Tanzanian Farmers and Their SMS-Empowered Market Spy
What happens when a member of your agricultural community spends time investigating the supply chain for your goods? Meet Stanley Mchome, who uses a mobile phone to send back prices and collect information on rice prices and customer satisfaction for his community. His activities have not only helped to empower local farmers but to substantially increase their incomes.
I love these kinds of stories. They showcase so well what can happen when a community is using technology to overcome inefficiencies.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great story. Thanks for sharing it. Stories like this really inspire me to put my passion for technology to good use. I love that simple technologies that we use everyday can make such a big impact on the socioeconomic developments of a whole community.
@John Rife - It is an interesting story, and I’m intrigued enough to go looking for more examples of where increased information has helped local communities. I’ll see what else I can dig up.
You can’t get much more low-tech than a spy with a mobile phone. =)
(Well, maybe a spy with a landline?!).
[...] 2) Small pockets of people doing SMS messaging to inform farmers of fair market prices are helping to improve the income/economic efficiency of their regions: http://whiteafrican.com/2008/12/01/tanzanian-farmers-and-their-sms-empowered-market-spy/ [...]
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