By the end of 2016 it was estimated that more than 420 million people in Africa owned a mobile phone, a penetration rate of 43%. In the agriculture sector in Africa, mobile-mediated services therefore appear to be well placed to deliver the information that smallholder farmers urgently need to boost their productivity and profitability. But what is the reality on the ground and the potential for establishing sustainable services?

Technological advancements have created numerous opportunities, yet these opportunities raise important questions about knowledge partners’ capacities to provide factually correct, relevant information in formats that have been tested and found to be farmer friendly, which do not create any unforeseen consequences and which can be delivered promptly, such that subscribing farmers can act on the information within their cropping cycle.