E-Agriculture

How farmers are making the most of digital technologies in East Africa?

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How farmers are making the most of digital technologies in East Africa?

CTA has published four success stories from East Africa that shows how ICTs are enabling farmers to access information which allows them to improve their farming practices. The stories detail how women’s lives are transformed, how ICTs have tapped into the unbanked, and how they are facilitating credit lines.

Some brief notes 

  • Transforming the lives of women farmers - The first story tells of a project managed by the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET). "The Enhancing Access to Agricultural Information using ICTs in Apac District (EAAI) project used radio programmes and mobile phones to tackle the problems of low productivity and poverty"
  • Market-led, User-owned ICT4Ag-enabled Information Service project – MUIIS, "which is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by CTA, is an ambitious project which seeks to use the power of ICTs to help farmers increase their productivity and earn more money"
  • Banking the unbanked - This is a mobile platform that enabled over 60 Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs) members to save money, withdraw money and get loans using their phones. This project benefitted from the hackathon that was funded by CTA and also the subsequent 6 months incubation period.
  • Credit Finance for Kenya’s Small-holder farmers - the story of FarmDrive, "a technology company founded in Kenya in 2014. FarmDrive is using a suite of alternative data to help smallholder farmers get access to loans. Among those who have benefited is 35-year old Samuel Kitiri, who leases 1.5 acres of land beside Lake Naivasha, where he grows tomatoes, French beans, cabbage, kale and other vegetables."

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been embraced in Africa and offer immense opportunities for agriculture. Agriculture employs more than two-thirds majority of the population in Africa, however many communal farmers lack the knowledge and means improve their farming practices.

Opportunities in the use of ICTs in agriculture continue to avail themselves, let us know how ICTs are being used in agriculture in your communities.

The above is merely a summary for the booklet. Download the full booklet here

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