ZFU now texting farmers

ZFU second vice president Mr Berean Mukwende said the system would keep farmers informed and make informed decisions especially when selling their produce.

“The information is free and the farmer qualifies for the programme by becoming a member of the union.
“We are also communicating with some farmers through e-mails and we may soon use ‘Whatsapp’ to convey messages to farmers,” he said.

Mr Mukwende said the system of using mobile phones is common in West Africa and is convenient to farmers.
Head of marketing Mr Philip Gumunyu said ZFU staff collects prices of farm produce from markets countrywide and send them to members once every week.

“The cellphone message scheme is a result of collaboration between the union and Esoko — a Ghanaian company — which provides the technology.
“A total of 16 markets are providing information but the scheme is expected to grow over time to cover all the major markets in Zimbabwe,” he said.

He said companies that sell farm inputs and those that buy farm produce would be sending their bids to the ZFU platform indicating the prices of their inputs or products.
The information would then be communicated to farmers via SMS.

“Farmers can also get these company prices by sending messages to the platform. Farmers are able to advertise their produce by sending a message to the platform and their offers will automatically be relayed to the buying companies,” said Mr Gumunyu.

The system is able to link the farmers to the buyers of farm products as well as to sellers of farm inputs.
Mr Gumunyu said the advantage of the platform is that the union is able to send information to a target group such as beef producers and links farmers directly to buyers of farm produce and to sellers of farm inputs.

He said farmers are able to personally send messages asking for prices of their produce at markets of their choice and they would get instant responses.
“When a farmer has information on the prices from different markets, he or she is able to decide where and when to sell the products,” he said.