Monday, August 22, 2011

Mobile apps for extension

There is a growing realization that many of the urgently needed reforms in addressing food security, market development, and climate change will only be effective if strong advisory institutions are in place to provide support to rural populations. Such may consist of all the different activities that provide the information and services needed and demanded by farmers and other actors in rural settings to assist them in developing their own technical, organizational, and management skills and practices so as to improve their livelihoods and well-being.
In this regard, courtesy of Apps4Africa Challenge, we can now talk about iCOW. A voice based mobile application that will help farmers to track the estrus stages of their cows helping them to manage their breeding as well as cow nutrition leading up to calving day. This is done via a series of voice prompts and SMS messages that will be sent to the farmer in the course of the 365 days cycle. What a way of providing extension services? With such innovations, we‘re going to take agricultural extension to the next level and make the sector more rewarding




No comments:

Post a Comment