{"id":1625,"date":"2015-03-20T09:41:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T09:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/new\/ie\/news\/peace-helps-to-bridge-information-gap\/"},"modified":"2016-12-21T14:44:44","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T14:44:44","slug":"peace-helps-to-bridge-information-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/peace-helps-to-bridge-information-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace helps to bridge information gap"},"content":{"rendered":"
Just as mobile telephones have revolutionised the ways we communicate, phone technology is\u00a0also playing a vital role in transforming the lives of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/strong><\/p>\n For them, the ability to check market prices, or find out at the touch of a button about plant diseases, or when they should sow, is bridging an information gap that has hindered productivity in rural Africa, for generations.<\/p>\n In the highlands of south-west Uganda 38 year old Peace Ndongyereye is contributing in her own way to this mobile\u00a0farming revolution.<\/p>\n A community knowledge worker trained by Self Help Africa, she spends time each day scaling the steep slopes of Bukimbiri District dispensing advice to farmers on their terraced plots. Much of the knowledge that she shares is\u00a0via mobile phone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peace\u2019s smart-phone is stocked with a bank of images to illustrate common plant diseases, together with a practical\u00a0step by step guide to the action that should be taken if a particular blight of fungus is discovered.<\/p>\n Selected by her local community to fulfil the role of knowledge worker because of her own farming ability and\u00a0experience, Peace has worked in her voluntary role for two years, but has no thoughts of stopping anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI benefitted greatly from the training that was given to me.\u00a0I am a farmer myself. I am\u00a0proud\u00a0to share my new skills if it can help other farmers grow more,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Read more about Self Help Africa\u2019s use of mobile technology\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just as mobile telephones have revolutionised the ways we communicate, phone technology is also playing a vital role in transforming the lives of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. For them, the ability to check market prices, or find out at the touch of a button about plant diseases, or when they should sow, is bridging an information gap that has hindered productivity in rural Africa, for generations.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[637,678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\n