The Collecting and Exchange of Local Agricultural Content (CELAC), is the agricultural wing of the Ugandan NGO, BROSDI (Busoga Rural Open Source & Development Initiative). It aims to improve the livelihoods and food security of rural farmers through engaging the government, private sector and civil society in knowledge sharing and information management using ICTs.

Many ICTs are used but CELAC has realized that one of the most accessible technologies is the mobile phone. It is estimated that in Uganda just like other developing countries, at least one person in every village possesses a phone.  Also, even the most uneducated person can easily learn how to receive and make a phone call. There is no need to go to school.

The CELAC project uses mobile phones for:

o Weekly SMS messages which are sent out to farmers once a week.

o Emergency SMS messages which are only sent in case of an agri-related emergency e.g. if there is a breakout of a disease in a region or country. This is mainly to alert farmers and encourage them to take precautions.

* Agricultural tips on request (through a partnership between BROSDI and the Grameen Foundation). Here a farmer sends a question and a tip is forwarded to him/her in relation to the question asked.

* Phone conferencing is also used n meetings, trainings and forums. These are used especially because BROSDI and CELAC are unable to reach out to each of the groups very often as they are many, and are scattered throughout all regions of Uganda.

* Telephone calls are made as a way of routine communication to farmers.

* Audio recording and photographs are taken during field visits. The recorded files are then distributed to farmers using CDs.

There is a saying that every good thing has a challenge and the uses of these phones have got the following challenges:

* Some rural farmers in reality can’t afford even the cheapest mobile phone on the market.

* Formerly the farmers had a perception that phones are for telephone calls only. CELAC is overcoming this through sensitization and routine trainings.

*There is also the challenge of routine power cuts and the fact that some areas don’t have electricity at all. Though this can be solved by use of other means like solar chargers, CELAC has not yet been able to address this issue.

The CELAC farmers say that you feel the man of the day once you receive many SMS's at ago, even when you are at a drinking place. People come to you to ask what the SMS is about and you feel so proud explaining the content to them. The SMS's usually have simple locally relevant content such pest control methods or how to untertake a certain agriculture activity.

Written by Mary Nakirya

Program manager, BROSDI Uganda