WeFarm

Target SDGs

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Household

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

WeFarm

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include PlantVillage and iCow.

Countries

Dominican Republic, Kenya, Peru, Tanzania

Manufacturing/Building Method

N/A

Intellectural Property Type

Select Type

User Provision Model

Users sign up for free sending an SMS to a national short-code number in each country of operation. The user then registers their name, and can ask a question by sending an SMS to the WeFarm number.

Distributions to Date Status

WeFarm currently has over 100.000 users.

Design Specifications

WeFarm Connect is a one-off process of on-boarding farmers, which enables them to improve their livelihoods through tailored information. Once farmers have registered, they will have unlimited free access to WeFarm.

WeFarm Connect includes the following:

– Full day(s) training. A selection of lead farmers will attend a ‘WeFarm Ambassador training workshop’ to receive training from a WeFarm staff member on how to use the system, and how to teach other farmers to use the system. Duration of training will depend on number of farmers to be trained

– Full and unlimited access to Q&A platform for all participating farmers to improve farming practices and livelihoods

Benefits: Improved productivity and livelihoods for farmers, Increased supplier resilience, Increased quality and quantity of supply

WeFarm Insights help businesses make better decisions regarding their supply chain.

We collect all data shared by SMS in order to analyse the real challenges faced by smallholder farmers and map trends and issues such as drought, disease or crop diversification. By disaggregating this information, we can help organisations provide appropriate support and drive sustainable change.

WeFarm Insights are provided in monthly or quarterly reports with detailed information making it possible for businesses to understand issues and requirements of isolated suppliers.

WeFarm Insights can be tailored to suit your business needs and may include the following:

– Data on farmer usage and interaction with the system

– Information on key trends and most discussed issues including disease, droughts or crop diversification

– Example questions and identification of best farmer practices to be shared

– Disaggregated data by gender, age, location, crop

Benefits: Understand and map issues at the farmer level of your supply chains, Improve training and provide tailored support, Make better decisions improve forecasting and allocate resources effectively, Regain control and improve security of supply.

WeFarm Reach enables businesses to communicate with isolated farmers without internet.

WeFarm Reach can be linked to WeFarm Insights to allow you to engage with your suppliers. With WeFarm Reach you can:

– Tailor the content of SMS to address the issues identified in the monthly reports

– Share tips and best practices from successful farmers

– Support training programs with SMS

– Raise awareness of key issues

WeFarm Reach can also be used to reach an otherwise unconnected audience. Businesses that want to promote products or services to small-scale farmers can also benefit from WeFarm Reach, by connecting with new customers through our platform.

Benefits: Communicate directly with isolated suppliers to drive sustainable change throughout your entire supply chain, Advertise to a unique audience that is unconnected to any other platform.

WeFarm is an SMS-based peer-to-peer knowledge sharing platform that can be accessed using a basic mobile phone. Questions are crowdsourced via other farmers in the region and around the world, using a voluntary translation tool.

Technical Support

Provided by other users on WeFarm.

Replacement Components

Not applicable.

Lifecycle

Not applicable.

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

None.

Vetted Performance Status

None.

Safety

N/A

Complementary Technical Systems

None.

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

Unknown.

Evaluation methods

Unknown

Other Information

In 2014, WeFarm won the Google Impact Challenge Award.