Limpopo farmers sell agricultural products by cellphone

The mobile farming concept has also hit South Africa. Farmers in the rural community have become the first in South Africa to test a project giving them instant access to produce prices over their mobile phones. The farmers settled on the edge of the Kruger National Park have struggled to make decent money from their crops, not realizing the tomatoes and onions they resell for a few cents at the local market were fetching multiples of those prices for middlemen who resold them at the produce markets of Johannesburg and Pretoria. The villagers can now check the going rate by accessing a farming website over their handsets…African farmer hooked up with a handset? Oh ok, presuming that they really are wired… they can invite buyers to strike a deal for their crops via SMS, and see which fresh produce the tourist game lodges are looking for that morning.

[Via Mobile Africa]