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Herald Reporter
The promotion of the wider adoption of appropriate information and knowledge technologies among smallholder farmers in the country can help improve their yields, incomes and resilience, says a local farmer markets expert.Knowledge Transfer Africa-Emkambo farmer markets expert Charles Dhewa said if smallholder farmers had better access to appropriate information and knowledge it could help them make informed choices about farming practices and allow them to transition to higher value and premium crops.

“The expansion of ICTs in the country should help us provide farmers with information on market prices of farm produce and where to get critical farm inputs,” he said.

“Wider use can also help smallholder farmers on methods of value addition as well as sharing important farming knowledge.”
Dhewa said while the ICT industry was expanding rapidly in the country it was critical to also address issues related to agricultural content required by farmers.

“While the ICT industry is said to be growing in Zimbabwe, it is mainly the number of gadgets — phones, laptops and other hand-held devices that is growing and not the important asset — content,” he said.

“To fill in this gap, we are gathering, processing, customising and brokering agricultural content to help farmers with information and knowledge about markets.”

He said his organisation’s programme to promote the use of ICTs to facilitate access to market information would help empower farmers who are the major beneficiaries of land reform.

Knowledge Transfer Africa-Emkambo operates as a call centre connecting farmers, traders, transporters, agro-dealers, consumers and value chain actors in more than 20 markets around Zimbabwe via mobile phones.

One of their stations is at Mbare Msika market. The organisation started operating in 2012 with less than 500 members and now the number has grown to 100 000.

Apart from poor access to ICTs and markerts, smallholder farmers still face numerous challenges that include poor infrastructure, lack of capital or access to credit and weak local institutions.

They also are often not aware of agricultural best practices and lack opportunities to share information with peers, suppliers, and customers.