BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE BY SOFONIE DALA

 Leaving No One Behind in a Digital World

We need you, the game changers, to get creative in how we engage the most vulnerable—giving voices to those that would otherwise not have the same opportunity that you have.

What we are looking for?

We are looking for solutions that can create impact, that are actionable, and that are sustainable. Most importantly, we are looking for people who have the drive and collaborative spirit required to take their solutions forward in partnership with others.

What is the digital divide?

The digital divide refers to the gap between those able to benefit from the digital age and those who are not. 

There are various types of digital exclusion that exists, we have outlined some below to help you understand the spectrum of where an individual or community may sit within it: 

● Internet access refers to those who are able to access the internet by whatever means (including via a smartphone or through a connection in their homes). 

● Internet non-users refers to those who have never used the internet or last used it more than 3 months ago. 

● Digital skills refer to those skills that are needed to safely and competently use the internet. 

There are many reasons why digital exclusion exists reflecting socio-economic inequalities. Some variables being but not limited to: 

● Income inequality 

● Rural and remote access

 ● Gender discrimination 

● Education 

● Housing

 ● Age

This project is for those marginalized group who lack access to digital technologies and knowledge, skills and competencies required to navigate them. Some trainings will be on digital and financial literacy, social media, cooking programs, nutrition, healthy food agricultural programs. 

Moreover, the app will be equiped with basic literacy, numeracy and other skills that expands the capabilities and opportunities of the poor. So they can participate fully in the hyperconnected, digitized society.

Our dream is to build a big school-center in a rural area allowing the access to up-to-date curriculum education programmes and trusted e-learning resources, among many other benefits such as video and social media.

The center will be equipped with ICT tools and internet. In the near future a store with affordable prices containing ICT tools and 5G technology will be built, so that poor people can access and buy technology.

We welcome your creativity in working with digitally excluded communities to make sure their voices are heard and solutions are sourced from the most vulnerable to make long and lasting change - this approach is the real game changer.

Digitally excluded individuals and communities can have creative solutions to solve some of the food systems' most pressing challenges but they will need your help to articulate these concepts and understand how to turn them into action.

We will also develop and promote an online-offline app to alleviate the problem of the poor. The app will connect farmers to consumers, retailers to charities and growers to intermediaries. There's no doubt that this project will reduce hunger and eliminate waste. Basically the app will target anyone who wants to donate or receive food.

*Africa's Mobile Gender Gap: Millions of African women still offline. 

Many African women can still only dream of owning a smartphone and having access to the internet. Men, however, have long been able to surf the web. This inequality has significant political and economic consequences.

So where does this gap come from? 

Illiteracy and a lack of internet knowledge, unaffordable mobile data, irrelevant content, and a lack of security.

"Being able to use a mobile phone and being able to access the internet requires certain skills, including literacy, as well as digital skills." And if you look at education on the continent, many women fall behind men in terms of literacy levels.

There are many women like our heroines across Africa. Some 200 million Africans are still offline — either voluntarily or involuntarily. Only two out of three women own a cell phone and barely one in three uses their mobile data on a regular basis. Seven out of 10 online mobile users are men. This phenomenon is known as the 'Mobile Gender Gap,' which is currently at 41 percent.

Your support is needed to source solutions from digitally excluded individuals and/or communities in your region or localities. By doing so, you will help bridge the digital divide that inhibits equity in our food systems. This is a powerful opportunity to give a voice to those that would otherwise not have access and provide a democratised pathway for contribution to transforming global and local food systems.

Read more: https://tff-zero-hunger-angola.blogspot.com/2021/05/bridging-digital-divide-solutions.html