Monitoring animal performance is a challenge due to lack of systematic recording in the smallholder dairy sector in Malawi. A mobile recording system using short messaging service (SMS) was therefore trialled for data capturing and subsequent feedback provision to farmers following analyses and interpretation. This study aimed at drawing lessons regarding use of SMS recording system among dairy farmers. Of the 210 participants, 85% were farmers and 25% were other dairy value chain players. Farmers were from eight intervened (monitored for 18 months) and eight control Milk Bulking Groups (MBG). There are three regions in Malawi and Central region had the highest participants [59% (124)] than Northern [23% (49)] and Southern [1% (2)] regions submitting data using SMS. Milk production was the most recorded data and analyses showed that mean yield in litres per cow (10.7 ± 0.14) was similar to average estimate in literature for Malawi (10.4 ± 1.57). Household daily milk consumption (1.2 ± 0.04), milk sold through formal market (610.0 ± 55) and amount of milk rejected per day per MBG (5.9 ± 0.86) in litres were captured. Farmers asked questions and received timely feedback via SMS. Therefore, it is possible to capture quality data using SMS technology that is adequate for conducting analyses to inform decision-making.
Xanthomonas Wilt of Banana (BXW) is a complex problem in the African Great Lakes Region that is affecting the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. Since the first disease reports from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2001,...
The objective of the study was to identify a viable trade-off between low data requirements and useful household-specific prioritizations of advisory messages. At three sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania independently, we collected experimental preference rankings from smallholder farmers for receiving...
Objective
The association between farm production diversity and dietary diversity in rural smallholder households was recently analysed. Most existing studies build on household-level dietary diversity indicators calculated from 7d food consumption recalls. Herein, this association is revisited with individual-level 24...
The concept of an innovation platform is increasingly used in interventions inspired by agricultural innovation systems thinking, as a way of bringing stakeholders from a sector together to enable transformative change. An essential role on such innovation platforms is thought...
The recent proliferation of mobile phones in rural Africa has also led to increased interest in mobile financial services (MFS), such as mobile money and mobile banking. Such services are often portrayed as promising tools to improve agricultural finance, especially...