Using ICT to integrate smallholder farmers into agricultural value chains : the case of DrumNet in Kenya; paper presented at IAAE eARN Africa Symposium, Beijing, August 19, 2009

Abstract

PowerPoint presentationThis presentation looks at the effect of the DrumNet intervention in smallholder sunflower production in Kenya. DrumNet is a mobile service that allows farmers to check current market prices for their produce at a range of locations. It aims to resolve the constraints of small farmers through a mobile phone-based platform. Poor market linkages contribute to the “low equilibrium poverty trap” (low investment, low harvests, low marketable surplus). DrumNet provides three sets of business support services – marketing, finance, and information – as an integrated package for small farmers that have typically been unable to move into better paying output markets