Digifarm is a mobile phone platform, the latest innovation by the region’s biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom. The operator, part-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone, is under pressure to create new revenue streams as its voice business matures. Digifarm bypasses middlemen, giving small-holder farmers direct access to low-cost seeds and fertilizer, credit providers, and bulk purchasers of their produce. After a successful two-year pilot, during which it registered 1 million farmers of which 42,000 are active, it is on a hiring spree and seeking new logistics partners. Digifarm also offers farmers insurance against weather damage, training programmes, and advice on soil testing to increase yields. About 1,000 farmers enrolled with Digifarm are getting payouts after floods destroyed their crops. Digifarm farmers receive 10,500 shillings of credit per acre of maize, which they repay with 15% interest once the crop is sold. Once the maize is collected, Digifarm arranges a buyer who pays 33.3 shillings per kg of maize – 3.3 shillings more than traditional brokers.
SOURCE: SUCCESSFUL FARMING
More Stories
The Marshall Nature Reserve Gives a Different Glimpse of the Sudanese Capital
The Journey of Moving Tanzanians Around
Correcting Kinshasa’s Commodity Crisis
Can African Leaders Rate Themselves?
First Black African to Win Grand Tour Stage
Financing Dangote’s Fertiliser Dream Tougher than Expected
This is a Moment for the Women of Kenya
US Support in Somalia Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time
A Symbol of Sudan’s Resistance
Families of Trapped Miners in Limbo
Google Translate Announces an Addition of 10 Languages Spoken in Africa
All Four Tourists Reported Missing in the Fish River Canyon have been Accounted For