[Tech Alert] Mobile phones: not just for talking anymore
Africa has the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world, and many are being used in development projects. One Grameen Foundation project in Uganda uses mobile phones to track banana diseases. Read the New York Times article about this project.
And, if you think that is cool, mobile phones are getting even more powerful: in many countries mobile phones are now being used to make deposits into mobile accounts, transfer money to other users, make cash withdrawals, and track savings. Cash exchanges are made at local kiosks and using regular airtime and special SMS messaging. M-PESA is probably the most successful example of this; started in 2007 in Kenya by Safaricom and Vodafone, the system began in order to allow people to send remittances back to families in the villages; now it is used primarily to grow savings accounts and for cash transfers of all kinds. Read more about “mobile money.”
CRS has begun several projects that utilize mobile technology; these will be featured in an upcoming issue.
Publications library
New publications
- Strategies for Sustainable Coffee
Coffee production is important to both the economies and ecologies of the regions in which it is produced. This poster looks at how CRS is providing support for coffee-based livelihoods to
Increasing Smallholder Access to Finance
This poster looks at how increasing smallholder access to finance through saving and lending can lead to increased investment in agriculture.
Increasing Market Access for Smallhold…
CRS is helping farmers in the Phillipines organize into product clusters to supply quality produce at the right price and time. Download this poster to learn more about this approach.
A Holistic Livelihoods-based Approach …
CRS uses the Integral Human Development conceptual framework to help design programs in the field. The framework and how it works is presented in this poster.
Baby-Friendly Farms
This poster explains how CRS is helping women practice exclusive breastfeeding and improve their nutrition through baby-friendly farms to reduce infant morbidity and mortality in Sierra Leone.