Presentation by Florence Ajio, Customer Services Representative, Grameen Foundation Session: ICTs/Mobile Apps for Access, Distribution and Application of Agricultural Inputs on 6 Nov 2013 ICT4Ag, Kigali, Rwanda

1. Program pilot to test
countermeasures to mitigate the
sales and use of counterfeit crop
protection products in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
Using Mobile phone technology

2. The Problem
 Counterfeit agricultural inputs
account for more than 30% of all
retail agro-inputs purchases in
12 agribusiness sectors in SSA
 Neither
law
enforcement
agencies
or
ministries
of
Agriculture nor the private sector
have been able to substantially
reduce this.

3. Purpose of the project
• Testing counter-Measures designed to
mitigate the sales and use of
counterfeit Crop Protection Products in
SSA
• Can smallholder farmers and the retail
sector adopt e-verification technology if
its offered in the market?
• Would the farmers be persuaded to
pay a premium for a product that is
verified to be genuine?

4. The Model
Connecting the dots….

5. The Model------continued
Pilot to
control
Fake
Inputs
Farmers
ICT4Ag
Agro-input
Dealers
(ADs)
Community
Knowledge
Workers
(CKWs)

6. ICT Tools Applied
Promotional efforts

7. Achievements
• Sold out stocks within 6 weeks of the
pilot rollout
• 9.8% combined market share of two
participating brands during the
baseline survey and nearly doubled
market share of 19% during the pilot
• 515 valid authentications made
during pilot representing 7.3% of total
sales of the pilot brands.

8. The Impact

9. The Lessons
• After identifying the label, some
farmers did not bother with the entire
Short Message Service (SMS)
verification process.
• Most ADs did not engage in the
management of their inventories
• All the media promotional efforts
conducted had an impact on the
products with e-verification demand

10. The Opportunities and Way forward
• Farmers could finally get genuine
inputs
• Further pilot with other agricultural
inputs like seeds and fertilizers
• Expansion of concept to other
countries
Way Forward
• Efforts are being made by IFDC and
private sector in Uganda to scale up
the project

11. Thank you