1. MOBILE APPS IN SMALL
SCALE AGRICULTURE
october 2011

2. Likes to receive Market agent Current Managing Needs a local
info and spends >$10 record complex farmer marketing
advertising via giving market keeping – support channel…
SMS info by voice nowhere for it structures
calls to go

3. Partner Country Impact Scale Dev Status Imp Status
EADD Kenya Cost Reduction Ke: 100K+
IDE/CARE Zambia Ext. Off. Scale Zm: 18K
Farmer Communication Suite
• Generic Communication among rural economy players
• Farmer Registration Module with farmer details,
enables phone surveys
• Membership Directory enables group creation by
geography/role/crop...
• Reporting Dashboard
• Content Management System serves content in
multiple media based on client capabilities
• Billing Framework allows multiple business models to
be tested

4. Partner Country Impact Scale Dev Status Imp Status
EADD Kenya Cost Reduction Ke: 100K+
IDE/CARE Zambia Ext. Off. Scale Zm: 18K
Use Cases
A Dairy 'Mobiliser' uses sms to invite members of 6 dairy management
Event groups under her purview to a training session on milk quality.
Attendances records are captured directly on the Mobiliser's feature
Management phone
Weather information is delivered via RSS – or email - on a Zambian
Info Provision extension officers smart phone. He relays via SMS the info he thinks
important to the 50 farmer leaders in his district
A group of 15 horticulture farmers meet and, using their Farmer
Better Data Leaders' feature phone, self-report on crop plantings and timings
A market agent can get a good, but time-sensitive price for tomatoes;
via field officers he sends an sms request to nearby farmers known
Matchmaking to have tomato crop nearing harvest. Four farmers respond and
organise a local transporter to aggregate their crates.
Advertising An Agrodealer sponsors local farmers group communication by
tagging intra-group messaging with a 35 character advertisement

5. Partner Country Impact Scale Dev Status Imp Status
EADD Kenya 200% + Cow 30% of 250 K
Sales Income Farmers
Improved Herd
East African Lactation Record System
A mobile – USSD and .mobi - solution to
help small-scale farmers certify and sell
cows
Improving lactation recording
capabilities; farmers can record daily – or
sampled – records for their cows – including
own-use milk. Self reported data audited and
also checked against sold milk data for
consistency and credibility
Allowing potential buyers the ability to
request a lactation history of a cow before
purchasing – and by marketing certified
cows up for sale via an SMS/web query-able
list

6. Partner Country Impact Scale Dev Status Imp Status
IDE Zambia 30% + Prod. Price 18K
200% - AG Costs 9 Markets
50% - Trans. Costs
Zambia Market Information Service
“Peer-to-peer” market information service that Farmer Price Achieved
bypasses need for centralized and formal data- +30%
capture
Agents able to:
 better manage supply through insight into 'linked'
farmer plantings Agent Costs
-200%
 reduce communications costs (currently > $10/day)
responding to farmers
 scale number of relationship with farmers
Farmers able to:
 get real-time market data relevant to their nearby
markets
 aggregate produce and share transport
Extension officers able to scale matchmaking
activities between farmers and markets

7. Critical Success Factors
Business/Social
Impact models
Opportunity
Flexible funding
mechanisms Accessing the
users
Its complicated
Opportunities for grants in for revenue but making–the transition from grant- for
Significant stakeholders with different where benefit to farmer etc–clear. Difficult
Managing opportunities this space, incentives and timelines needed
funding ato is toper start core infrastructure and ecosystemand flexibility. while
challenge loan pay for ,to revenues takes both discipline maintenance $2
work at $2-$8 funding reaching required large numbers at very low
From standing day
dollar a day services hard. for specific apps. Otherlimited funding OR existing
allowing entrepreneurship Need partner (MNO – high-level challenges include
acquisition costs = probably not possible without initial access?)
ownership issues to untangle and successco-ops etc. client cherry-picking and
networks: NGOs , Farmer organisations, may cause
thus global access policy issues.
Challenge

8. IDEA:
Mobile tech Our Approach
can help to
solve some
African agri
problems
Facilitator SANGONeT Problems Solutions
• Need more extension • Communication
services; fewer suite for farmer
BMGF officers networks
Funder
• Terrible access to • Peer to peer
market info and market information
logistics system
• No credible small • Community
Who can identify problems? scale dairy livestock recording Who can solve problems?
performance application
Agricultural recording • Agro-inputs South (and East!)
Development • Inefficient and management and African Mobile
Organisations unsustainable agro marketing tool Services Industry
dealerships
• New Media Labs
• IDE Zambia
• The Praekelt
• CARE Zambia Foundation
• East African Dairy • Integrat
Development Project
Improving and implementing • ???
M&E Business Development Scaling and Replicating
Dalberg Umgana Africa SANGONeT / BMGF / ???