Mobiles Give Africa’s Farmers the Chance to Set Out Their Stall

The African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) and its partner Farm-Africa in Katine has developed a strategy that aims to empower the farmers of Katine in northeast Uganda by providing them with cell phones. Although cell-phone growth has exceeded initial estimates, Uganda still lags behind the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo where mobile subscriptions far exceed fixed-line telephones. Venansio Tumuhaise, Amref’s project officer, suggests that the farmers in Uganda can benefit greatly from a market information system that displays market prices for produce and hence eliminates the need for middlemen, among other benefits described in this article by David Smith for the Guardian. Expensive equipment, exorbitant call charges and no electricity in villages hinder the growth of cell phone usage in the country. But collaboration between networks and NGOs can bring the mobile phone revolution to Katine. – YaleGlobal