The AGRIinsight field team has arrived back in Ifakara after two weeks on the road. This is a small rural town in the Kilombero District, Morogoro Region and is the main trading centre for Kilombero and Ulanga districts. It is also the headquarters of one of the main traders with whom we are working. When we …
We have learned over the years that you cannot implement field based programmes without partners. We recognise that although we may have the technology and knowhow to implement the rollout of our mobile app, Ubia Soko, we cannot do this on our own. It would be impossible. We have brought together partners to help make …
Meet the Ubia Soko field team on their stopover in Chisano today: Frédéric, Jesko and Joshua. Fred is our CIO and has lived and worked in Tanzania for many years; he has in-depth knowledge of the region. Jesko is one of the larger commodity traders in the Morogoro region and has been central to creating …
We gained important insights from our work in Ngalimila this morning. Many farmers were complaining that they have tried using fertilisers but all they do is make the maize grow taller with no yield increases. Farmers are invariably buying cheaper urea and not complementing this with additional nutrients like P and K or new seeds. …
We were finalising our initial field training sessions today. It’s been an insightful and valuable stage in our rollout. We are continuing with further farmer registration over the next 2-3 weeks. The traders with whom we have been working are taking over this part of the process - keen to extend registration. Our target is …
We recognise the importance of mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion in our work. Research shows that involving women in agriculture creates more stable supply chains in addition to increased productivity and higher product quality. The gender gap in bank account use is currently about 10-15%, however the gap is being reversed in mobile money accounts, …
In each village we come to there is enthusiasm. The farmers' questions mainly revolve around prices, passwords and packages. Farmers are keen to understand the specifics of the inputs packages offered on Ubia Soko. Our message here today in Milmba focuses on matching inputs packages to particular commodities as well as how the platform can offer …
We have been pleased with turnout at our village-by-village rollout. One thing we are learning is the various routes we can take to scale the uptake by farmers. It is clear that the distributors and traders we are working with are keen to take on the farmer registration. One of the traders has been with …
While we know some international development agencies encourage participation through so-called "sitting fees" - Ubia Soko relies on word of mouth, farmer networks and the usefulness of the product to attract interest - we use the app to message farmers. 70 plus smallholders, both men and women, travelled up to 4 kms to attend the …
In July a few of the Agriinsight team visited Mbalaji village. When we returned today we were encouraged to see that the farmers had kept their passwords and wanted to continue to use the Ubia Soko service. We worked with farmers who were keen to train and learn more and some helped new farmers to …
