In Ghana, the agricultural north supplies food to buyers in the south. The travel is mostly done by car and takes up a lot of time. Also, these long journeys are done carrying large sums of money, as the north suffers from a lack of banks. To face the issue of large money trandactions across the country, the ADVANCE II Project (Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement) has developed a mobile money solution as it diminishes the threat of theft, ensures efficient payment and offers the access to financial services such as savings, insurance, and credit. USAID ’s ADVANCE II Project...
The USAID’s Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP) signed a partnership agreement with the Ghana Fisheries Commission and Tigo Ghana called "Tigo Fishers Network Initiative." which aims to provide fisher folk with tailored mobile solutions using Tigo platform. In Ghana, 10 per cent of the population work directly or indirectly in the fishing sector, which generates over one billion dollars in revenue annually and accounts for at least 4.5 per cent of Ghana's GDP. Photo Credits: stopillegalfishing.com Tigo Fisheries Network will provide fisher folk information access on best...
The G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Declaration 2017 "Towards food and water security: Fostering sustainability, advancing innovation" published after the meeting held on January 22nd 2017 in Berlin, acknowledges the importance of ICTs for agricultural development, following the discussion on ICT in agriculture initiated at the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in Xi’an in 2016. The Agriculture Ministers acknowledged the potential of ICTs for improved food chain efficiency, productivity and sustainability of agriculture, improved animal husbandry practices and for adaptation and mitigation...
Agricultural insurance is essential for smallholder farmers, as plots of land are small and the consequences of crop diseases and climate change effects can be disastrous. Yeld loss and damage monitoring and verification can be long and laborious task, causing huge delays in settlements. Although new technologies have been applied, drones, micro-satellites, digital photography can help improve the monitoring of crops and yelds for smallholders and insurance companies. Remote sensing can be a key tool for farmers to prove their crop and harvest loss to insurance companies. At the same time,...
One of the main challenges for development of smallholder farmers' livelihoods is access to market information and financial services. Smallholder farmers are the most underserved group in the world by financial services, with women and youth at a particular disadvantage. Arifu is a platform that provides customer capability-building through mobile technology. The Kenya-based platform tests, refines, and hosts content developed by various educational organizations via SMS on mobile phones. Arifu has a team of digital learning experts who work with providers to design and develop behaviorally-...
THOUSANDS of smallholder farmers in the region are set to benefit from a digital platform connecting them to agents, buyers and banks in East Africa. Launched by Mastercard , 2KUZE, as the platform is known, is the latest offering in the region hailed as the cradle of African technology innovation. The agricultural technology app was developed at Mastercard's Nairobi Labs for Financial Inclusion with the support of the Gates Foundation. 2KUZE’s primary value proposition is connecting farmers, agents, and buyers on a digital platform toward greater pricing transparency and more effective...
