Kenya’s hugely-successful mobile money transfer service M-Pesa announced that they have partnered with Kenyan software solution and agribusiness company M-Farm Limited with the aim to improve the agricultural business for small-scale farmers.
“M-Pesa Foundation is bridging the digital divide between agricultural sector and the ICT sector by partnering with M-Farm Limited to support agribusiness. We are about transforming lives and we believe this will change the lives of farmers for the better,” said M-Pesa Foundation Executive Director Les Baillie.
The objective of the partnership is to increase “transparency in the agricultural crop market and ensure best practices in agriculture using web and mobile, share crop prices throughout the country, train farmers and exchange platform for commodities,” the company explained.
M-Farm CEO Jamilla Abbas added that the M-Pesa offering will ensure that farmers are getting the best deal possible, and minimises the chances of them being swindled. “This software will ensure that farmers are no longer exploited by middlemen who make away with all the profits leaving the small scale farmers with little if any income.”
In addition to the partnership between M-Pesa and M-Farm, Baillie also unveiled a $230 000 grant to M-Farm for the piloting of a Farm Agent and Quality Control Model, which will deliver information and better prices to farmers through mobile technology.
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
