On Search for Strategies to Increase the Coverage of Agricultural Extension Service: Web-based Farmers’ Advisory Information System

The agriculture sector is the mainstay of the Tanzanian economy as it contributes 26% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 30 percent of export earnings and provides the bulk of raw materials for local industries. The agriculture sector provides employment to about 75 percent of the total labor force. Access to agricultural information and knowledge is timely, completeness and quality manner is very challenging in developing countries like Tanzania. Farmers in particular, require accurate, quality and timely agricultural information and knowledge regarding farming operations and practices, post harvest processing, marketing and weather forecast (to mention a few) in order to make an informed decision.Traditional practice for delivering agricultural information in Tanzania is through farmer-tofarmer and extension officers. The practice forces extension officers to visit farmers in order to give some advisory services. Thus due to the few number of extension officers the system is overstretched in Tanzania which necessitate the urgent requirement to find alternative method to improve the extension services. This paper presents a prototype of Web-based Farmers’ Advisory Information System (FAIS) aimed at improving the coverage of extension services in Tanzania. Thus with the help of FAIS the few extension officers who are present in Tanzania they can serve many farmers at the same time.