SMS as a Solution to Farming in Rural Communties

“ … many times while I am going about my farming activities, I find challenges; but these have been made easier because I immediately send an SMS to Maria (CELAC Staff) who sends to me a reply within which is the solution to the challenge I have encountered… ” narrates Mrs. Mpungu Elizabeth, a farmer from Masaka district during a discussion in the recently conducted CELAC Village knowledge brokers’ training at the BROSDI Development Center, Mayuge. SMS is one of the ICT methods used to disseminate and share knowledge in the CELAC project.

CELAC, Collecting and Exchange of Local Agricultural Content, is one of the BROSDI Project. It targets improving rural farmers’ livelihoods and food security through engaging the government and the civil society in knowledge sharing and information management using ICT methods. The project has representation in all the four regions in Uganda, and promotes adoption of use of indigenous farming knowledge to particularly grassroot farmers that cannot afford modern farming inputs in order to realize a fruitful harvest.

ICT methods used for sharing indigenous knowledge (local content) in the CELAC Project include an informational website, radio cassettes, telephone calls and SMS, newsletters, brochures, knowledge sharing forums and fairs.

Phase 1 of the CELAC Project proved that sharing indigenous knowledge using ICT methods has made and; can still make a significant contribution to resolving local problems, with the adoption of mobile telephony taking lead. This is probably because of the liberalization of the airwaves enabling various telecommunication networks which have extended their services to rural areas. The private companies have a number of times subsidized the costs of obtaining a telephone, an advantage the rural folks have taken of. SMS is also an affordable option, often calling for a cost which is a quarter the price of a phone call. This is more affordable to the grassroot rural person, and especially the women farmers who are the major family income earners. The grassroots farmers in rural Uganda earn barely one US dollar a day.

Short Message Service (SMS) is a service available on most digital mobile phones (and other mobile devices, for example, a Pocket PC, or occasionally even desktop computers) that permits the sending of short messages (also known as text messages, or more colloquially SMSes, texts or even txts) between mobile phones, other hand-held devices and even landline telephones.

SMS was originally designed as part of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), but is now available on a wide range of networks, including third Generation networks. GSM is still the most popular standard out there for mobile phones; though not all text messaging systems use SMS, and some notable alternate implementations of the concept include J-Phone’s SkyMail and NTT Docomo’s Short Mail, both in Japan. E-mail messaging from phones, as popularized by NTT Docomo’s i-mode and the RIM BlackBerry, also typically use standard mail protocols such as SMTP over TCP/IP

The first SMS message was sent over the Vodafone GSM network in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1992, from Neil Papworth of Sema Group (using a personal computer) to Richard Jarvis of Vodafone (using an Orbitel 901 handset). The text of the message was “Merry Christmas“. The first SMS typed on a GSM phone is claimed to have been sent by Riku Pihkonen, an engineer student at Nokia, in 1993. Information got from the wikipedia reveals.

Today, use of SMS as a communications tool is growing exponentially and its use has shifted away from primarily focusing on leisure aspects to addressing day to day challenges.

An example of an SMS sent to the farmers:

Dilute 1 liter of milk with 9 liters of water. Spray the solution every after 10 days to prevent mosaic virus in tomatoes, tobacco and sugarcane. Weaker solution of 1 part milk to 10-15 parts water applied every 10 days is effective on controlling mites and plant diseases on many plants e.g. blights mildew, other fungal diseases and mosaic virus. Spray every 3 wks to control spider mites and caterpillar eggs. SMS sent to farmers on 15th August 2005 More can be viewed on http://www.celac.or.ug/sms_news.htm

It is important that the SMS’ sent to the farmers hold the characteristics of “affordability” and “accessibility” of inputs to the grassroot farmer.

SMS can be used anywhere provided one has a mobile telephone and network. Airtime is necessary if one wants to send, otherwise.

Mrs. Mpungu continues, “… take an example; I got an SMS one time that indicated that you should add manure to your crop while weeding, which I did. During the second weeding, I noticed that the Matooke crop looked like it was wilting. I sent an SMS to Maria and she advised me that though it is true I should add manure to the crop during the weeding activity, I should not place it directly on the crop as it would have a burning effect. Maria also said that this could easily become a breeding point for pests and diseases.”

This is one way the farmers are using SMS to address their challenges in a largely farming community. The CELAC Project collects information during Knowledge Sharing Forums, written and e-literature repackages it and sends to the telephone numbers in its database every Monday using both a mobile phone and Gmail services. These telephone numbers belong to farmers globally, with the bigger majority from Uganda. They are normally collected at the end of Knowledge Sharing Forums, during workshops where the CELAC Project is asked to show case their model and during both formal and informal visits made to other persons and organizations.

The SMS’ is disseminated in both English and Luganda, a Ugandan local language, with the farmer choosing the language of preference.

Some of the SMS are got from Village Knowledge Brokers who send local content in form of SMS to the CELAC Staff, which is in turn forwarded to all other farmers attached to the project and others that may request for it. Cissy Serunjogi, an orange fleshed sweet potato farmer in Luwero district (also the current Luwero CELAC District Farmers Network Chairperson) is active in sending SMS’ to alert other farmers of the approaching dry spells and reminds them to start preparing their gardens for the next season. She emphasizes that “… late planting leads to low yields”.

Once the SMS is received, the farmers record it in a book or paper and put in a file for future reference. Other farmers without mobile phones at their will can access this knowledge and further freely disseminate it. Such places act as the major info points to other farmers within the village.

The SMS’ sent have no defined word number count, many times the recipients phones breaking it into six-to-eight messages due to its long length. “We don’t mind that the SMS is divided into batches …. infact this attracts other colleagues when they hear my phone ring a number of times. They often ask me why it does so and who is calling, then I use that opportunity to explain the project goal and how they too can benefit from it. This of course also makes me proud when they consider me as the source of information”… Mr. Mwanja Edwin, a CELAC Farmer from Mayuge district(also Coordinator of the Mayuge CELAC District Farmers Network Chairperson and also the Agricultural Extension Officer in Baitambogwe sub county), went on to say. It is interesting to note that the nature in which the SMS is received is also liked by other farmers especially since it increases curiosity to those that hear the phone ring.

“… the SMS’ sent have been of great significance especially because they give practical solutions to many of our farming challenges, that have led to our household development through increasing our income avenues and amounts” … said Mrs Mpungu.

Information sent to the farmers’ rallies around better farming practices using local content during garden preparation, planting, harvesting and post harvesting, marketing, pests and disease control measures.

There are many alternative ways in which SMS can be used to address the challenges faced by rural farmers today.

It is possible, for example, using local telecommunication companies to access prices of various agricultural commodities within a defined market space. This is done in close partnership with described organizations and/or companies; whose role is to supply regular updated information to the system. This is then accessed by the users via SMS. Take an example of Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) in Uganda. They have partnered with Food net, Kyagalanyi Coffee, Mukwano Seed and UCTF Coffee to provide regular agricultural market price information in various districts to users.

The sole reason why the farmer has to increase his income base is to be able to support the family. For the children, is an added expense in obtaining educational requirements. SMS is a cheaper and faster way for school administrations to inform the parents of their children’s absence and accidental health problems.

Using a username, pin code and patient’s mobile phone number, the Health Units can store the farmers’ medical and health records. This will enable them access them at will and also probably engage automated reminder doctor appointments and presence, drug collection notices and availability. This is especially because it will save on the expense and time to go to the Health unit. It is important to note though that, the system developed needs to enable effectively authenticated records to ensure privacy and accuracy.

Farmers are coming of age as far as adoption and use of technology is concerned. However use of technology comes along with its related challenges.

In some parts of the rural areas, the farmers have to travel long distances to access the network. This is because preferential installment by the telecommunication companies if given to the urban settings first.

Some of the farmers also have to endure the long distances to access a Village Knowledge Broker with a telephone. The telephones need to be charged. Electricity is not evenly distributed especially to the rural areas. Those that have it, be it solar or hydro power, charge exorbitant costs to charge a mobile phone.

Even with the given challenges, use of SMS has realized positive impact on the development of a rural farmer.

… article written by

Maria Nakirya

Program Coordinator.

References

1. http://blog.ipipi.com/blog/_archives/2005/2/17/329057.html

2. http://www.grameenphone.com/index.php?id=63

3. http://www.linkinglearners.net/downloads/RepICTstudy.pdf

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS