BPN 1389 My selection of WSA Best e-Content 09 (14)

Category: e-Inclusion & Participation

Tradenet (Esoko)

PRODUCER’S DESCRIPTION
TradeNet is an innovative technology that links mobile phones to web-based management systems and enables agri-business, agri-associations and other agri-projects to systematically build polls, and automatically scouts participants for critical field information. The scout technology can be programmed to send or receive text messages from participants in the field in order to track activities and inventories or evaluate crop behaviour. The project incorporates an SMS-based and Java-based application that connects mobile handsets with a powerful online toolset, enabling large-scale tracking from the field, and significantly reducing the cost of real-time distribution and recovery of responses from thousands of participants. Today, almost
800,000 price records have been entered from 10 countries, making this the largest SMS-based MIS system on the African continent. Over 12,000 registered users are profiled in the system, and almost 500 markets are covered.

JUROR’S EVALUATION
TradeNet uses a combination of offline research, mobile content and communications with easily accessible online content to enable farmers and traders throughout Africa to access critical market information as means of improving market transparency and thereby household security and an opportunity to have returns on agricultural investments. Till today, small scale producers have been excluded from accurate daily price information in national markets. By training their
communities and making price alert deliveries to mobile phones automated, TradeNet provides access to more markets and negotiate better prices. It improves the transparency of agricultural markets in developing countries and includes communities in information services that previously they did not have access to.

Producer
BusyLab
Michael Ocansey
Puoza Gamaliel
Mark Davies
Xose Ahlijah
Andrea Biardi
Country
Ghana
Original Title
Esoko
Contact
anon@busylab.com
www.michaelocansey.com
Language
English, French, Spanish and Portuguese
Media Format
mobile content
Product URL
www.tradenet.biz

Blog Posting Number: 1389

Tags: e-inclusion, e-participation