The Huaral Valley project has been included in this toolkit to illustrate a type of community ownership model in which farmers are directly involved in the decision making and implementation of an agrarian information system.
Although originally planned as an ICT installation to manage a network of irrigation canals for local farmers, the infrastructure enables telecoms and internet access for poor farming communities that would otherwise have been excluded from such resources. The project also illustrates the importance of leadership and vision to ensure that lobbying and advocacy are undertaken, both within communities and also with the government.
In this case, the community, through its irrigation board, was able to lobby for changes in the existing restrictive ICT policy and regulatory frameworks. The result has been more affordable and widespread ICT access for local communities.