Senegal farmers love WhatsApp Voice messages
Particularly fascinating. WhatsApp is not something I have reason to use, though I know what it is. I especially enjoyed understanding why the app's voice notes were more beneficial for these farmers than just text. Which, when you think about it, makes perfect sense.
Sambou finds one WhatsApp group particularly useful. Its nearly 50 members discuss a range of farming practices, and broadcast weather updates and information on training sessions. It's part of a 15,000-member-strong network of 32 other groups across Senegal, which connects farmers to agricultural advisors, researchers, and local NGO representatives. "WhatsApp is our primary source of communication," Absa Babacar Mbodj, the group's coordinator, told Rest of World. "It's the quickest way for farmers to access information. It's innovating."
Senegal currently has approximately one agricultural advisor for every 10,000 farmers, researcher Raphaël Belmin told Rest of World. He believes the use of WhatsApp voice notes could help fill the gaps in training and education in the country.
The use of voice notes among Senegalese farmers proved particularly effective in 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine war erupted. Following the conflict, the prices of some fertilizers in Senegal increased fivefold. Faced with the possibility of producing less food for an already food-insecure nation, the farming community began looking for alternatives. WhatsApp voice notes were a crucial link in this process: Farmers used the feature to discuss cheaper options for fertilizers across their network of groups.
Moustapha Dienne, a Senegalese smallholder, told Rest of World that WhatsApp has helped him shift to more enterprising farming. "I use it to commercialize my production and find customers," Dienne said. "Before, I would have to walk through the village looking for buyers. Now, I put my products in my WhatsApp status, and people contact me directly."
Ousmane Coly, a fruit farmer in Casamance, echoes this sentiment. "I want to open myself to the world, I want to learn so many things, [and] any producer who wants to advance has to be on WhatsApp," he told Rest of World. "We all speak Wolof, Diola, and some Manding that are difficult to write. Voice notes let us carry on the dialogue."
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SimplyLocal Android App
An app which shows you local farmers who sell different things direct to consumers.
The app's author posted to the Seattle subreddit sharing this project of theirs.
Here's the link for the iPhone version.
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Delving into the math of subsidies and how they can't / shouldn't be used as a tool to change eating habits
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"The people resurrecting India's ancient fruit trees"
It can take an entire village to grow a new-age garden. That's what 42-year-old Shyju Machathi, a policeman living in Kannapuram in the Southern Indian state of Kerala, found out when his town was declared an "Indigenous Mango Heritage Area" by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board in 2020.
The honour came after the villagers had got together to grow over 200 indigenous species of mangoes, sourced from surrounding towns and villages, preserving diverse varieties that were in danger of dying out.
The technique that made it possible, Machathi says, is the age-old art of grafting. He started experimenting with the technique in July 2016, despite no formal training in farming, after an unfortunate incident shook the village of Kannapuram.
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