M-Pesa, M-Farm in pact to help farmers

By Standard Reporter

Nairobi, Kenya: The M-Pesa Foundation and a local agricultural software solution company M-Farm Limited have partnered to enable farmers access price information for their crops through the mobile phone.

By sending a text message with name and location to the number 20255, farmers will access relevant pricing information for their crops.

M-Farm aims at creating an open trading platform, allowing farmers to access information on commodity prices and to create direct linkages between farmers and buyers. It will also enable access to large-scale local and global markets by selling collectively.

M-Pesa Foundation Executive Director Les Baille said the product would make agriculture a viable business option especially for small-scale farmers who have been exploited by middlemen.