Opportunities in agricultural value chain digitisation: Learnings from Uganda

Abstract

Mobile technology can drive efficiencies in the so-called agricultural last mile for agribusinesses and help smallholder farmers, who account for a majority (at least 70 percent) of the food production worldwide, achieve financial inclusion. Drawing lessons from Uganda, a country that derives 24 per cent of its GDP from agriculture, this report describes early initiatives to digitise via mobile money business-to-person (B2P) payments for the sale of crops from farmers to agribusinesses. In addition to payments, we identify implementation models and incentives for different stakeholders (farmers, agribusinesses, MNOs and third party tech providers) to deploy last mile digital solutions that include information services (agronomic advisory via mobile), mobile enabled farm management systems that support certification and traceability, and agricultural Internet of Things (IoT) applications. This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s mNutrition - Business models for mobile phone based delivery of nutrition services in Africa and South Asia