“For a farmer, the mobile phone has opened up a world of opportunity.”
–Prof. Jenny Aker, assistant professor of economics at the Fletcher School of Tufts University

The Financial Times has just published a story online and in print in their World Food supplement about the effects of mobile phone technology on smallholder farmers in Africa. The article, “Mobile technology: Phones prove useful tools for small farmers,” (written by Sarah Murray; published online Oct. 14, 2010, in print Oct. 15, 2010) featured insight from Opportunity Malawi CEO Aleksandr-Alain Kalanda along with other scholars and experts in microfinance and global development.

Cell phone banking and other technological innovations are changing the way people access microfinance innovations in the developing world.

Key points from the article:

• Mobiles can help smallholder farmers in Africa access information they need in order to improve their productivity, such as finding out more about markets they sell into. “We’ve seen clear evidence of market prices being disseminated through cell phones, and that’s leading to increased trade and lower waste,” says Dean Karlan, president and founder of Innovations for Poverty Action and professor of economics at Yale University.
• The mobile is also providing farmers with basic financial services by allowing them to make cash transfers using their phones.
• Opportunity Malawi CEO Kalanda explains that he believes the next step involves increasing the use of solar chargers, with neighbors or farmers working together in cooperatives, sharing the cost of the technology.
• While solar chargers may represent an additional investment for farmers, it is likely that, given the benefits of mobile phones for their businesses, they will want to shoulder the cost.

Mobile phone facts from the article:

• Though less than 30% of roads are paved in Africa and there is uneven access to electricity, mobile phone ownership has increased
• There are 10 times more mobile phones on the  continent than there are land lines
• Mobile phone subscriptions rose by 49% between 2002-2007 (while they rose only 17% in Europe during that time)

The Financial Times article emphasizes what microfinance institutions and experts already know: that mobile phones can improve the lives and financial success of Africa’s smallholder farmers, particularly those living in remote areas, helping them to access information and basic financial services through mobile technology. Click here to read the supplement at ft.com.

As Opportunity expands its services into new communities around the developing world, we often find that we are just catching up to our clients who, for generations, have been minimizing their carbon footprint by living as good stewards of their environment.

Take our operations in Malawi for example.

With the branch expansion of Opportunity Bank in Malawi (OIBM) in Zomba, we are providing financial resources to sustainable fish farmers so that they can grow and expand their operations.

There are about 700 fish farmers in the bush land settlements to the west of Zomba. Farmers dig small, rain-fed ponds of about 10×15 meters where the soil is suitable for retaining water. The farmers use the ponds to raise common fish species – which in Malawi means chambo (a species of tilapia) and mlamba (catfish).

The farmers harvest the fish as a staple for their family’s diet, which usually lacks meat, and sell or trade the remainder for maize, fertilizer and income. Farmers enrich the ponds with manure from their goats and chickens. When they empty the pond, a rich layer of silt can be dug from the base. The silt is used as fertilizer to grow maize, which in turn ensures that the goats and chickens produce manure for the pond.

This is simple and it is sustainable.

Thousands of miles away, our location in the Philippines, TSKI, has a Community Based Entrepreneurship Development Program that engages whole communities in making products from locally-based materials (examples include harvesting seaweed for pharmaceutical and beauty products; weaving from local fibers; etc).

By using locally-based materials to create such a wide variety of products, these communities decrease the need to import the same products over long, fuel-burning distances. Simultaneously, they are creating wealth that stays in the community and helps end the cycle of poverty.

Thank you Opportunity clients, for living in a way that respects our world, and teaching us to do the same!