A new agreement between Vodacom Tanzania and Agri-business Olam International, will see the use mobile technology to help increase productivity of thousands of smallholder farmers in the country.
Announced by Connected Farmer Alliance (CFA), a public-private partnership between the Vodafone Group, US Agency for International Development (USAID) and TechnoServe, the agreement is set to benefit up to 30,000 of Olam’s coffee, cotton and cocoa farmers in Tanzania.
Farmers will be able to get farming advice, notifications about upcoming training sessions and events, real-time information about changes in market prices through their mobile phones. They will also be introduced to the use of mobile money transfer service M-Pesa instead of cash, starting December this year.
Vodafone Group Regional CEO, Africa, Middle East and Asia, Serpil Timuray said, “In this case, mobile services are being used to enhance farmers’ lives and transform business performance at all points of the agricultural value chain.
“These partnerships have a powerful effect in helping rural communities develop new skills and grow revenues. Vodafone is committed to using its technology to help improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers around the world,” Timuray said.
Olam, the agri-business to where farmers supply their crops said the technology will help benefit the organization with smarter operations and lower costs as well as improve the livelihoods of the local farmers.
This agreement comes at a time when the country is putting efforts to increase connectivity across the country for easier and effective communication.
The program also aims to help reduce poverty in the country by contributing to the growth of the agricultural sector through advanced technology and infrastructure.
