Tech4Ag through its Tech4Dairy project has empowered 20 female dairy farmers in Oyo State with Free Smart Mobile Phone Tablets which contains the mDairy App with relevant dairy information, videos and services on animal health, milk hygiene, nutrition, pasture development among others.
In partnership with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC and 2Scale, the female beneficiaries who are Fulanis and fresh milk suppliers to FC WAMCO were selected from 5 clusters in Oyo State namely- Alaga, Maya, Iseyin, Fashola and Saki.
The innovative project which was initiated by TECH4AG Co-founder, Gbadegesin Alawode is the first of its kind aimed at promoting digital literacy, inclusion, and awareness as well as boosting mobile phone ownership among marginalized female dairy farmers.
“This will make digital services like the mDairy platform accessible, and understandable while ensuring no women dairy farmer is left out,” Alawode said.
mDairy application built by Tech4AG is an integrated digital application developed to boost local milk production in Nigeria and to improve the dairy value chain.
The App provides dairy farmers with online and offline information about best dairy practices, as well as record keeping of milk, and the health of their cows via their mobile phones. mDairy also offers surveys, analytics, and reporting to dairy companies and other users via a web version to enhance program planning and decision making.
Read also: mDairy partners FrieslandCampina to develop an App for Dairy Farmers
“We strongly believe in equity and that every woman should benefit from the digital transformation of the dairy sector irrespective of their gender, location, and education. We hope to reach 50,000 more female dairy farmers and extension officers by 2030”, Gbadegesin Alawode said.
The General Manager, Dairy Development Programme, FC WAMCO Adekunle Olayiwola, while speaking stated that the Tech4Dairy project is a new innovation to improve the dairy farmers lives particularly the women. The mobile phone tablets will help farmers have access to quality dairy training, inputs from extension officers and management of the milk full chain in their farms.
“This is an epic event that symbolizes inclusion and growth to the GDP of the country. The mDairy platform is one of the best in the world and I hope to see this spread across Nigeria and Africa in few years,” said Adekunle. General Manager DDP, FC WAMCO.
According to Lawal Zuwerat, one of the beneficiaries, “I want to thank TECH4AG/mDairy for this laudable initiative as it will help me and other beneficiaries improve our digital skills while improving our business and livelihood”.
Tech4Ag is a development and agricultural technology company with the mission to unlock opportunities and improve nutritional and agricultural value chain in Africa through technology, innovation, research, and partnerships.
Published in BusinessDay on March 9 2022