NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, May 29, 2015

Vodafone announced that it is launching its Farmers’ Club initiative in four additional countries – India, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. The Vodafone Farmers’ Club offers a range of mobile services to help farmers boost productivity. It was first launched by Vodafone in Turkey in 2009, and around 1.2 million farmers have used the service since then.

Specific Farmers’ Club services offered in each country will vary but will include information services, virtual marketplaces in which farmers can sell their produce and mobile money financial services and products. Vodafone will also develop a variant of the Farmers’ Club concept for farmers in New Zealand, a country with an advanced agricultural industry. Vodafone Group Regional Chief Executive for the Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific region Serpil Timuray said the experience in Turkey has demonstrated how mobile services can transform farmers’ ability to increase crop yields, improve efficiency and grow incomes.