The programme, dubbed MFarmer SMS, currently operates under the Nakaseke Community Telecentre in Uganda with an aim of helping farmers in rural areas to connect with better markets. It encourages two-way feedback with farmers, buyers and agro-processors, and other service providers. The project is designed to help farmers access agricultural market price information and weather information through their mobile phones.
“We are using Frontline SMS to manage, send and receive SMS. The key advantage of FrontlineSMS is that it can be customized to suit any organisation’s needs. You can adapt it for all sorts of services, and communicate with your community about anything: agricultural market price information, weather, natural calamities, or an alert system,” explained the program coordinator Balaba Peter.
The project, which reached over 600 farmers by the end of 2013 which was the year of its inception, is aimed at reaching over 45000 farmers from Nakaseke district. Acording to Balaba, the project was launched in Nakaseke district because the site is one of Uganda’s six innovative Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs). The CMCs are part of a global initiative by UNESCO to promote community empowerment and bridge the digital divide in the developing world by supporting community radio and providing access to the Internet.
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