Farm Buddy: Mobile Linkage to Farmers and Organizations

Adam Abramson from Foundations for Farming in Zimbabwe will develop a low-cost mobile phone platform to encourage local farmers to directly engage with each other and with local organizations to share their experiences and provide feedback. The platform is installed on feature phones and allows the formation of 'buddy' chat groups. They will further develop the software, and evaluate its ability to promote the adoption of a novel farming technique by conducting a randomized controlled trial in 72 sites across Zimbabwe. They plan to provide the technology as an SMS interface delivered on the user's SIM card for a low-cost monthly access fee, and organizations will be able to collect and analyze mobile data.