Uganda innovators have come up with a new mobile application aimed to help farmers access farm technologies and equipment for hiring and use in their farms as it links them (farmers) to service providers so as to increase productivity.
The app that has been developed by AgriShare, a Ugandan tech start-up hiring and renting agricultural resources to farmers in a shared economy model, is now available for download freely from Google Play Store and is accessible anywhere.
“For many years, farmers have failed to get a number of services because they do not know where and how to access them. This application is coming to solve this. It can be accessed from wherever the farmers are,” said Paul Zaake, the managing director at AgriShare.
This way, says Zaake, farmers are able to grow more and on time, irrigate therefore becoming resilient to climate shocks, get more yields, add value which reduce food loss, easily transport produces to the markets.
“Whether you are abroad or too busy to look for service providers in the agriculture sector, you will only need a smartphone and internet to access the services. For those who might always be busy in offices and are not able to tend to their farms, this application has a provision for someone to help you supervise it.”
Speaking in Kampala during the launch of the app, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, Minister for ICT and National Guidance said such innovations will help farmers make use of new technologies for better yields.
“This innovation will help farmers add value to the kind of work that they do. We are doing everything possible to get the country connected and with internet, such innovations will come in handy for use by farmers,”Baryomunsi said, adding that currently, at least half of the population in the country is connected to internet.
He noted that government will try to see how to the new innovation can be applicable to the Parish Development Model, the new program by government to help fight poverty.
From the beginning, the app was designed in close collaboration with potential users. With the help of user tests, AgriShare is constantly being optimized and further developed. The app has already received recognition at the WFP Innovation Pitch Night where it won the jury award.
Like many apps, AgriShare works via a smartphone and mobile data. Farmers therefore do not need their own assets to connect with commercial or private rental services.
“And that is precisely the goal of the smartphone app AgriShare. Smallholder families and farms can connect with each other to share resources and services,” said Zaake.
According to him, for many years smallholder farmers in Africa have had little access to important equipment and services to improve their productivity, yields, and value-added opportunities while few private and public services are available to farming communities for the loan of materials.
“The gap between supply and demand is large,” said Zaake, “nevertheless, among those who own and rent equipment, the level of underutilization is very high because often farmers and service providers do not know about each other and that is where AgriShare App comes in.”
