For more discussions and topics around SP Mobility, please visit our Mobility Community: http://cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity Read the blog post (with hyperlinks) here: https://communities.cisco.com/community/solutions/sp/mobility/blog/2013/11/18/ioe-mobility-case-study-5-service-providers-enable-rural-farming-communities-in-africa

1. IoE Mobility Case Study #5: Service Providers Enable Rural Farming Communities in
Africa
By Dee-Dee Atta (Service Provider Marketing Manager, Cisco)
Rural farmers struggle to maintain livelihoods because they do not have access to valuable
information across the community and in open markets. By providing Mobile Internet capabilities,
rural farmers have tools to participate in a community of educational resources related to crop
production and learn more about which markets have a demand for specific products. As a result,
rural farmers have the ability to share best-practices on pest control, irrigation and crop rotation as
well as gain access to open markets to sell produce. Through access to an interactive, virtual
community, farmers can take advantage of new opportunities for population sustainability.
Let’s take a deeper look at the numbers:
Source: Cisco Service Provider Slideshare

2. Uganda, with a current population of 35 million (source: Central Intelligence Agency), is expected to
have the highest population growth (source: Worldwatch Institute) in the world in the next few
decades. Eighty-six percent of the population is considered rural (source: Trading Economics) and 82
percent (source: Farm Africa) depends on agriculture as their main source of income. Yet more than
50 percent of Ugandans live in poverty without reliable access to food. This is one of the reasons why
the average life expectancy in Uganda is fifty-four years old (source: Farm Africa). There is the need
for Ugandans to increase the value of their harvests through better farming practices and simple
processing of any surplus they produce. Farming communities are essential to this objective where
people can engage with partners and crop buyers to help them earn a sustainable living.
By providing the Mobile Internet, Service Providers are connecting previously unconnected people to
resources and information which helps improve rural farmer productivity and livelihoods. In Middle
East and Africa, consumer mobile traffic will grow 19-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual
growth rate of 80%. (source: Cisco VNI May 2013). When Service Providers enable the Mobile
Internet, businesses like the Grameen Foundation and the MTN group can create programs like
the Community Knowledge Network(CKN). The CKN support structure allows organizations with
advanced agriculture knowledge to connect with and assist rural farmers. CKN leverages a database
of agricultural information packaged into a simple and actionable format. This allows the trusted
community workers to easily transmit the information over mobile devices.
Through these connections, rural farmers now have access to valuable information such as which
crops to plant, when to plant, how to prevent/treat crop diseases and where they can earn the most
from selling their produce. Because Service Providers enabled the Internet of Everything (IoE) to
connect people to each other, agriculture data and mobile devices, rural farming in Uganda is more
productive and effective and rural farmers can make better decisions and enjoy a better quality of life.
Read Community Knowledge Network’s full story submission here
This case study is part 5 of a 5 part series titled IoE Mobility Case Studies. Start from the beginning
by reading the first IoE Mobility Case Study: Service Providers Facilitate New Economies in
Developing Countries
More Resources
IoE Mobility Case Study #2: Service Providers Deliver Mobile Healthcare Information across Africa
IoE Mobility Case Study #3: Service Providers Bridge Communication for the Hearing Impaired
IoE Mobility Case Study #4: Service Providers Connect Information to Boost Farm Production in
Rural Areas
Slidecast: Service Providers Making Amazing Things Happen: Use Cases for the Internet of
Everything
Visual Networking Index: VNI Mobile Forecast Highlights, 2012-2017
For more discussions and topics around SP Mobility, please visit our Mobility Community:
http://cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity