KENYA | Women in Agri-Trade
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has supported Farm Concern International, FCI to link 8,669 women smallholder farmers with 489 buyers and sell commodities worth USD 560,013 through commercial villages in Central and Eastern Kenya within a period of 21 months.
Programme Summary
FCI with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Challenge Fund is implementing the e-Mama program for women households in Kenya through its CVM and CPGs. e-Mama is a pilot project being implemented in Mount Kenya Hub (Kieni, Mbeere and Meru) and the greater Nairobi Hub targeting 10,000 households with access to markets and information services.
The main goal of this project is to increase the value retained by households from their farm enterprises through leveraging on technology to provide actionable agronomic, market and business services. In the short span of implementation, the project has profiled and selected 10 CVs in Mt Kenya and Greater Nairobi regions, developed data collection tools for various targets such as households, traders, agro-dealers and other service providers. The project also conducted 10 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and baseline survey involving 100 households each from the greater Nairobi & its environs and Mt. Kenya regions, and initiated the design e-Mama software.
Highlights
AFMA-X to save USD 5.9 Million, 124.48 million kilometres, for 1 million farmers
A survey conducted by Farm Concern International (FCI) targeting 2,390 small holder farmers who are on the AFMA-X (African Farms and Markets Exchange) pilot phase has established that farmers in Africa have potential to save millions of hours spent travelling as well as millions of dollars. The E-Women AFMA-X is a mobile phone based innovation developed by FCI. The innovation aims to reduce labor and time spent by smallholder women farmers in accessing quality farm inputs, services and market information with minimal mobility. Read More
Case Studies
Transforming Generations for a Better Future
A recent survey conducted by FCI shows that one million women farmers could save Kshs 504 Million (USD 5.9 Million) per year in transport costs to the market to obtain farm inputs while. This is through the Women Farmers in Agri e-Trade programme, an innovation designed by FCI with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The programme aims at helping women smallholder farmers reduce time spent in accessing quality farm inputs, a priority of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at using technology to help farmers hone their business skills in order to save time. Read more
Over 5,300 women on AFMA-X mobile phone app to increase productivity
Mobile communications technology has quickly become the world’s most common way of transmitting voice, data, and services in the developing world. Given this dramatic change, mobile applications (m-apps) in general and mobile applications for agricultural and rural development (m-ARD apps) in particular hold significant potential for advancing development. They could provide the most affordable ways for millions of people to access information, markets, finance, and governance systems previously unavailable to them (World Bank, December 2011). It is on this basis Farm Concern International (FCI) through E-Women Project innovates African Farms and Market Exchange (AFMA-X) ... Read More
Mobile telephony app to save money and time for smallholder farmers
A survey conducted by Farm Concern International (FCI) on 2,390 farmers revealed that smallholder farmers can save money and time if they can optimize the readily accessible mobile platform. Research show that Kenya has a population of 43 million people; 30 million are subscribed to mobile phone services. This is about 70% of the entire population. The acceleration of money mobile phone transfer services and mobile banking have offered an affordable and convenient transactions both in the formal and informal markets. Read More
FCI Programmes
FCI VISION :Commercialized smallholder communities with increased incomes for improved, stabilized & sustainable livelihoods in Africa and beyond.