Mobile data services to boost agric in Africa
The arrival of more robust mobile data services will trigger the development of “mobile-agriculture” applications that will help make agricultural economies in the Africa/Middle East (AME) region more efficient and more profitable, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.
The report said by 2015, 27 percent of revenue for mobile network operators in the AME will come from data services, adding that the increasing mobile phone subscriptions and the large agricultural workforce in Africa and the Middle East make m-agriculture applications an area worth developing for telecom operators.
It said the use of mobile applications in agriculture provides mobile phone users in the AME with several socioeconomic benefits that vary from better crop management to increased income.
“Although it is still too early to document the direct impact it will have for mobile network operators, the experience with other applications in the region leads us to believe that m-agriculture will contribute to lower churn rates, increased network traffic, and increased loyalty,” the report said.
The report noted that due to poor infrastructure in some of these countries, it is difficult to receive accurate information about crop pricing and other market conditions, adding that as a result, large agricultural populations often rely on middlemen to obtain this information.
“Additionally, a lack of understanding about outside factors, such as insects, droughts, and disease that can afflict crops, leaves agricultural populations prone to crop loss – these stark realities highlight the potential of m-agriculture applications to deliver on-demand agricultural information to the most vulnerable, thus creating a virtuous cycle of increased prosperity for farmers and operators alike,” the report said.
In Ghana telecom operators collaborate with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) to support pineapple farmers in parts of the country with mobile packages that enable them to share and receive market information.
Some of the individual operators, like Vodafone and MTN, also support farmers groups such as rice farmers and fisher folks with subsidized voice and sms packages that enable the fisher folk for instance to receive scientific and market information even whiles at sea.
The Pyramid Research Report said productivity and efficiency in the agricultural sector are often crucial to a country’s stability for economies in the developing world that still rely heavily on agricultural production.
By Samuel Dowuona
The arrival of more robust mobile data services will trigger the development of “mobile-agriculture” applications that will help make agricultural economies in the Africa/Middle East (AME) region more efficient and more profitable, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.
The report said by 2015, 27 percent of revenue for mobile network operators in the AME will come from data services, adding that the increasing mobile phone subscriptions and the large agricultural workforce in Africa and the Middle East make m-agriculture applications an area worth developing for telecom operators.
It said the use of mobile applications in agriculture provides mobile phone users in the AME with several socioeconomic benefits that vary from better crop management to increased income.
“Although it is still too early to document the direct impact it will have for mobile network operators, the experience with other applications in the region leads us to believe that m-agriculture will contribute to lower churn rates, increased network traffic, and increased loyalty,” the report said.
The report noted that due to poor infrastructure in some of these countries, it is difficult to receive accurate information about crop pricing and other market conditions, adding that as a result, large agricultural populations often rely on middlemen to obtain this information.
“Additionally, a lack of understanding about outside factors, such as insects, droughts, and disease that can afflict crops, leaves agricultural populations prone to crop loss – these stark realities highlight the potential of m-agriculture applications to deliver on-demand agricultural information to the most vulnerable, thus creating a virtuous cycle of increased prosperity for farmers and operators alike,” the report said.
In Ghana telecom operators collaborate with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) to support pineapple farmers in parts of the country with mobile packages that enable them to share and receive market information.
Some of the individual operators, like Vodafone and MTN, also support farmers groups such as rice farmers and fisher folks with subsidized voice and sms packages that enable the fisher folk for instance to receive scientific and market information even whiles at sea.
The Pyramid Research Report said productivity and efficiency in the agricultural sector are often crucial to a country’s stability for economies in the developing world that still rely heavily on agricultural production.
By Samuel Dowuona