GOVERNMENT PRAISES VODACOM'S KILIMO KLUB INITIATIVE

Deputy Agriculture Minister, Godfrey Zambi (L)
and Vodacom Managing Director, Rene Meza (R)
share a hearty moment shortly after the deputy
Minister opened a workshop on Kilimo klub
(Agriculture Club) yesterday.

March 16, 2015. VODACOM Tanzania has won government praise for innovative solutions in support of smallholder farmers to access financial services like M-Pesa and M-Pawa.

The initiative dubbed Kilimo Klub, is an exclusive service targeting smallholder farmers to access M-Pesa and get empowered fast and conveniently.

Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Mr Godfrey Zambi, told a news conference at Kilimo Klub Summit in Dar es Salaam that increased rate of mobile penetration was a big push to smallholder farmers in rural areas.

“We need more smallholder farmers and agriculture business that are an essential part of the value chain contributing to increased production and increase income,” he said. Most of the smallholder farmers lack knowledge and access to the market and have limited business skills.

Other challenges, the deputy minister said, included lack financing or collateral and compete at a low margins due to lack of storage facilities and high transport costs.

“This is the dilemma we must address and believe that mobile technology is well placed to help us succeed in this area.

The infrastructure is already in place country-wide and the number of people with access to cell phones and mobile technology is significant and growing,” he explained.

He added: “We need innovative solutions to transform the sector and we look to the private sector to provide value propositions that can especially facilitate smallholder farmers’ entry into the broader market and we really appreciate this initiative by Vodacom.”