This archive report was first published on 12 December 2019.
Kenya's food production is set to increase in the coming years following the launch of a new mobile application that allows farmers to place orders for fertilisers even from remote areas. The ETG Mobile App, developed in 2017, aims to boost access to fertilisers for farmers.
According to Job Oyoo, the manager of the app at the Export Trading Group, an agricultural commodities multinational, the app allows farmers to locate the nearest point to purchase fertilisers and even order delivery to their farms. 'If farmers in Kenya can access this critical ingredient, then its application to their farms during planting and top-dressing would increase, ultimately make the country produce more food,' Oyoo said.
Speaking to the press in Kitale, Trans-Nzoia County, Oyoo explained that the app was built to meet the demands of farmers who have struggled to access fertilisers. With the app, farmers can order, pay, and even ask for fertiliser delivery to their farms. So far, Trans-Nzoia, Bungoma, Uasin Gishu, Kiambu, Nyeri, Murang'a, Nakuru, Kericho, Bomet, Kakamega, and Migori counties have led in the uptake of the new app.
However, not all farmers have managed to use the app. Shem Odhiambo, the Regional Head of Export Trading Group, notes that most small-scale farmers in Kenya do not have smartphones, thus limiting the app's uptake. 'For now, we are addressing this issue through our distributors who are spread across the country,' Odhiambo said.
The app is available in both the Play Store and App Store in English and Kiswahili. Export Trading Group plans to launch the app in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo 'soon', before expanding it to other countries in Africa 'in a bid to make Africa a food-secure continent'.
