Providing agricultural information to smallholder farmers via SMS, enabling them to increase their productivity and escape poverty

Brian Bosire

Raised in a farming village in western Kenya, Brian is a first-hand witness to the struggles faced by smallholder farmers. Growing up, he saw farmers struggle to cope with challenges related to crop diseases, fertilizers, unreliable weather information and lack of access to market information. This leads to loss of income and frustration, forcing many to withdraw from farming and leaving more people hungry and poor.  Brian decided to use his background in engineering to empower these farmers with knowledge and help them move out of poverty by improving their productivity.

 

Brian took part in SE Forum’s SE Outreach Accelerator in 2017.

 

UjuziKilimo

UjuziKilimo

UjuziKilimo means “knowledge farming” in Swahili. UjuziKilimo uses sensors to collect soil and agricultural data, which is automatically sent to a central database. Farmers get actionable, trackable and easy-to-understand information within 3 minutes via an interactive SMS platform. The information available relates to fertilizers, suitable seeds and crop management. By accessing this information, farmers across Kenya can improve the health of their crops and increase their productivity through farm-specific recommendations. UjuziKilimo also uses data analytics to provide reliable weather forecasts, enabling farmers to plan their planting and harvesting despite erratic weather caused by climate change. The SE Outreach Accelerator will allow Brian to develop his business management skills, in order to help him increase his social impact and improve the lives of more farmers across Africa.