Farming with your mobile phone

In the last couple of years, the mobile phone has become so deeply entrenched in the daily life of a Kenyan; that it is hard to imagine how life was without it.

From just making calls to sending short messages, transferring money and surfing the internet, the cell phone is also the calendar, clock, alarm, diary, calculator, radio and camera.

Even though initially it was seen as a rich man’s gadget, now everyone ought to have it to have life moving.

In sectors like service, health, education and transport, mobile phones have transformed how business is done. The agricultural sector has not been left behind.

Mobile phone use has taken farmers by storm, even the small-scale rural ones who would be expected to remain behind. From using it to get information, make and receive payments, order for inputs, they are making use of it to the fullest.

Farmers club

A new farmers club has recently been formed where registration and participation is carried out on an SMS platform. The purpose of the club is to allow members, agro-dealers and producers get access and share information nationwide.

This is through registering their names and division, then sending the SMS to 6426.

“The Kenyan farming community cannot afford to be left behind in the use of ICT while the rest of the world is being reduced to a village.

"We need to constantly find ways to improve the wellbeing of farmers and ICT is becoming a key driver for this process,” said Mr Charles Mulinge, managing director Farmchem, which initiated and is moderating the farming club.

The club dubbed ‘Angaza Mkulima’ will give members access to crop production finance and arranging for crop insurance against natural perils afterwards.

“The agri-business community is a key contributor to the Kenyan economy, and when farmers can come together to share information that benefits and improves on their wellbeing,” he said.

Connect

This comes shortly after another mobile phone-based service called Uza-Mazao was launched to connect small-scale farmers with willing buyers by sending text messages and eliminating the middlemen.

The SMS platform was devised to allow small farmers get fair prices after years of being fleeced by middlemen.