Download - OSTRICH GROUP MEMBERS: 1.Dorothy Okello 2.Nigel Crawhill 3.Sylvestre Ouedraogo 4.Ednah Karamagi
Characteristics of the Women's Group
• Have a good team work spirit
• They are hard working• Skilled in tomato
production for a specific market
• Have low, middle and high end mobile phones
MAIN PROBLEM
The farmers were engaged in a specific business model for a
defined market...
....today, the contract has ended and the economic environment
has changed
Way Forward
• These women farmers need to develop skills towards a broader economic context, in particular, there is need for them to: -– Rethink the business plan– Think about product
diversification– Have a market analysis; and
understand the market– Start thinking about effective
post harvest mechanisms
TASK
What is the best way to get solutions to their problem with a bias to usage of a mobile phone
technology???
First and foremost ...• They need skills outside their production skills
– Negotiation, proposal writing, Training– Market analysis– Climate forecasts– Functions of a mobile phone (low, middle and high
end)
• Money for skill building– Start from salvaging the immediate rot
• Obtain the seeds, sun dry them and sell them off to earn income. Excess seeds can be stored in ash for future sale
• Sun dry the tomatoes and sell them to the South African Market
• Rooting fruit pulp be sold off to chicken or pig farmers • Consider batter trade
– Look for willing partners– Obtain negotiation skills
• New sources of income
SolutionsThey need new sources of income• Use online search engines (google,
infoseek, ask jeeves, etc) to: -– Look for donors online, contact them
and commence discussions– Obtain information for a fee in tomato
growing and various other products; thereby becoming village info points
– Look for market within and out of Zimbabwe. Get in touch and commence discussions
– Look for information on other products and engage in them
– Download songs and sell to the youth, pass on via blue tooth
...solutions
• Engaging in M Learning– Develop a web presence by taking
advantage of the existing free platforms like word press, blogger, etc. Add content about their project
– Develop training and information skits for tomato growing and other products. They upload them on their web platform. They then train other farmers for a fee: -• Using the mobile phones using emails • Using customized times for the trainees
using chat rooms like Skype, yahoo, etc
...solutions
• Use of Multi Media Messaging– Develop a database of common
diseases and pests affecting the crops and livestock in their area. Upload it on their web platform. Attach avoidance and management solutions. Use this as a consultancy base for a fee. Either: -• They send the distressed farmer an
SMS• They physically visit the distressed
farmer
...solutions
• Use of Instant Mobile Messaging & SMS usage– Get farmers to subscribe
afore to relevant SMS categories periodically. These are charged per batch e.g.• Football News updates for
desired matches• Specific crop/livestock
information• Government information
affecting agriculture