Rachel Zedeck
| تَنظِيم | Backpack Farm | Kenya |
|---|---|
| Organization type | Private Sector (Commercial Companies) |
| الدولة | Kenya |
Rachel Zedeck if the Founder and Managing Director of the Backpack Farm Agriculture Program (BPF), an internationally recognized social enterprise with a mission to "grow 1 million+ smallholder farmers out of poverty."
With a unique approach to training, rural distribution and finance, they were the first commercial enterprise to launch mobile training in Kenya and continue to expand the program with a more advanced mobile application. Most recently, the Backpack Farm was named a finalist for the Katerva Award honoring the best groundbreaking ideas on the planet with the ability to make the planet a healthier and more sustainable place by reaching scale.
This member participated in the following Forums
المنتدى Forum: "Using ICT to enable Agricultural Innovation Systems for smallholders" September, 2012
Question 1 (opens 17 Sept.)
Sheila
I am spending a lot of time talking about women and our mobile tool. Ironically we've seen that women are not early adopters of technology but are early adopters of training. I don't think we need to develop different content for women vs. men but we have explored design and usability; meaning do women need a tool designed differently. I don't think we will know more until after the results of our trial in October.
Rachel
iCow is phenomenal... I think the critical tipping point is the financial support the team received to develop both expert content and a technically sound user experience. We can't hope to see more scalable models until more commercial equity is made available to both incubation and growth stage ventures.
Bruce.. Please email me.. I would love to see if we can adopt any of your existing content into our mobile application to support Kenyan farmers.
Jill .. Feel free to email me directly if you would like a more complete profile or our training tool. It's primary goal is to collate expert content / advice designed for smallholder farmers. Becuase we actively train in the dirt, we are simply translating this expertise and existing content into a mobile deliery tool. In the future, we will need support to develop better training materials, like training videos. Working in Kenya translates into limitless resources and technical experts.
Michael.. right now, we are planning a trial of KUZA Doctor a commercial value chain. Because they already have reports of MRLs directly impacting their harvest, we have established a baseline. Our primary goal is to report the impact of mobile training on their existing risk. The wholesale company simply wants to find a cost effective training intervention so will reflect a holisitic commercial venture.
Roxy
Hello... as a field based social enterprise, we design our own training material but its foundation is grounded in established conservation farming practices. We focus more on the use of language to ensure that farmers understand the technical tips. Ideally training needs to be visual which is why we are advocating a transition from basic sms to a complete mobile application. As our application matures, we plan to partner with other technologies to link community, suppliers and market.
Rachel
Fulvio.. across the East and Sub Saharan region there are commercial networks including Safaricom, ZAIN and Orange. the majority of commercial or donor funded interventions will partner with an existing network which farmers are linked to.
As Bruce mentions, local bandwidth continues to become more and more affordable for both basic phone, sms and internet access. The bigger challenge accessing the internet is a more affordable smart phone but even here we have seen cost drop up to 40% in less than 18 months. I fully expect to see a basic android on the market costing less than $25 in another 18 months.
The Backpack Farm Agriculture Program (BPF) distributes packages of “green” farming inputs and training through a network of franchise training and distribution centers expanding across rural Kenya. The BPF is an internationally recognized social enterprise committed to transforming Arica’s smallholder farmers into agri-preneurs— empowered to feed themselves and the world.
Our grassroots program is now enhanced by the first crop-specific, mobile phone-delivered agriculture training content designed specifically to support smallholder farmer's primary production in Kenya and the East Africa region delivered in both English and Swahili. We deliver content via both sms and basic smart phone application. Our sms content includes farming tips for 20 specific crops. the more comprehensive mobile application includes 5 sections including training videos, crop specific production models, crops & diseases.
Yes, we are differentiating the target audience. The smallholder farming community encompasses both subsistence and semi-commercial smallholders on 2-5 acres. We are committed to supporting both with the critical advice and technical information to improve the quality and quantity of their crops.
The benefits of our commercial model include:
- Basic handsets or android “smart phones.”
- Affordable – less than $1.25 for either basic sms or mobile application;
- Content developed and tested at BPF’s existing network of training farms in Kenya;
- Open to smallholder farmers on all provider networks ensuring maximum reach, accessibility;
- Voluntary, on-demand access;
- Affordability: Package prices with phone, content and bandwidth;
- Training videos ensures value to semi-literate audience;
- Cost-effective supplement to physical training programs for major international NGOs and commercial out-grower value chains;
- Content can be retrieved & used multiple times further re-enforcing viral knowledge transfer -- unlike radio-based information, tips which airs one-time;
- Content available in English and Swahili-- the primary languages of East Africa Community (EAC).
- Leverage international partnerships.
Bruce
I love anything that will help to eliminate the use of fake products. But just as critical is focusing on MRLs (maximum residue levels) at least in supporting export value chains. Yes, we want to protect commercial interests and farmer yields but farmers also need to learn how to use the right amount of approved product and avoid banned products.
But always happy to see basic sms being used effectively.
Rachel