SIANI, and Sida invite you to a seminar assessing the potential of mobile phones to support development within the agricultural sector. The event will bring together African and Swedish development actors with the private sector.
The following themes will be discussed:
- Using the mobile phone as learning tool for rural farming communities
- Scaling up: Providing locally relevant content to an expanding user base.
- How sustainable business models create sustainable development.
There are huge opportunities for improvements in agricultural productivity, livelihood resilience and future food security. Mobile technology in agriculture or ‘m-agriculture’ offers a smart way to support rural agricultural development by providing information direct to farmers.
Increases in agricultural production and food security benefit both the farmer and supply food for the growing urban populations. Traditional agricultural extension services have a hard job as they must educate farmers in an increasingly wide array of areas; adapting to climate change, following market prices and understanding weather patterns. However with ratios of just one extension officer to 46,000 farmers as in Uganda it becomes an impossible task. M-agriculture is able to support these existing networks and help the right information reach the intended recipient (with a mobile phone).
This seminar will highlight the need to offer the correct support for the development and up-scaling of these information services in order to encourage sustainability and resilience within the agricultural sector.