Description
iKilimo – Smart Farming is a mobile-based reference tool that provides comprehensive, easy-to-understand farming information to the farmer and public at large. iKilimo is perfect for small and aspiring farmers or those interested in AgriBusiness, especially in Kenya and East Africa.
With iKilimo, farmers can share ideas, expertise and knowledge. iKilimo aims at providing a one-stop shop for information on farming and all there is to know about farm life in the form of thousands of tips. It contains easy-to-read information, illustrations and images on animal production, plant production, farm equipment, food processing, high value crops, marketing and how to make the most of farm product and by-products.
Access to reliable farming knowledge can help towards the creation of sustainable small farming businesses and the eradication of poverty. iKilimo can be accessed for free on browser-enabled mobile phones and through the website on any device. Additionally the iKilimo app is available for free on Samsung and Google Play Stores – Kenya only, for the latter – the two most popular app stores in East Africa.
The challenge
Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy as it significantly contributes to the economic growth of the country. Farmers in Kenya are involved in both small and large-scale farming of crops and keeping livestock. Most of the small-scale farmers in Kenya farm for domestic use, however no effort is made to increase yields. Most of them lack the financial strength to purchase fertilizers and seeds. Small-scale farming is not yet coordinated and the lack of farming education information makes it difficult to reduce risks and improve gains which is key to escape poverty.
Additionally, the widespread use of feature phones among smallholder farmers raises the need to cater for users through the use of easy-to-access tools, such as mobile websites, that can be accessed through any internet-enabled phone.
Our goal
With iKilimo farmers across Kenya can have easy access to farming information that can enable the optimisation of crops and the safe keeping of livestock. Additionally iKilimo aims to provide financial literacy to small-scale farmers so they can make a living from their yields and animals, and impact their families and communities escaping poverty.
Our strategy
Through keeping close contact with the Ministry of Agriculture, Avallain Foundation wants to continue the development of iKilimo, Smart Farming to keep providing farmers across Africa with useful, comprehensive content developed by local experts, on how to increase their yields as a sustainable way to escape poverty, unlock human potential and create choice.
Avallain Foundation always works to develop new partnerships with both stakeholders and official bodies to increase the reach of iKilimo and enlarge the vibrant and active farming community of iKilimo users. At the moment we are working on how to help the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture to give prominence to High Value Crops.
Our impact
iKilimo’s mobile website has been visited by almost 13,000 unique users generating more than 96,000 page views. iKilimo is present in local and rural media outlets such as radio and television. Its activities have extended to the most popular social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
iKilimo has disrupted the traditional access to information by availing content in both digital text in basic English and illustrations especially crafted for this app which enable a better understanding of the content by those who need it most.
Next steps
Avallain Foundation aims to keep expanding the content of iKilimo based on the input from stakeholders and users. The increased visibility of iKilimo is a clear way forward given the active nature of iKilimo’s users on social media.
Additionally Avallain Foundation aims at making iKilimo a personalised tool for users to have a personalised experience of the product and have access to the most relevant information for them.
Partners
Testimonials
“I read about Dairy Farming from the iKilimo app and this encouraged me to begin my own dairy farming project. I have two cows now. I refer to iKilimo for tips on proper housing, feeding, milking, and health management. Soon, I will be expecting my first calf.”
“I have a small piece of land back at home. Initially, I didn’t know what to do with it because it is quite small. I scrolled through iKilimo and come across Plant Production where I learnt how to grow spinach and kales. I taught my shamba boy how to use iKilimo. Whenever I go to the village, I come back to Nairobi with a basket full of fresh vegetables, thanks to iKilimo.”
“iKilimo is an excellent example of how ICT Innovation for Agriculture can transform livelihoods. It has great potential for knowledge transfer that translates to high yields among farmers in Kenya and beyond. It was a very informative case study in my PhD studies.”
Be part of the solution
If you want to learn more about iKilimo, use it in your community or personal project, or if you want to contribute to our content scale-up plan, please contact us.