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Mobile phone vital for Cameroon farmers
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| Source: | AfricaNews |
| Date added: | 2008-07-31 |
| Country: | Cameroon [CM] |
| Sector: | Agriculture |
| Theme: | Access |
African agriculture is said to have undergone many metamorphoses but the penetration of the mobile phone in that sector is certainly the most revolutionary step ever.
Since 2004, Cameroon farmers were offered the possibility of 'beeping'
an engineer using their mobile phone. The engineer sees the missed call
and call back farmers to know and answer their questions.
"We receive around twenty calls a day", agronomist Theophile Nono told AfricaNews on Thursday.
He works for the Service d'Appui aux Initiatives locales de Développement, a rural development support organisation.
"The
mobile phone has become a weapon for farmers", says Constant Balla, a
35-year old farmer in Minkan village, some 25 km from the Cameroonian
capital Yaounde. He owns large plantations and seven fish pools.
Watch the video of Constant Balla.