The mobile phone is a device that can turn the lives of rural female farmers around, Dayo Oketola writes
Mrs. Alice Balogun, a smallholder female
farmer who lives around Ajilete community in Ogun State, plants
vegetables, maize and cassava. She relies on the vegetable for
short-term income, maize for seasonal or mid-term income and cassava for
yearly-kind-of income. She sells her farm produce herself and often
results to self help in processing her cassava tubers to Garri before
selling. In all of these, Balogun decries poor returns.
Her story is not different from that of
Mrs. Ganiyat Audu, a female farmer in one of the farm settlements
scattered in the outskirt of Ibadan, specifically the Ibadan end of the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. She often results to selling her farm produce
to travellers on the expressway because of their perishable nature.
This, she says often lower returns while failing to complement the time
and labour put into nurturing and harvesting the produce.
Experts say Balogun and Audu are mere
archetypes of the Nigerian women farmers, who constitute 70 per cent of
the country’s agricultural workforce and produce 80 per cent of the
country’s food, yet most of them lack access to almost everything that
could make farming worthwhile and gainful. With hoes and cutlasses, most
of the women farmers still engage in farming practices that are already
outdated.
They are not only susceptible to the
whims and caprices of weather; they also face challenges such as lack of
funds, inadequate agriculture information, inability to preserve farm
produce, and poor access to the market. Others are lack of information
about crop production, pest control, treatment of animals, economic and
health information, among others.
Relying on the National Poverty
Eradication Programme that says 75 million Nigerians, representing 50
per cent of the population, still live in poverty, experts say the
country’s women farmers are largely poor.
Therefore, to take them out of poverty
and stimulate socio-economic development, experts say it is imperative
for the female farmers to have access to adequate information in order
to boost agricultural and rural development.
A number of women farmers’ advocacy
groups have developed self -help initiatives to enlighten the poor
female farmers. The Executive Director, Women Farmers’ Advancement
Network, a rural farmers’advocacy group in the Northern part of the
country, Dr. Salamatu Garba, says the group relies on radio programmes
to create the necessary awareness among its members. How impactful this
will be, according to analysts, has yet to be ascertained in a country
where power supply is poor and many of the farmers may not even have
transistor radios to benefit from such programme. They may as well be in
the farm when the programme is being aired or busy with domestic chores
if the programme is aired at night. The reality is that female farmers
have been neglected and yet to be considered in the forefront of
agricultural empowerment in Nigeria.
Experts say their situation is one of the
many indices of the country’s fortune-dwindling agricultural sector
that has seen the groundnut pyramids in the North, the robust cocoa
economy in the West, and the palm tree plantations in the East
disappeared and only exist in the Nigerian history books.
In view of the bleak circumstances
engulfing the Nigerian female farming community, experts largely believe
that Information and Communications Technology, among other critical
measures, can take the farmers out of the woods.
The mobile phone, which is both an engine
of opportunity and convenience, according to experts, will play a
critical role in the entire equation.
Recognising that ICT holds great
potential for rural dwellers, particularly female farmers, President
Goodluck Jonathan, in his 2013 budget presentation to a joint session of
the National Assembly, says his administration will give five million
mobile phones to women farmers in 2013.
Jonathan, who describes this as part of
efforts to prove the gender friendliness of his administration, says “To
further integrate women in the various sectors, we have developed an
innovative approach to mainstreaming gender issues starting with five
pilot ministries – agriculture, health, communication technology, water
resources and works. These ministries are signing MOUs with the Ministry
of Women Affairs to deliver on specific services for women.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, for
example, will work with its ICT counterpart to ensure that five million
women farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs receive mobile phones to be
able to access information on agro-inputs through an e-wallet scheme,”
Goodluck says.
The president says N3bn has been set
aside to be disbursed to participating MDAs as incentives for them to
deliver on these targets.
Prior to that time, however, the Minister
of Agriculture, Mr. Akinwunmi Adesina, had announced government’s plan
to distribute 10 million mobile phones to smallholder farmers in 2013.
The minister had said that the phones would carry features such as
information on climatic conditions, market prices of farm produce,
extension workers and how farmers can access agricultural funds. He
explained that the initiative was aimed at subsidising the cost of major
agricultural inputs, such as fertiliser and seeds. “By that the farmers
can get information on planting seasons. We cannot do that by
newspapers, we need to have something they can relate with in local
languages,” he had said.
From 400,000 lines in 2001 to over 109
million in 2012, telecommunications has single-handedly driven mobile
phone penetration in Nigeria and the mobile phone has become one of the
greatest socio-economic tools in the hands of Nigerians. As an enabler,
the mobile technology is driving the growth of m-Commerce, mobile money,
and m-Banking, among others, in the country and rural women/female
farmers can have access to a personal communication tool that has the
power to transform their prospects. But unfortunately, most ICT
investments in the country have focused mainly on the urban areas while
rural female farmers lack access to telecommunications gadgets such as
mobile phone.
An MTN survey in 2010 had confirmed that
over 800 rural communities in the country had yet to have access to
telecommunications and these are localities where majority of the
farmers live.
Goodluck’s promise, according to experts,
represents the light at the end of the tunnel for the ICT-deprived
farmers in the country. As such, the Chairperson, Women in Technology in
Nigeria, Mrs. Martha Omoekpen Alade, who welcomes the gesture, says,
“It is an excellent initiative. Rural women need such to keep abreast of
technology. This will to a great extent bridge the digital divide.
Rural women are important to economic stability. It is a good thing the
Federal Government is positively gender sensitive.”
She reveals that WITIN has developed a
mobile app for illiterate rural women, adding that the app currently
runs on affordable mobile phones.
Former President, Association of
Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Titi-Omo-Ettu and the
Programme Director, One Network, Mr. Sola Bickersteth, observe that the
Federal Government proposed phone gift to the women farmers, if it ever
see the light of day, is a fantastic move and in line with global
trends.
eTransform Africa: The Transformational
Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Africa, which was
recently jointly published by the World Bank and African Development
Bank, with support from the African Union, also backed the move by the
government.
The Lead ICT Policy Specialist, World
Bank and the author of the report, Mr. Tim Kelly, said, “Africa is
rapidly becoming an ICT leader. Innovations that began in Africa – like
dual SIM card mobile phones or using mobile phones for remittance
payments – are now spreading across the continent and beyond. The
challenge going forward is to ensure that ICT innovations benefit all
Africans, including the poor and vulnerable, and those living in remote
areas.”
Leading mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia,
who welcomes FG’s initiative as rightly directed, says it’s Nokia Life
Tools, recently introduced into Nigeria, is already offering a wide
range of information through the services (through the mobile phone)
covering health care, agriculture, education and entertainment which
address the needs of rural consumers and improves their economic
prosperity and quality of life.
Nokia’s General Manager for West Africa,
Mr. James Rutherfoord, says the Nokia Life Tools is a key part of
Nokia’s overall strategy to connect the next billion people by providing
access to locally relevant services and information on affordable
devices.
“Farmers will be able to check market
prices without travelling long distances, people will be able to find
important health care information without having to travel miles to see a
doctor, and students will be able to learn English. All the services
are available on easy-to-use and affordable mobile phones,” he adds.
Beyond providing agriculture information
such as market prices, weather, news and advice to the female farmers,
experts say five million mobile phones in the hands of women farmers
will create a platform for multiple services with the overall aim of
improving the economic standing of the poor farmers. The private sector,
according to them, has a lot to benefit.
According to Access to Financial Services
in Nigeria 2010 Survey conducted by Enhancing Financial Innovation and
Access, only 30.0 per cent of the country’s adult population currently
has a bank account, which is equivalent to 25.4 million people. 67.2 per
cent of the adult population has never been banked, which is equivalent
to 56.9 million people. While 63.5 per cent of adult males are
unbanked, a whopping 76.8 per cent of adult females are unbanked. These
unbanked female Nigerians form part of the 78.8 per cent of the rural
population which remains unbanked till today. As such, experts say it
can be easily taken for granted that most of the rural female farmers do
not have bank accounts.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, in response
to the forgoing statistics and also in recognition of the potential of
the mobile phone in driving financial inclusion in the country, licensed
over 20 companies to roll out mobile money services in the country. So
far, little success has been recorded in mobile money penetration due
to lack of adequate agency network, among other challenges. For
instance, a survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access reveals
that only 400,000 people out of 28.6 million adults operating bank
accounts in Nigeria have mobile money accounts. The figure represents
1.4 per cent of the bank account holders. The survey also shows that
0.45 per cent of the total adult population (given as 87.9 million
people) in Nigeria use the mobile money facility. It stated that mobile
money was mostly used to buy airtime, with 32.9 per cent of registered
mobile money users buying airtime on the platform; while 28 per cent use
mobile money to send money to people.
The Principal Associate, Mobile Money
Africa, Mr. Emmanuel Okoegwale, who analyses the result of the survey,
concludes that the few people who have adopted mobile money are those
who already have bank accounts, saying this is contrary to the real
reason behind the introduction of mobile money in Nigeria, saying it is
primarily targeted at the unbanked population of the country.
With five million phones in the hands of
female farmers, Okoegwale reckons that huge opportunities will be
available for mobile money companies to benefit from.
With a system called M-PESA (Swahili for
mobile money), operated by Kenya’s largest cell phone service provider,
Safaricom, Kenyans use their cell phones to send and receive money. Some
use it for all their shopping. Kenya currently has 10 million
households and 14 million M-PESA accounts.
Okoegwale says with five million phones
scattered across the country, mobile money operators have five million
potential customers, majority of who have never been banked.
MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat, all
GSM Operators, have already introduced mobile money services in Nigeria.
With five million female farmers with mobile phones, the Mobile Money
Africa boss, says operators should know where to search for the real
unbanked Nigerians.
The fact that only 1.0 per cent (0.8
million) of the adult population in Nigeria has insurance, according to
experts, clearly demonstrates the potential for using mobile phones as a
distribution channel for providing financial services to the unbanked
especially against the background of the country’s 109 million mobile
lines.
Deepening insurance market especially
through retail insurance has been tied to effective use of mobile
telephone on insurance product distribution.
Microensure, a recent winner of a
Financial Times/IFC award in financial service innovation for the bottom
of the pyramid, has introduced a variety of micro-insurance solutions
via mobile phones. Its product line includes life insurance in Ghana,
farmers’ crop insurance in Tanzania, and health insurance in India.
The General Manager, Microensure Ghana,
Mr. Peter Gross, who emphasised the potential of the mobile phone in
insurance penetration in Nigeria, said, “Providing micro insurance
through the ubiquitous mobile telecommunications platform is the only
available means of developing products to insure the critical mass that
form the informal sector in Nigeria and allow the insurance industry to
increase the level of insurance penetration.”
Tina Rosenberg in a piece titled, ‘Doing
More Than Praying for Rain’ said, “In the United States, insurance
against extreme weather is seen as so important that Washington
subsidises it highly and requires it for farmers who want other
government benefits. If American farmers need weather insurance, African
peasant farmers need it even more. But the vast majority of African
peasant farmers have no opportunity to insure their crops.
“Small farmers around the world need many
different things to help them survive climate change: seeds resistant
to extreme weather and pests, cheap irrigation systems, and better
agricultural infrastructure, such as more feeder roads. But one thing
that can help small farmers now is insurance.”
Rosenberg and other experts agree that
what will make this low-income earners and base-of-the-pyramid insurance
product work is technology, particularly the mobile phone.
As such, five million female Nigerian
farmers can also be exposed to cheap insurance solutions via their
mobile phones.This, experts say, is a virgin land for the Nigerian
insurance industry.
For instance, Kilimo Salama, a project of
the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, which does
research on improving harvests on small farms, has been introduced since
2009.
The non-profit foundation is financed by
the Swiss agri-giant Syngenta. Kilimo Salama also gets money from the
International Finance Corporation, a sister organisation of the World
Bank.
The project, which is situated in Kenya’s
southwest, currently insured 22,000 farmers and the tool being used to
sign up farmers and pay out claims, is the mobile phone.
Generally, the mobile has become one of
the passive channels making tremendous impact on insurance penetration
in the emerging market.
According to the Munich Re Foundation in
Making Finance Work in Africa, “Nine countries in Africa contain more
than one million lives and properties insured: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,
Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Every one
of those countries, with the exception of Nigeria, achieved that
coverage with the help of a simple mobile phone linked life product.”
From agriculture information to mobile
money, m-Insurance to m-Health, experts say the proposed five million
mobile phones to be distributed to five million women farmers will
unlock huge opportunities for them and urged the Federal Government not
to rescind on the promise.
