Mobiles give Africa's farmers the chance to set out their stall
The latest technology is enabling villagers to bypass middlemen and find out the prices their crops will command
Every week without fail, sellers come to trade their meat, vegetables or animals in the dusty marketplace of Katine in north-east
Uganda
mobile phones are an incongruous glimpse of modernity amid the daily struggle for money and food in Katine
crucial component in the livelihoods strategy
In the coming months Amref plans to issue farmers with mobiles, with a noticeboard and a calculator, and take them on a visit to a town market. The hope is that they will be better equipped for agricultural marketing, in which the technology is increasingly crucial.
Network coverage in Katine is patchy but adequate, while charging phone batteries is a problem because the village is not connected to the national grid
I charge my mobile here every Tuesday and it lasts all week
mobile phone revolution sweeping Africa
clipped from: www.guardian.co.uk 