M-Omulimsa: Text Messaging for Farmers in Uganda with Limited Literacy

Abstract

As mobile phones reach larger proportions of the global population, literacy is emerging as a major limiting factor in accessing information. In the case of rural farmers, in particular, timely and relevant information have become increasingly important for effective decision-making. This is due to a variety of factors, including advancements in agricultural systems and rapid technological advancements. However, farmers with small holdings in Uganda like much of the developing world at large, continue to make important farming decisions, such as the adoption of new agricultural technologies, crop rotation, planting, fertilizer application, and marketing, on the basis of very limited information. The exponential growth of mobile phone use in Uganda, and the developing world at large has seen it become a testing ground for all kinds of agriculture related mobile based information services. However, majority of these services require farmers to follow a strict syntax and most often only available in English. But majority of Ugandan farmers are illiterate and cannot therefore benefit from these services. Against that background, we developed and field-tested an SMS based application that enables farmers to interact with their extension officers in their own local languages. Based on a pre-posttest design, using two villages--Ssebbi and Bukalango as the treatment and control groups respectively -- 60 farmers -- 30 from each village were selected to participate in the study. Farmers in the treatment group were trained and given free access to the system for a period of one month. Both farmers and extension officers reported that the system was easy to use because they were able to communicate in their local language. Also, extension officers reported that it was more convenient for them to reach out to farmers using the mobile system, instead of visiting them physically; and farmers reported that they received advice faster via mobile, which was very crucial in cases where delay could have led to huge losses especially in livestock and poultry.

Keywords: Text Messgaing, Uganda, Limited Literacy, Mobile Phones, Agriculture

JEL Classification: Q16, Q31, Q32, Q33