Resumen de Monitoring Carbon Stocks on Smallholder Farms using Information and Communications Technologies: Evaluating the Potential for Central Africa
Peter Mbile, Athan Makansi, Olu Ajayi, Caitlin Ferguson, Andre Manzinga, Martin Ebokely
Rural land users in central Africa foresee numerous governance problems participating in centralized incentive programs to reward carbon storage on their farms. This has created a need to grow individualized means of monitoring changes in carbon stocks on smallholder farms using information and communications technologies - ICTs. The potentials of an ICT innovation - the Community-Based Biomass Assessment and Monitoring System or CB-BAMS is evaluated.CB-BAMS is a cloud-based automated database system built around an SMS platform for sending and receiving SMS text messages. Data collected through the SMS system is integrated with a web-based application - Force.com, which holds a relational database. The SMS system is in two parts; the first Application [Cloudbees©] is fully integrated with the Force.com database. The second SMS support Application [Telerivet©]is installed in an external phone used as a dedicated ‘Project Phone’ working as inter-phase between the Force.com./Cloudbees© automated database system, a commercial Mobile Telephone Network and farmer mobile phones. The potentials of CB-BAMS to communicate with individual farmers to estimate carbon stocks changes on their farms were evaluated in Cameroon and the DR Congo.Options for farmer data entry via SMS and or EXCEL.CSV upload were successful. Data entry via farmer SMS can however contain minor typographic and syntax errors. Estimates of emissions [tC02/ha] combining secondary data in Force.com, data via SMS or by upload were computed seamlessly in Force.com. The Telerivet platform also worked well as SMS relay and as backup to Force.com for farmer SMS data. Farmers demonstrated very quick mastery of SMS syntax as well as high levels of enthusiasm with the innovation. ICTs hold great promise in improving governance in land use by eliminating human intermediaries.
