Manica, Sofala, Zambezia and Nampula
2017 – 2019

Because less than 5% of farmers receive technical assistance in the provinces where we work, ICT (Information Communication) tools are an increasingly viable way of reaching large volumes of farmers, many of whom would otherwise be excluded from traditional extension services. Not only that but, faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, they are now a necessity. 

Our MultiMedia Extension Project, funded by USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and DfID, tested the use of community radio, cellphones (SMS, IVR and USSD) and video for rural extension. 

Through the Vodacom and VIAMO managed 321 platform, we disseminated SMS, IVR and USSD messages regarding good agricultural practices, commodity price information and information regarding goods and services to 69,000 smallholders.

With Farm Radio International, we supported seven community radio stations to produce and air interactive, agriculture-based radio programs to 700,000 listeners. As a result, 365,000 farmers adopted at least one of the promoted technologies, corresponding to around 485,000 ha of land under cultivation with improved techniques.

We continued the use of ICT tools for agriculture though our partnership with Future Water, an organization which specializes in the use of flying sensors (drones). The use of flying sensors allows us to monitor crop production, evaluate our activities and detect crop stress three weeks before the naked eye and, as such, they have become integral part of our PROMAC project monitoring toolkit.