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  • A bridge between farmers an...
    Koigi, Bob

    Appropriate technology, 12/2012, Letnik: 39, Številka: 4
    Journal Article

    A Kenyan farmer, Zack Matere, has developed an original way to post agricultural information. He searches the web for useful agricultural information, then posts it on notice boards around his community helping other producers to improve their crops. He started farming vegetables, and first encountered information & communication technology when a strange disease attacked his potatoes. Not even the agricultural officer could diagnose the cause. Matere invested in a 3G-enabled phone which he could use to look for information online from the comfort of his home. Matere is lucky, he is Internet literate, but thousands of farmers in his area do not even know how to use cell phones. Matere has therefore become the bridge between these farmers and the Internet. Although agriculture makes up 30% of Kenya's GDP, and employs 80% of Kenyans, mass media still only caters to a general audience.