adminWhat lifts a piece of content above all the noise is the value it has to the person reading it. Farmers are interested in specific content on markets and sources of finance.
Instead of just pushing information on airtime bonuses, mobile service providers should fully collaborate with specialised content developers who can shape information and knowledge for a particular audience.
It takes effort to create meaningful content with a bigger purpose that will compel farmers to buy airtime and call to find out more.
Without such content, mobile service providers will continue sending unsolicited information about airtime bonuses, mobile finance and the importance of not driving while drunk.
The best way of providing services to farmers is understanding their requirements not offering discounts on mobile calls.
Rather than manipulating farmers through advertisements to send and receive money through EcoCash and other money transfer mechanisms, enable them to find markets so that they make more money which they can then send through EcoCash.
Who is generating the US$100 million EcoCash claims to be moving every month and where is it generated?
Over-promoting the movement of cash spurs consumption and inflation at the expense of a saving culture. The emphasis should be production not movement of cash.
Why should an economy reeling from de-industrialisation promote the movement of cash instead of investment in productive sectors such as agro-processing? Building the
capacity of farmers and traders to narrate their work is an essential part of encouraging content development.
Real time and reliable data is critical if we are to take advantage of ICTs such as mobile phones in achieving economic growth through agriculture.
Data and valuable content can assist in circumventing cookie cutter solutions like contract farming that are being promoted as a panacea to agriculture development at the expense of other diverse options deployed by smallholder farmers and traders.
Through data, there is overwhelming evidence that remarkable things are happening at Mbare and other informal markets.
In a competitive landscape where challenges keep changing and data never stops flowing, data gathering and processing help decision-makers shift from ad hoc analysis to an ongoing conversation with data.
It’s not enough for Zimbabwe to be awash with ICT gadgets without the much needed capacity for appreciating data, localising external knowledge and externalising local knowledge using data science skills.
Working at Mbare and other agricultural markets around the country, Knowledge Transfer Africa is eager to use the burgeoning power of mobile technology in designing and generating farmer-focused market intelligence.
The big question we hope to successfully answer is: how do you use mobile technology to measure meaning, promote learning, and evaluate understanding in agriculture and rural development?
Assembling information on farmer and trader behaviour at a minute level of detail opens new avenues for understanding the complexity of agriculture.
Previously hidden patterns in the way farmers and traders navigate and master complex market activities are being brought to light through our eMkambo services. And by pinpointing the most predictive factors for success in agriculture, eMkambo will eventually be able to guide each farmer, trader and value chain actor onto the right socio-economic trajectory.
- Charles Dhewa is the Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Transfer Africa (Pvt) Ltd (www.knowledgetransafrica.com which has a knowledge sharing facility called eMkambo (www.emkambo.co.zw). He can be contacted through [email protected]/[email protected] or 0772 137 717/0774 430 309/0712 737 430.
Online Reporter