Photo credit: myAgro

The current financial model of banks cannot address what development experts call the “triple whammy” of poor peoples’ lives – they struggle with low savings, uncertainty of cash flows, and the inability to access formal financial instruments. Small farm holders in the developing world face similar struggles as they often have to purchase seeds and fertilizers in one large payment to improve their harvest. MyAgro, provides an innovative alternative to farmers, eliminating the need for banks and placing financial decision-making in the hands of small farm holders.

MyAgro helps farmers purchase agricultural tools on layaway via an SMS platform and a network of local vendors. Anushka Ratnayake started myAgro in 2011 as a pilot program in Mali and soon expanded it to Senegal. MyAgro’s success can be attributed to their approach of using a mobile phone platform to adapt current pro-poor financial methods to addressing the financing problem in the agricultural sector.

How does myAgro work?
MyAgro works much like someone going to top up their phone for additional talk time at their local store. Participating farmers purchase scratch-off cards (ranging from $.50 to $10) with a unique pin number. This pin number is sent to myAgro and is recorded in their database under the farmer’s profile. An SMS is sent back to the farmer notifying them of how much they have saved towards their goal (to purchase fertilizer, seeds, or agricultural training). Once this amount is reached, the farmer receives the tools or service they have purchased from myAgro.

Why does myAgro’s model work?
MyAgro’s model gives rural farmers access to key financial services including cash-flow management and savings, through this approach:

  1. Reliability
    Without the credit and collateral that banks require when opening a savings account, poor people have responded by forming rotating savings and credit funds (ROSCAs) within their communities. This has been replicated worldwide, helping families manage scarcities. However, this informal tool does not provide the accountability, reliability and privacy that banks would offer. MyAgro builds on the success of ROSCAs, where people save through small incremental amounts over the long-term, but with the security and reliability of a formal mobile platform.
  2. Convenience
    MyAgro clients don’t have to travel long distances to access banks, which is especially useful for rural farmers living in remote areas where bank branches do not exist. MyAgro also increases inclusion by making the system easy to use, especially for those who are illiterate. Getting the basic use out of myAgro only requires the farmer to SMS the numbers located on the card they purchased. In addition, no physical cash is involved. In mobile cash transfer platforms such as the successful M-PESA program, some local vendors run out of cash when a customer wants to conduct a transaction, myAgro only relies on digital transactions – a successful approach within cash-strapped countries.
  3. Flexibility
    By allowing farmers to choose how much to save on a given day, myAgro takes into account the variety of shocks that vulnerable populations experience, such as illness in the family or natural disasters. The mobile platform allows them to use their small-scale savings for large-scale purchases.

In just three years, myAgro has managed to address a debilitating financial problem in farming communities in the developing world by providing a reliable and accessible savings tool and allowing farmers to managing their cash flows on their own terms. I look forward to seeing how myAgro expands its current 6,000 farmer membership while also collaborating with other mobile technology platforms to continue providing information and financial services to the benefit of the poor.

Interested in learning more about other ways mobile phones are empowering people in the developing world? Join us in our upcoming course, Mobile for International Development that begins on May 11.

About author 

Ana Tamargo

Ana Tamargo is a development professional and recent graduate from the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. She recently received a master’s degree in International Development Studies. During this time, Ana completed TechChange’s “Mobile Phones for International Development” course in order to advance her knowledge in using innovative information and communication technologies to facilitate programming and data collection within the local context. She has worked at international NGOs such as Pact, World Cocoa Foundation, and the Rainforest Alliance and has expertise in program advancement, evaluation and research in the fields of sustainable natural resource management, rural poverty alleviation, and bottom-up development. Ana is eager to continue findings ways to incorporate mobile phone technology in helpingempower and provide services to vulnerable populations.

It’s been two years since Chrissy Martin wrote a post on her thoughts on mobile money for development for TechChange’s Mobiles for International Development online course. As Chrissy has focused on mobile money issues since then, so much of it still rings true including the challenges of preventing fraud and best practices for working with telecoms.

In a recent Forbes article, we learned that more than two thirds of Kenyan adults use M-Pesa (a mobile digital currency), accounting for more than 25% of Kenya’s GNP. The ubiquitous use of mobile phones and the growing market for increasingly affordable smartphones will only make mobile money more popular in the developing world. According to ITWeb Africa, mobile money users now outnumber adults with bank accounts in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

While M-Pesa is the most well-known mobile-based financial transfer service, there are more players in the field such as Zoona, an African social enterprise that provides mobile payments and working capital financing to micro & small enterprises. Chrissy works as the Global Partnership Manager at Zoona and we can’t wait to hear more about the cool things that Zoona is doing in Africa.

Get a sneak peek of what to expect from Chrissy’s session on mobile money and Zoona with this video here:

Interested in mobile money and other ways mobile phones are improving lives? Join our upcoming online course on Mobiles for International Development.

About TC105 Guest Speaker, Chrissy Martin

Chrissy Martin headshot Zoona

Chrissy Martin is a product manager with several years of experience implementing digital financial solutions in emerging markets.  With operational knowledge across multiple sectors, she effectively bridges the gap between the private sector and the development industry.  Presently, she serves as the Global Partnership Manager for Zoona, an African social enterprise passionately committed to helping small businesses grow. Before Zoona, she was at the development organization MEDA, expanding rural access to financial services in countries including Zambia, Uganda, and Nicaragua. Previously, Chrissy was based in Haiti, working as the Product Manager for Mobile Financial Services at Digicel.  Chrissy holds degrees from The Fletcher School and the University of Virginia.

 Featured image photo credit: Zoona Facebook page

Last week, the Mobile World Congress 2014 welcomed the most influential mobile carriers across the world that are shaping the future of mobile, especially for populations who are new mobile consumers. Looking back at some of the news coming from the mobile phone industry’s  largest annual event, we examine the key takeaways from this year’s MWC that will impact not just emerging markets, but also developing countries.

1. Facebook wants to bring low-cost or free internet access to Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  According to the New York Times, “For Facebook, poorer countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America represent the biggest opportunity to reach new customers, though it must figure out how to get people there online at a low cost.”

Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp is linked to the social media company’s larger Internet.org initiative to partner with tech companies to have more people across the world, especially in developing countries, to be able to access the internet with a smartphone. Facebook has announced that it wants to partner with five more companies across emerging markets in 2014 to continue this Internet.org initiative.

2. Mozilla’s $25 smartphone will make mobile internet access more affordable. The Mozilla Foundation has joined forces with a Chinese chipmaker, Spreadtrum Communications, to introduce a mobile device that will be sold for only $25 later in 2014. By offering this smartphone at a price point significantly lower than other major players in the smartphone market, Mozilla is aiming to cut into the smartphone dominance of Android and Apple iOS, and looking to take smartphone market share in Latin America and Africa.

3. Mobile money is growing rapidly. In a report launched this week at the Mobile World Congress, GSMA announced that mobile money reached 61 million consumers in 2013. According to the report, “At the end of 2013, nine markets, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, already had more mobile money accounts than bank accounts, compared to just four markets last year.” Mobile money is resulting in more financial inclusion across the developing world. Looking for an intro to mobile money? Check out our free self-paced online course on mobile money here.

4. mHealth innovations for developing nations will continue to be mostly SMS-focused in the short-term.  Samsung demonstrated it is moving deeper into the mHealth and wearable technology industries with last week’s launches of the Galaxy S5, which can monitor heart rate, and the Gear Fit. As we’ve seen with our earlier post with Text to Change on using mobiles for social change in developing countries, mHealth still has a long way to go in developing countries with simple SMS campaigns. Until these cheaper smartphones become more accessible to more consumers along with reliable internet connectivity as Facebook and Mozilla at MWC 2014 may promise, mHealth in developing countries will continue to focus more on text messaging.

3G Doctor shared this helpful mHealth Guide to the MWC2014. If anyone was able to attend any of these events, please share with us any insights you learned!

 

Interested in Mobiles for International Development and mHealth? Join our upcoming mHealth online course, which runs March 31 – April 25, 2014.

 

Since the mobile phone has become a global tool for social good, it can be tough to keep up with the many different mobile products and platforms being used across international development. With 2014 estimated to be the year when global mobile subscriptions will surpass the number of people in the world, more than ever, mobile technologies are tackling challenges in public health, agriculture, education, banking, data collection and management, surveys,  journalism, and beyond.

These are just a few of the tools and organizations that we’ve featured in our M4D course over the years. What other tools are you excited about? Are there any mobile platforms/products that we missed? Let us know!

Want to learn more about these mobile tools? How about where and how this technology is  being applied successfully across the world? Enroll now in our Mobiles for International Development online course which runs February 10 – March 7, 2014. In this course, you’ll see live demos some of these tools by mobile tech experts who have used this tech in the context of data collection, farming, healthcare, education, finance, and more.

Click below to check out our full-size infographic illustrating the Mobiles for International Development landscape.

M4D-landscape-infographic..001

Infographic global mobile subscription vs. population 2014Estimates from the mHealth Alliance, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Jana Mobile Inc. show that by 2014, the number of mobile subscriptions worldwide will exceed the global population. Between 2000 and 2014, subscriptions are estimated to increase from 750 million to over 7 billion (approximately a 933% increase).

What do these statistics mean for the world, especially in developing countries? What implications does mobile subscription expansion have for public health, banking, education, and agriculture? Why do mobiles matter for international development? What emerging mobile technology is having the greatest impact?

Learn more about the global impact of mobile technology with our TC105: Mobiles for International Development course, which runs September 8 – October 3, 2014.

 

We’re just one week away from the start of our Mobiles in International Development course and we couldn’t be more excited!

This is the 8th time we’ve run TC105 and it’s going to be better than ever with our latest updates. We have new animated videos, a revamped course platform, and fresh content to get you caught up on the latest mobile technology for the developing world with better networking, content viewing, and engagement. Check out this video to get an overview of the course, and learn why mobile phones matter for international development.

So far, we have participants enrolled from over 12 countries including Austria, Cote D’Ivoire, Ecuador, Malawi, The Netherlands, Norway, Trinidad & Tobago, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, USA, South Africa, and more joining every day. These participants represent several organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, International Youth Foundation (IYF), NORC at the University of Chicago, Mission Measurement, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Digital Afrique Telecom, Ayala Consulting, Millennium Water Alliance, Umtapo Centre, Radio Zamaneh, Kenan Institute Asia, Tribeca Film Institute, JEVS Human Services, and others.

We’re especially looking forward to our special line-up of guest speakers including:

It’s not too late to join this global online learning community. Register for Mobiles for International Development now by clicking here.

There are no ATMs, the countries currency is unrecognized without an official exchange rate, and every American dollar translates into 17, 000 Somaliland Shillings. With all of this, Somaliland is on track to become a cashless society. Some may argue this is out of necessity and others argue it’s because of ingenuity; most likely it’s both. (more…)