Farming in a virtual reality environment
Publish Date: Jul 13, 2015 The Newvision.
Publish Date: Jul 13, 2015 The Newvision.
Joy Muhoozi uses a smoke blower to scare away bees to harvest honey in one of her beehives.
Photo by Fredrick Mugira
EVERY after an hour, chances are that Joy Muhoozi, a spunky brown woman in her late 40s will be talking on phone. Often, she is sharing her farming experience, talking to extension workers or inquiring about market prices for products from her farm, a family agribusiness she owns with her husband Bonus.
Through her phone, she finds market for her produce. Joy sells her produce directly to buyers in the towns of Bushenyi, Kabwohe and Mbarara in southwestern Uganda and several other markets in the region. This way she cuts out the middlemen and sells her honey and several other produce to the highest bidders.
But most recently, Joy has been thinking about venturing into using internet to market her produce. She wants to devote a blog and a Facebook account to her family farm. The family runs a mixed farm in Kyangundu, Kyangyenyi Sub County, in Sheema district, some 320 kilometers south of Kampala City.
“I’ve a lot to share and learn on internet. I want to find market for my honey,” narrates Joy.
Joy wants to cross from the side of farmers in Uganda yet to use social networks to expand their farm businesses. She wants to join the side where several farmers, farmers’ groups, extension workers, sellers and buyers of agricultural products are meeting easily.
Meeting in a virtual reality environment; just through social media; a group of internet based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.
Several farmers in Uganda have turned to social media platforms mostly Facebook, WhatsApp, Blogs and Twitter due to their participatory, openness and connectedness characteristics.
Perhaps the most used social media platform, Facebook allows users to set up their own pages, upload their photos, video, personal information and just about anything else.
The centerpiece of these platforms in agriculture is strengthening friendship and teamwork, allowing farmers to share ideas, experiences, problems and accessing market information.
This is according to Ian Atamba, an expert in agricultural extension and Director Integrated Actions Network, an NGO that works with local farmers in south-western Uganda to help them enhance their farming techniques.
He suggests that there are three specific points that farmers should follow if they want social media to work for them: “be willing to learn, active and involve their children.”
The last of these would seem to require explanation. “By involving their children, I mean that if they are unable to read or use computers, their children will do it for them,” Atamba adds.
Critically related to Atamba’s idea is the question of how traditional media in Uganda perceive the consumers of their information. Some media focus on the segments of society that have disposable incomes such as the rich and educated. The end result is that stories of rural, poor and otherwise marginalized people such as rural farmers receive little coverage through traditional media.
No wonder, Joy says she can’t afford to have her produce advertised in local media. “They want a lot of money,” notes joy, stressing that she does not have money to advertise.
If Joy uploads any information about her produce, chances are potential buyers and organisations that provide support to local farmers in Uganda will read it.
The man who knows this better is Innocent Angonza, a Masters’ student. His first degree is in agribusiness. He owns a blog dedicated to agribusiness. Agonza describes the use of social media in agriculture as amazing.
“Usage of social media is helping farmers worldwide to reach out and network with local and international agricultural extension workers and potential buyers of their produce,” notes Agonza.
Likewise, Agaba Baringi Senex, the Mbarara Traders Association treasurer agrees. He says several traders that belong to his organisation reach farmers through social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp using their phones.
“Yes it is possible, several traders are now changing with trends,” Agaba notes stressing that, “social media has now become an integral part of everyday life for people around the world traders and farmers inclusive.”
Published in the NewVision:
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/670904-farming-in-a-virtual-reality-environment.html
1 comment:
Virtual Reality is another buzz-worthy technology that continues to capture attention and fascinate people in the medical sector and outside of it.
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