AudiencScapes

Zambia’s farmers are using mobile phones to change the way they do business.

By NEWTON SIBANDA

LUSAKA, Zambia --Slightly more than a decade ago, mobile phones were a prestigious gadget and a preserve of the elite. But today, small scale farmers, petty traders and domestic servants alike can all enjoy the services of mobile phones -- thanks to reduced prices and an extensive roll-out by service providers.

According to the 2009 statistics, Zambia has more than 4,000,000 subscribers shared by three mobile telephone service providers out of a population of about 11 million. A substantial percentage of Zambia’s agricultural workers have adopted the regular use of mobile phones and they are keeping pace with other rural groupings. In a recent AudienceScapes survey conducted in April 2010, among rural agricultural workers 45 percent reported having household access to a mobile phone. Some 48 percent of said they use a mobile phone at least weekly. These numbers are slightly higher than the adoption rate of all rural survey respondents.

For small-scale farmers, the mobile phone service has not only helped to change the way they do business, but also made their lives easier.

ICT Statistics For The Period Ending March 2010: Mobile Subscription Growth Trend in Zambia

Finding the Best Prices for Produce

Forty-eight year old Lewis Maphango, a small-scale farmer of Liteta in Chibombo, a farming district north of the capital Lusaka, is happy that the advent of the mobile phone service has made it easy for him to access market information.

“I either phone my agents or they phone me to tell me what the prices for farm produce are. Then I can decide whether to take the produce to Lusaka (80km away) or Kitwe (the hub of Zambia’s Copperbelt about 380 km north of Lusaka),” Maphango said.

“We either SMS (text message) or phone to find out how the market is. This information is important because sometimes the market is flooded,” he said.

Maphango used to incur losses from transport costs by delivering farm produce without market information. When he arrived, he would find the market too full of farmers selling similar products.

“This is now taken care of. I now make sure I am updated on prices at different market places,” he said.

Forty-seven year old Patrick Chimbofwe, another small-scale farmer from Shichimbwe village in the Chibombo district, is also happy about how the mobile phone service has transformed and enhanced his marketing of agricultural produce.

“I use SMS to find out the market price of the produce before I can deliver. This is important because it helps me to decide where to take the produce,” Chimbofwe said.

Like Maphango, his produce ranges from maize and watermelons to vegetables like cabbage, rape, tomato, onion, green pepper and eggplant.

Connecting Farmers and Buyers Directly

On a formal note, the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) -- an organization that promotes and protects the interests of farmers -- runs an information service that offers information and buyers contact details for 10 major crops and four livestock countrywide. The main crops are maize, soya beans, wheat, groundnuts, sunflower, cassava, sorghum, rice, beans, and, loosely, honey. The main livestock are cattle, goats, sheep and pigs.

ZNFU’s initiative, named 4455 after its code, directly links farmers, traders and processors at the cost of one SMS. The system is very easy to use. A farmer sends an SMS with a commodity code plus province/district code to 4455 and receives an SMS giving the buyers and prices. After selecting the best buyer, the farmer sends another SMS with buyer code to 4455 and receives the buyer’s details, so the farmer can seal the deal.

ZNFU’s trade and market information administrator Pamela Mulozi said the initiative has been beneficial to farmers by helping them to have access to market information.

“It actually helps farmers not to make any movement before knowing the commodity prices,” said Mulozi.

She said the initiative, which started in 2006, has an average of 500 users in a week on two networks, namely Zain and Cell-Z. “We are still negotiating with MTN and hopefully we will soon start working with them,” Mulozi said.

Even though the initiative remains small, according to AudienceScapes data, it seems that it has substantial room to grow. Of rural agricultural workers in the survey, 34 percent reported receiving or sending SMS messages on at least a weekly basis.

ZNFU also uses an internet service called web stat under the same initiative to provide market information. On average, there are 1,000 users of this service per week.

“For SMS, it is more of small-scale farmers but for web stat, it is more of commercial farmers, millers and extension officers because they have access to the internet,” said Mulozi.

But for Maphango and Chimbofwe, the technology provides them with also social benefits beyond the convenience of accessing market information.

“Whenever we had a funeral, we used to send people to different places to inform relatives and we were facing huge costs in travel expenses. But now, we just send an SMS and in a short period, everyone will be informed,” said Maphango.

“When we have enough money, we just call,” he said.

Chimbofwe recalls the cumbersome method of sending funeral messages by telegram or sending people to travel.

“The telegram is now old fashioned, we just use SMS,” he said.

“Life has become easier.”

Source: ZICTA (Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority)

Survey Data: National Survey of Zambia April 2010 of adults (15+) Rural Agricultural Workers n=185