As professionalism keeps advancing along the value chain in the agriculture sector, farmers in Nyagatare District have said the phone has become more of a necessity, playing a role in access to different possibilities, from meteorological services to markets.

This was declared by farmers in the district, as 24 members of cooperatives, who represent over 6,000 farmers in the district, last week received smartphones to help them with information sharing.

Aloys Ngaruye, from KODEPEKUM cooperative of 70 farmers from Mukama Sector, which grows maize and beans on 146 hectares, said a farmer needs to connect with other farmers in different places to exchange information on practices and markets.

 "When there is a market for a certain produce, it is a responsibility of the facilitator to share the information with the members and discuss a way forward,” he said.

When a pest strikes crops, a phone helps one to ask for help and find pesticide to use, he added.

Natalia Mukagatera, from KABOKU cooperative in Matimba Sector, said: "When you grow maize and fall armyworms affect them, or aflatoxin affects grains, we need to report the problem on time.”

Kedres Twainemigisha, from Gakirage, Nyagatare Sector, is vice chairperson of Ejo Heza Cooperative, which has 42 women members, said sometimes they wanted to report a problem and could not find a way to do it.

"Without a smartphone, some things are difficult,” she insisted.

These are among the 148 "hub farmers”, or representatives of farmers in cooperatives, from seven districts of Eastern Province, who are receiving smartphones, donated by Clinton Development Initiative, to help them access markets, according to Angelique Tuyisenge, country director of the organisation.

"We want to share with them information regarding markets for their produce, because we have identified a problem of lack of information of buyers and the prices situation. We will be sharing market information with the hub farmers, who will then share with other members of their respective cooperatives,” she explained.

With a telephone, there is no limit regarding the market where you can sell your produce. It can be in the country or even beyond borders, she said.

"A businessperson may wake up and say, where can I get a certain quantity of beans in Nyagatare? And both sides will need linkages and information sharing, which the smartphone makes very easy,” she said.

Nyagatare District Vice mayor Stephen Rurangwa, said that information is the "real” wealth.

He pointed out that during Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, technology has made life easy, saying that people did not have to physically meet to be able to conduct business.

For farmers, it is also important to be informed regarding weather forecast ahead of a season, which means technology, he added

Rurangwa reminded farmers that they have rich and arable land in Nyagatare, urging them to make the most of it to ensure the district reclaim its position as Rwanda’s food basket.

He urged them to leverage the smartphone to ensure they have information on weather forecast all year round.

"It is like the dry season always catches us off guard, yet it happens every year. We have a weather forecast agency, when it is May, you need to be sure when the rainy season will end, based on the meteorological service’s predictions. That is how professionalism begins,” he stated.