6.12 E-AGRICULTURE ICTs have the potential to revolutionize the management of the agriculture sector and improve food security. Support for improving information sharing flows between farmers, consumers, and agriculturists is needed, which will lead to higher yields and production that is more responsive to consumer needs, and provides greater market access for small-scale farmers. ICTs can also be used to improve planning as well as monitoring and forecasting production yields tracking and locating livestock throughout the country. This will require creating a database to register livestock levels and prevent theft and control the spread of diseases. 6.12.1 POLICY OBJECTIVES 1 The agriculture sector is able to fully exploit the opportunities to use ICTs to increase agricultural production and efficiencies 2 Farmers have access to market information for inputs and sales of livestock and produce 3 Agricultural research is improved by better access to information 4 Farmers have access to knowledge and early warning systems that improve their food security and income generation 6.12.2 STRATEGIES 1 Digitize agriculture literature and records related to agricultural management 2 Support the use of electronic payments platforms for agricultural and fishing producers 3 Support the development of a shared online sales site for marketing and selling livestock and agricultural produce 4 Provide strategic information to farmers on agro-technologies and techniques, weather forecasts, market price information 5 Develop a geographical information system to record agricultural land use and manage natural resources 6.13 LOCAL CONTENT DEVELOPMENT Provision of locally relevant content is necessary for meeting the needs of the public in Somalia and will help build demand for services. Aside from the development of e-government services, the government will promote the production of educational, cultural and scientific content, and the development of local cultural industries suited to the linguistic and cultural context of the users. 38