Kenyan-based social enterprise One Acre Fund has launched Tupande, a mobile app that aims to help smallholder farmers order and access high-quality seeds and fertilizers.
The launch of Tupande was done through a grant from Cisco and is expected to go a long way in helping farmers better their food production process.
“We’re seeing first-hand the impact that technology and digital transformation can have on critical sectors such as agriculture. There are 50 million smallholder farming families in Africa and, while Tupande is only available in Kenya for now, we’re dedicated to scaling the project and bringing this technology to more farmers of the future,” said Claire McGuinness, Strategy and Partnerships Senior Analyst at One Acre Fund.
One Acre Fund was launched in 2006 and has worked to help smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa improve harvests, raise incomes, adopt environmentally friendly farming practices, and diversify crops to increase resilience to disasters. The organization currently works in nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Working with family farms in rural areas, our focus on last-mile delivery ensures that the hardest to reach people have access to our products,” the organization says, “ Our investments in innovative products and services create cost-effective opportunities to improve farmers’ quality of life.”
The launch of innovative tech-based products in the agricultural sector is touted as one of the viable solutions to Africa’s persistent food shortage.
Tupande app helps digitise farmers’ procurement processes and make supplies more accessible. The app enables farmers to browse One Acre Fund’s product catalogue, compare prices, view item photos and descriptions, determine what’s in stock at their local duka (Swahili for shop), and order – all from their mobile phones. Due to the app’s efficiency, farmers have more time to manage crops and carry out demanding daily activities.
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