Bazilio Mugema has been a poultry farmer for decades in Nakaseke, Uganda, and never saw the need for agricultural extension services until his son urged him to a get a mobile phone.
Mugema got the mobile phone, and realized that being uninformed on market conditions had been costing him money, TheObserver reports.
Low literacy rates among farmers and the high cost of mobile phones are limiting the use of Africa’s burgeoning mobile apps for agriculture, according to TheObserver.
Information and communication technologies are increasingly relevant in providing agro-advisory services in Africa, the report said. But unequal access to information allows those with information to take advantage of those without, even though much of the information is in the public domain.
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Rwanda’s ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources organized the ICT4Ag international conference in Kigali.
At the ICT4Ag conference, about 40 developers showcased their agricultural applications. The common observation was that most apps provided market information but were complicated for ordinary farmers.
Michael Hailu, director of Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, said smallholder farming can and should be transformed by a combination of investment and increasing access to ICTs, particularly mobile phones.
Apps for agriculture should provide farmers with localized resources such as weather forecasts, market prices and soil types to help optimize production and manage risks.
Judith Pyne, the e-business advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), urges caution on mobile applications for agriculture. Pyne says the existing solutions lack relevant and actionable information, TheObserver reports.
“There is need for content that is highly localized, aligned with regional agricultural calendars and markets and presenting it in appropriate languages,” she said. Such agro-advisory services must demonstrate meaningful subscriber numbers and regular usage, she added.
“While 40 percent of people in developing countries actively subscribe to mobile services, with 130 million new subscribers every year, urban subscribers still outnumber rural subscribers,” Pyne said. She urged increased rural access to mobile networks in Africa.
Mugema says there is a growing willingness to adapt to mobile applications in Nakaseke. The only limitations are the low literacy levels of farmers and high cost of smart phones that can accommodate all the apps.
How content is delivered is an important consideration, said Charles Wanume with the Grammean Foundation in Uganda. There should be options to communicate via text, voice message or through help lines.
“Choice of delivery method will depend on literacy rates, complexity of information being communicated and user preference,” he said.