USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has partnered with Agromovil, an innovative US-based technology company to assist smallholder farmers in East and West Africa to be visible to buyers and buyers to have an easy way to reach producers.
This has been made possible through Agromovil App which provides visibility which helps for example, farmers be more efficient and connect directly with buyers resulting in increased producer incomes.
“I am happy now I have been registered into the App. I would recommend to my fellow producers to register as long as they have the avocado trees. Also, I call upon aged farmers who are new to technology not to be afraid. It is simple. Ask your children to help you register, even they can do it,” said Frank Mbiwilo, avocado farmer from Tanzania who is a user of the app.
This new tool has also received great feedback from farmers in Ghana as with their counterparts in Tanzania being the two countries where it has been piloted.
“Sometimes when we harvest, we struggle to sell our produce. The Agromovil App helps us see buyers from different places and make sure our products are sold,” said Bindaw Ramani Musah, a Ghanaian farmer and user of the Agromovil App.
Piloting
Starting in October 2022, FAS provided funding through the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), enabling Agromovil to launch a pilot of their app with sorghum producers.
It has also worked with Agromovil in Tanzania, where the company was paired with the Tanzanian Horticultural Association (TAHA) to work with the onion and avocado producers and buyers. This project was funded by USAID and Tanzania.
In various regions of the countries, smallholder farmers and buyers struggled to match and get goods sold, resulting in food waste and lost opportunities for small farming communities.
However, this approach is now providing significant benefits to the agriculture industries in Ghana and Tanzania with growth in farmer income which is poised to help spur growth in agricultural trade.
Equal access
In addition, while women farmers do much of the work of African agriculture, FAS has realised that they often receive less than men for their products.
Agromovil can help serve as an equalizer, providing all users with equal access to buyers and giving women-owned farmers a better opportunity to succeed in agribusiness.
Since the full launch of Agromovil in both countries in 2022, more than 1,600 farmers and buyers have signed up, resulting in more than $3.5 million of agricultural sales.
More than half of the farmers who are using the app are young farmers and women farmers, strengthening diversity and establishing a stronger new generation of farmers in both African nations.
