Creating A Cassava Farmer Database in Tanzania for Tailored Advice

ACAI project is partnering with eSOKO, a digital solutions company operating in the agricultural sector, to collect data on cassava farmers in Tanzania and profile them in order to develop and provide them with tailored information. eSOKO is an agricultural profiling and messaging service provider that empower rural populations and the organizations that work with them through information dissemination across sub-Saharan Africa.

The profiling of cassava farmers in Tanzania is aimed at understanding specific farmers’ needs, practices, varying regional seasons and access to necessary resources. This information will be used to customize the AKILIMO recommendations sent to the farmers.

ACAI and eSOKO are working with Extension Agents (EAs) allied to the government extension services and other project partners to collect data using the Insyt web and mobile data collection tool developed by eSOKO. Using the tool, the EAs are recording farm information, input use trends, gender participation and input supply systems.

ACAI project coordinator in Tanzania says the profiling will be a continuous process to have a large number of farmers in the database and help organize the cassava value chain systems and processes. The information collected will help the registered farmers received tailored information based on their location and tidbits that are relevant to their interests.

Apart from information on cassava agronomy, the profiled farmers will also be linked to cassava value chain actors at every level of the crops root production to value addition and consumption.