Its been some time since we last posted about our activities. It doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy – far from it!
Late last year we opened for business in Tanzania and now have a fully operational subsidiary based in Dar es Salaam. We are recruiting as well – so watch this space!
In January we secured new funding and have begun a larger more expansive phase of rice farmer registration in Kilombero. We aim to register a further 7,000 farmers by June. By registering, farmers will gain access to agricultural and financial services via their feature phones.
One of the key lessons learned from the 2019 field work was the need for physical village presence that allows farmers and their families to get further training as well as to provide walk-in registration. The wakala will offer services in input/output sales, bank agency and mobile money support as well an information and training centre.
We plan to pilot 2-3 wakala’s in strategic villages in Kilombero in the second quarter of 2020 to test out how receptive farmers will be to the concept.
We are currently busy training new field registration agents in Kilombero. Many are university graduates and we are very pleased to be offering them their first jobs. They are undergoing intensive training at present before they go into the field later this month.
Finally – if you haven’t seen it yet – check out our new video! Any feedback, questions or comments please let us know.