appear to have the infrastructure to adequately use effectively use information technology in the realm of soybeans. Phase I Results Cell phone technologies and broadband access and domestic soybean production and market demand were researched for Haiti, Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique. The summary by country follows: Haiti: There are issues with the speed and sustainability of telecommunication technologies in Haiti. Digicel had 85% of the cell phone market, with banking services offered, but limited availability in rural areas where information about soy is most important. Overall use of internet on the phone has low market penetration (21%). It is very premature to expect target populations of farmers and processors to use their cell phones as a dependable information source for U.S. soybean processing and protein applications. Ethiopia: Ethiopia has just 24% of its population using cell phones, and the company providing the technology has a monopoly on fixed, mobile, internet and data communications. Ethiopia has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in Africa at 1.5%. The country has created several initiatives to expand Internet access, with limited success. Malawi: Cell phone and internet access in Malawi is expensive and is very slow to be adopted. There is just 4% of the population with internet access. Mozambique: Mozambique has a higher rate of cell phone and internet access than the other countries in Africa reviewed, with three cell phone providers. There is rapid growth in the mobile-cellular network with mobile-cellular coverage in the main cities. The penetration though is still low, with at about 35 per 100 persons having cell phone access. This is much lower in the rural areas. As discussed below, due to limited cell phone coverage and internet access, we suggest moving in a different direction with respect to the utilization of soy in these countries. Availability of U.S. Soybeans and Soy Products Haiti: Soybean production is limited in, with almost all oil dependent on imports. The Haiti government desires more Haiti based processing of soybeans into animal feed and oil to increase the country's food and feed infrastructure. Ethiopia: Ethiopia produces about 49,110 tons of soy per year, and there are initiatives begun to produce more soybeans and sunflowers to reduce dependence on imported soy. Ethiopia uses its soy for edible oil, meal, and soy milk. Malawi: Growing soybeans in Malawi is growing with production increasing 55% between 2000 and 2010. Yet the farmers are not meeting the demand for oil with Malawi importing 67% of their oil. Government and non-governmental organizations are actively promoting the growing and use of soybeans in Malawi. Mozambique: There was a large increase in soybean production in Mozambique between 2000 and 2010, with 44% more soybeans produced. This is still not sufficient to meet the country's demand for oil, and internal transport from soybean producing areas to where end users are located is poor. There is increased promotions and support for improving the domestic soybean production and less emphasis on importing soybeans.
Publications
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