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Bwera Information Center (BIC)

Background

Bwera Information Centre Ltd (BIC), founded in 2002, is a civil society project owned and run by a consortium of about 42 civil society organizations.

Bwera Information Centre was initiated as a result of the need to assist organized farmer groups and individual farmers especially in Bukonzo County, Kasese District to access, share, and disseminate timely, relevant and reliable information pertaining production and marketing of Agricultural produce in order to enable them increase volumes of their produce, farm gate prices etc which we envisage to lead to increased productivity, house hold incomes and food security.

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The Vision of BIC

A just and fair society in Uganda that uses ICT to share information and skills in sustainable development.

Mission
To contribute to poverty reduction by mobilizing and facilitating the poor women and men in Uganda to share knowledge and skills to harness the existing resources for sustainable development by the use of Information and Communications Technologies

Strategic Objectives

  1. To strengthen the capacity of the communities to access and use modern information and communications technologies to share information and to network both locally and internationally for their own emancipation
  2. To enhance the capacity of the poor women and men to access and share knowledge and skills on sustainable agricultural production and marketing to attain food and income security;
  3. To enhance transparency in service delivery by empowering communities to demand and share information on local government planning and feedback processes
  4. To carry out analytical research in relation to matters of information  and communication technologies.
  5. To network with other information stakeholders and development actors with similar objectives.
  6. To strengthen the institutional capacity of BIC to facilitate information and skills sharing processes using ICTs in a sustainable manner.

Information is a very important resource and is essential for the progress of an individual and or the community.

BIC has its project area as Bukonzo County and L. Katwe Sub County in Kasese district in western Uganda which has a population of over 250,000 that predominantly depends on subsistence farming.
BIC was formed with a mandate of contributing to improving the quality of life of the predominantly rural farming communities (with a special focus on women and other vulnerable groups) through providing developmental information on agriculture, marketing, soil and water conservation, human rights, good governance, basic health care, HIV/AIDS, environmental protection, education, gender and peaceful conflict resolution and coexistence. Therefore, BIC is a centre where the poor men and women meet and freely share information on the already mentioned subjects. BIC management provides this information on a demand driven basis.

The strategic goal of BIC is “to improve peasants’ livelihood through access and sharing of reliable and accurate information”

In pursuit of our strategic goal, BIC has the following objectives

  1. To facilitate easy communication among people at the local, national and international levels so as to exploit the available opportunities near and far to alleviate poverty and human suffering.
  2. To enhance access and use of Modern information and communication technology by women and other interest groups for their own emancipation
  3. To carry out analytical research in relation to matters of information and communication technologies so as to inform the development process.
  4. To network with other information stakeholders and development actors with similar objectives to effectively utilize the available opportunities aimed at alleviating poverty and human suffering.

WHAT WE DO

Our Business Wing

  • Computer typesetting and printing
  • Photocopying
  • Laminating
  • Card designing
  • Scanning
  • Internet surfing
  • Binding
  • CD burning
  • Video and graphics
  • Telephone services
  • Video hire, coverage and editing
  • Computer training in the various packages

OUTREACH WING

Capacity development/ building

  • Baseline survey and database creation  for member organizations and farmer groups together with their specific crop enterprise, acreage and yield
  • Organizational development in information sourcing, repackaging and dissemination, group dynamics, database creation, strategic business planning, monitoring and evaluation systems.
  • Support to sub county information access Centres and parish information access points with equipments like video sets, generators, laptop computers, sate light dishes, notice boards, telephones, bicycles and some contribution to the daily news papers and office stationary to ease information sourcing and sharing so as to become Centres of Excellency.
  • Training progressive farmers in the basics of computer applications and other related ICTs

 Information, documentation and dissemination

  • Radio programs on the best production methods and group marketing initiatives
  • Translation of information materials on tree nursery establishment into the local language
  • Video documentaries on; wet processing of coffee, Banana Bacterial Wilt, best practices of pineapple production, Banana production, control of livestock internal and external parasites using the local herbs, bread baking etc
  • To enhance information dissemination to the rural communities, BIC has been offered a world space radio for information downloads  and a community Radio, which we hope to be on air waves later this year.
  • Assorted literature on the following issues that is readily available in the resource room for use.
    • Tree nursery establishment,
    • Pineapple production
    • Poultry farming, small scale chicken production
    • Pig rearing and management
    • Bee keeping
    • Rain water harvesting
    • Marketing for small scale producers
    • Tips on starting up a cooperative
    • Tropical pests, insects, disease, striga control measures
    • Goat keeping in the tropics
    • Erosion control in the tropics
    • Dairy cattle husbandry
    • Soil and water conservation
    • Daily news papers both daily monitor and new vision
    • News letters i.e. RICNET/ BIC, SATNET, RAC, KRC, BROSD, KFP, KALI, SNV
    • Hand books on, Human rights and conflict resolution, promoting micro savings and credit, Agro forestry, Gender issues, Malaria spread and control, HIV/AIDS, 2008/09 parliament budget speech.
  • Reports, news letters and BIC brochures
  • Training technical guides, ICT training tools and computer applications.

Agribusiness and marketing

  • Supporting group marketing initiatives among member organizations in the RIS program through group sensitizations and campaigns.
  • Coffee wet processing, cooperatives, micro finance development, and fruit juice and wine making innovations for value addition.
  • Dissemination of daily commodity market prices from Uganda Commodity Exchange and Info trade to the member groups through community notice boards and FM Radio stations.
  • Multi stakeholder plat forms, value chain financing forums and partnership development so as to link producers to potential buyers and build a strong market chain.
  • Creating an avenue for displaying member groups’ products at BIC resource room.

Consultancy work

  • BIC is now being hired by other development partners to offer consultancy work in setting up other new information Centres and rural information system sites in the Rwenzori region.
  • Also consultancies in secretarial work among others.

Addressing cross cutting issues

  • Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS
  • Gender mainstreaming
  • Fight against poverty and hunger
  • Advocacy on government policies related to agricultural development and framers’ rights to information
  • Mainstreaming issues of public health, environmental conservation in our daily routine work
Information computer technology:
At the beginning of February 2005 BIC designed a computer training programme targeting the BIC members as well as nonmembers so as to enable them become computer literate. This is an effort to reduce the digital divide between the poor and the rich. About 8 persons will be trained every quarter in

  • MS Word, Excel, Publisher, Internet and at least one financial computer package.
  • Bic also now offers ICT consultancy through software installations, maintenance and repair, troubleshooting and web design.

This is to improve the documentation and e-communication abilities of the BIC members and the general clientele.

LIST OF MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

  • ARUDEC
  • Burangwa Eyisuka ningabo development group
  • Buswagha sustainable group
  • Bwera micro finance
  • Bukonzo culture
  • Caritas Kasese
  • Good hope foundation for rural development
  • green home foundation for rural development
  • Ihango coffee and bananas farmers association
  • Ikobero women group
  • Ikongo agency for rural development
  • Ikongo SACCO
  • Inter religious dialogue
  • Kabira bee keepers association
  • Kabirizi farmers group
  • Kabuyiri women group
  • Kalehe home care
  • Kamuruli women group
  • Karambi Action for life improvement
  • Karughe farmers partnership
  • Kighando women development association
  • KIIMA FOODS
  • Kisanga farmers association
  • Kisanga farmers group
  • Kisolholho women group
  • Kyambogho sustainable agriculture group
  • Kyasenda kusaidiana  development association
  • Kyempara bee keepers association
  • Kyempara CDC
  • Kyempara farmers for environment  and conservation project
  • Kyempara youth development group
  • Kyondo organic farmers co-operative society
  • Mpondwe Moslem women association
  • Mutiba foundation for agriculture
  • Ndima cares
  • Nyakahya trading centre
  • Nyakasonjo farmers training group
  • Nyakatonzi cooperative union
  • Nyamisule COU farmers
  • Rural urban communities development foundation
  • Rwenzori people with disabilities
  • St Francis women group
  • St john Mary mzee
  • St Mary coffee farmers
  • St Mary mothers widows and widowers

Contacts:

BIC management
E-mail; bicbwera@yahoo.com

Plot 4 Bwera Hospital road P.O Box 507

Mpondwe Lhubiriha Town Council

blog:http:// bicbwera1.blogspot.com
TEL:   +256 392707151