Rice Milling - Day 2


Although diesel powered toll milling is less powerful, in off grid locations like Magombera it's necessary for local farmers to find a way to dehusk rice.  Ubia Soko is helping farmers to trade rice collectively and increase revenues.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Traders - Day 16

Image
The AGRIinsight field team has arrived back in Ifakara after two weeks on the road. This  is a small rural town in the Kilombero District, Morogoro Region and is the main trading centre for Kilombero and Ulanga districts. It is also the headquarters of one of the main traders with whom we are working. When we set off on this road trip, we were optimistic but also realistic. We're delighted the trader who has been alongside our team has concluded that the Ubia Soko platform offers huge opportunities for them. He has therefore decided to pick up the system and use it to further support the many farmers with whom he works.  The trader has agreed over the coming weeks to follow up with the farmers' associations that they work with and ensure that all rice paddy sales are traded through Ubia Soko. As the traders and agrodealers take ownership, w e are therefore  transitioning from our pilot activities to more substantial sales and real scale. We are very excited to be monito
Read more

Partners - Day 15

Image
We have learned over the years that you cannot implement field based programmes without partners. We recognise that although we may have the technology and knowhow to implement the rollout of our mobile app, Ubia Soko, we cannot  do this on our own. It would be impossible. We have brought together partners to help make the programme relevant - not only to traders and input distributors - we also need to win the hearts and minds of farmers.  One of our partners, the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) has been working in Tanzania for many years, providing grassroots level support to farmer associations, building trust. ACT assists Ubia Soko  by introducing us to  farmer organisations, agricultural traders,  processors and their networks. ACT also helps  us with local Government contacts at the district and village levels and ensures awareness and acceptance of the platform at the national level.
Read more

Gender and Ubia Soko - Day 11

Image
We recognise the importance of mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion  in our work. Research shows that involving women in agriculture creates more stable supply chains in addition to increased productivity and higher product quality. T he gender gap in bank account use is currently about 10-15%, however the gap is being reversed in mobile money accounts, where women outnumber men by about 22% in Kenya. The case for mobile banking, which rests heavily on personal transfers and payments, is very relevant for women, who play an active role in managing the family’s finances. As these services grow and evolve, women’s financial equality should improve.  However, our own observations over the past few weeks show that there is still a long way to go particularly in the regions where we are currently operating. But by integrating mobile money into the Ubia Soko platform we expect this to go some way in supporting greater gender equality.
Read more