MFarm

The project is rooted in mobile phone technology intended for putting critical information at a farmer’s fingertips. The M-Farm service allows farmers to group together through their mobile phones to offer exporters, wholesalers, and retailers large quantities of crops, providing access to large-scale markets. In addition, farmers can potentially save on the cost of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides by buying in bulk. They can also check market prices in their localities.

M-Farm was launched through winning the IPO48 competition, a 48-hour boot-camp event, organised by HumanIPO, aimed at giving web/mobile start-ups a platform for launch.

New Technologies, Economic Development, Natural Resource Management

According to Sam Wambugu, a monitoring and evaluation specialist in Kenya:

"Because African agricultural output stands at 56 per cent of the world’s average, in part, as stated here, due to lack of access to agricultural information, as well as training and advice on topics such as pests and diseases, weather, and proven farming practices, access to mobile phones is now in use to fill information gaps for framers. Telephony is said to be growing even among those at the base of the economic pyramid, providing a channel of communication and the ability to link previously excluded rural communities to up-to-date information.

Telephony is, according to some surveys, the only information and communication technology (ICT) used by the majority of farmers in Africa. Empirical research in rural Ghana shows that the proportion of households using public community call offices, where available, is around 60 per cent; and average household telephone expenditure is over five per cent of monthly household income. The same research indicates that in terms of agricultural production, prices of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides are the most frequently telecommunicated information. In addition, mobile technology keeps farmers connected to family during days in the field. In what has been dubbed ‘pay as you plant’ service, mobile phones are also being used to distribute agricultural insurance products to farmers, most of whom cannot afford conventional insurance."