The First Mile Project emphasizes communication and trust as key to building market value chains

[Knowledge base]

The First Mile Project, launched in 2005, enables people in rural communities to learn from one another by sharing their experiences and good practices via mobile phones, email, and the Internet. By increasing communication and trust, farmers, traders, processors and others learn to build market chains that connect producers with consumers.

In 2005, the First Mile Project began to help small farmers in Tanzania to improve their access to markets and market information. To do this, they focused on three objectives:

• facilitating learning among local groups
• generating local good practices
• empowering small farmers to get access to ICTs

Within ten months, participants agreed that their access to markets and their production and incomes had considerably improved.