Helping Malawi’s farmers bridge the information gap

A pile of freshly harvested orange sweet potatoes stacked at his feet, William Binalison grabs his phone and dials a number. After listening intently, he hangs up, turns to me and smiles.

“They advised me to store my potatoes in a cool, dark place, free from damp dirt to avoid decay,” he said.

Last year, when Binalison harvested sweet potatoes for the first time he stored his crop in a loose mound on his farm in central Malawi.  Many tubers rotted.

Living about 30km from the nearest town, he had to travel by foot to get help from farm extension advisors.

“I used to produce just enough food to feed myself and my two children,” he explained.

But he now does things differently.

A voice-activated service called ‘321’ seeks to bridge the information gap experienced by many African farmers by providing them with timely advice on their crops and businesses on their mobiles.

The platform is part of an initiative launched in 2014 by Self Help Africa with Humanitarian Network International and Airtel Malawi, a local phone and internet provider.  

It harnesses the increasing use of mobile phones across the continent, with the mobile penetration rate standing at 40 percent in Malawi alone last year, an increase of 10 percent in less than five years.

Since he started using the 321 service two years ago, Binalison has “received advice on pest management, handling crops post-harvest and market information.”

“Both my yields, and the money I make from farming have improved,” he said. “Last year, I made 25,000 Kwacha (about $35) by selling my surplus of sweet potatoes.”

Today, close to 800,000 Malawian smallholder farmers use the platform –on demand and at low cost.

In less than three years, it has processed more than one million calls and received over six million texts.

CLOSING THE INFORMATION GAP

Up to 85 percent of Malawi’s population lives in rural areas, with most relying on subsistence agriculture.

In the most remote villages, farming advice is scarce. Extension workers, who must travel on foot or by bike, rarely venture far from the main towns, explained Louis Malajira, project officer at Self Help Africa.

The 321 service seeks to remedy this by providing information on the planting, harvesting and post-harvest management of 15 crops and vegetables.

It also gives advice on topics such as livestock management, market prices, weather, nutrition, health, gender and more. The first eight calls are available free of charge, after which the user is charged 15 kwacha ($0.20) per call.

REACHING WOMEN

Reaching women farmers initially proved challenging as men control the ownership and use of phones in the majority of households.

Working alongside governmental extension workers, the project embarked on an awareness raising campaign of the platform and access to phones for women.

The results were encouraging, with the number of women using ‘321’ doubling in just one year.

“It is important that women access farm information, as they do most of the agricultural work. For them, the platform is also a valuable source of information on health and gender-related topics such as household and property issues,” added Malajira.

Similar services are being piloted by Self Help Africa in Zambia and Burkina Faso, with the hope that many more farmers could soon find farming advice at the other end of the line.