Impact of data tariffs on climate action

POTRAZ last week hiked and unhiked mobile data tariffs inside 72 hours, bowing to public pressure, but any further change in the future which is not a decline will likely be a blow to the growth of the mobile phone as an emerging tool in tackling climate change in Zimbabwe.

A number of charities, non-governmental organisations and Government have started using mobile internet to deliver timely climate and weather information to rural farmers, either through email, Facebook, WhatsApp or SMS blasts, as part of efforts to boost climate change adaptation.

But that risked stalling following a directive by the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) for cellular network operators to charge a minimum 12c per minute for voice and 2c per megabyte for data, effective January 9.

The move was, however, suspended by Information and Communication Technology Minister Supa Mandiwanzira on Thursday, saying the margin of increase was “shockingly high” and that “unreasonable data prices...undermined (Zimbabwe’s) ability to attract investment.”

Before that, the suspended data charges had cut short the joy-ride on promotional packages and bundled services, with leading network Econet raising its daily bundle by between 400 and 1 400 percent, from $1 to $5 for the 250MB bundle, and 1G from $2 to $30. This has sparked widespread public outrage.

Competitors Telecel and NetOne had yet to implement the Potraz directive, but were expected to do so within days of the order becoming effective.

Both operators last week expressed unwillingness to effect the new data regime, promising to engage the regulator for a possible reversal.

What could be more surprising, however, is the Potraz claim that the suspended charges were designed to address issues of “underpricing” in the telecommunications industry, as though there was anything inherently wrong with consumers paying less for a service already ranked as the third most expensive in Africa.

Now, the damage from the suspended tariffs had already been felt, with subscribers and small farmers, who have barely made it through in recent seasons due to a succession of droughts, cutting back on mobile data usage.

Mr Mandiwanzira’s intervention has brought temporary relief to a weary population.

It is not clear whether the suspension will eventually lead to a complete reversal of the proposed data pricing regime, seeing as it is Potraz and all the three mobile network providers were intent on maintaining the new status quo.

But with Zimbabwe’s mobile penetration rate at above 100 percent, and the number of broadband users topping 5,4 million people, cell phone use and ownership here has already been high, although the mobile phone has not been used much for sharing of weather and climate information until recently.

In Chirumanzu, Gutu and Zvishavane, where global charity OxFam has installed 3 automatic weather stations and acquired over a dozen weather equipment across 15 wards, the organisation has been trying to promote the use of the mobile phone to deliver area specific climate and weather information, market prices and extension workers’ advice.

Working in partnership with the Meteorological Services Department ( MSD) and public extension workers, OxFam has been sharing information with thousands of rural farmers in the three districts through a mobile-based platform called Esoko/Mubatsiri, helping farmers plan better.

The platform packages weather and climate information differently, and in a userfriendly manner, before dissemination, Linia Mashawi, senior meteorologist at the MSD said in a previous interview.

That information is mostly localised, area specific data, which is timely distributed by SMS or through internet based social media platforms.

Through the use of such data, farmers could increase preparedness, becoming more self-reliant in handling weather and climate events that impact agricultural production especially at a time of rising climate risks that are already devastating agriculture.

The mobile phone is increasingly taming the need for smallholder farmers in Gutu, Chirumanzu and Zvishavane to rely on generalised, and often times, unhelpful radio broadcasts while also eliminating the delays arising from the established face to face interaction with extension workers.

Ntando Ndebele, a Harare-based independent climate expert said any disruption in mobile data tariffs to the effect of unsustainable increase will not only stifle climate change resilience, but also undo the gains so far obtained from mobile internet use.

He said future increases will “see a remarkable decrease in the coverage of such (mobile phone-based) innovative and informative initiatives to the farmers and decreased uptake and utilisation of such information.

For the ordinary farmer who has to pay to access such services, the coverage will further dwindle as farmers are already struggling to access such information.”

Accessible area-specific weather and climate information is instrumental for effective extension work, the development of agriculture as well as building climate resilience, says Charles Dhewa, chief executive at Knowledge Transfer Africa, an agriculture research firm.

“Most climate-related events like sudden rainfalls, storms or dry spells require real-time information dissemination.

“Mobile phones were beginning to fulfil that role. An increase in the cost of data will hinder real-time climate knowledge sharing,” he said, by email.

In Zimbabwe, subsistence farmers, particularly those in dry regions, remain vulnerable to the dangerous impacts of climate change, partly blamed on ineffective weather communications.

Results of a 2014 baseline survey carried out by OxFam within Gutu, Chirumanzu and Zvishavane revealed stinging discords on the availability and accessibility of weather and climate data.

To access the information, farmers depended on a single source - the radio - the survey showed.

Thanks to the cell phone, that was beginning to change. However, Potraz’s fumbling with data charges, simply to satisfy corporate greed, does not inspire hope.

“This platform ( mobile phone through WhatsApp of Facebook) was offering farmers an opportunity to share pictures of hazards they are experiencing instead of trying to explain,” Harare agriculture expert Zwane Soroti, told The Herald Business.

“This was easy even for illiterate farmers. Should data charges rise as proposed, less SMS will be sent per dollar hence will reach less people, negatively affecting reaction time as well as the effectiveness of early warning systems.”

God is faithful.