Innovations improve farming yield and earnings
This news item in The East African discusses several new, technological innovation by Feed the Future that help farmers in East Africa. From technological innovations, like iProcure Ltd, smallholder farmers are able to get quality inputs for better productivity. iProcure is a digital platform through which farmers can order for inputs and have them delivered through co-operatives to ensure that they get genuine and affordable inputs. Its objective is to get tools closest to the farmers with timely delivery, even in remote areas. The innovations by Feed The Future are cushioning farmers against agriculture shocks such as droughts and diseases. An example of this is an implement called Tutrack which has been helping tomato farmers specifically to get information on how to get rid of pests. Tutrack is a pheromone-based mass-trapping system for Tuta absoluta consisting of a lure and a trap. Another innovation is EasyMa 6.0 milk weighing systems, which is a technology that is assisting farmers to get real time digital weighing scale connected to dairy enterprise. Before, it would often be rounded off to one liter, but now the technology makes sure the weight is captured to two decimal places and they get paid to the last drop. The innovations have also enabled farmers’ access to extension services, livestock insurance and financial products.