E-Agriculture

Ari.farm agricultural app brings Somali livestock farmers into the digital economy

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Ari.farm agricultural app brings Somali livestock farmers into the digital economy

Ari.farm is a new agricultural app based in Stockholm and designed to bring nomadic Somali livestock farmers into the digital economy. The concept on which the project evolves is called “crowd-farming,” similar to crowd-funding but adapted to agriculture, consisting in connecting farmers and investors through a digital platform.

The Ari.farm mobile application permits users to purchase and invest in livestock in Somalia with the help of a smartphone. Users can buy animals such as goats, sheep, cows or camels which are then raised and cared for by the nomadic farmers. Profits are then shared between the owners and the farmers when the animals are sold or have offspring. The platform allows users to name and monitor the well-being of the animals they purchase through real-time statistics.

Watch the founder of Ari.farm, Mohamed Jimale speaking at the TEDx Talks in February 2017

Credits: TED

The Ari.farm team (made up also by former nomads) monitors the market and makes decisions on the buying and selling of animals. When the animals are sold, the user can choose either to re-invest or withdraw the money.

Up to now, there have been more than 500 animals sold through Ari.farm. More broadly, the service has provided job opportunities to nomads in rural areas and has helped Somali farmers finance their losses resulting from seasonal drought and other natural calamities.

Source: ITU Blog

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