Khedut Saathi is an interactive voice messaging service launched by Awaaz.De for small farmers in India. It allows farmers to subscribe to receive sustainable agriculture practices and share them with others by forwarding episodes to up to 5 friends. The service leverages what farmers already have, such as low-end mobile phones. Farmers can subscribe or unsubscribe by a missed call and press 9. They can listen to episodes, ask questions, and share content. Over 10,000 farmers subscribed within 6 months with minimal publicity. Data analysis found a high pick up and listen rate for calls, showing farmers enjoy sharing content. Content includes agriculture knowledge, poems, songs and dramas. The service could expand through sponsored content and

1. Farmers’ Friend
Bhaumik Shah
Awaaz.De
Viral Voice Messaging for Small Farmers in India
Khedut Saathi

2. Awaaz De offers interactive voice messaging services designed to
connect organizations with large communities
Awaaz.De
Neil Patel
CEO
Ph.D. Stanford (CS/HCI)
Tapan Parikh
Chief Scientist
Professor UC Berkeley (I-School)
Founders

3. • In 2010 Awaaz.De launched “Avaaj Otalo", a mobile-based agri
extension line
• A formal impact evaluation by Harvard and IFMR showed positive
empirical results: farmers receiving AO's sample voice messages
were adopting more sustainable practices
Background

4. • How could an agri service grow or even go viral?
• How to make content more fun and engaging, not just informative?
• How to leverage existing farmer networks by letting farmers share?
Questions

5. • A mobile voice service for small farmers in India to receive and
share sustainable agriculture practices over low-end phones
• Any farmer can subscribe / unsubscribe to service by leaving a
missed call on a local number (+91 3091 8091) and pressing 9
• It leverages what farmers already have: low-end mobiles and
personal social networks
• After the episode, farmers can record their questions and
comments
• They can hear the episode archive or subscribe any time by
leaving a missed call to the KS number
Khedut Saathi (Farmers’Friend)

6. Unique Feature - Forward To Friend
•A unique feature of KS is forward-2-friend (F2F). After
hearing an episode, a farmer can enter up to 5 phone
numbers to forward the episode to
• Leads to viral growth
KS call
Subscriber

7. 10,000+ farmers subscribed
in less than six months with
minimal publicity. Call
volume is growing daily.
Subscribers

8. Total Forwards
2524
Unique farmers with at least one forward
1032
(Farmers love sharing!)
Pick up rate for
outbound calls
70.36%
Listen rate for outbound calls
38% of calls are listen for more than 50% content
60% calls which are cut before 50% of content
played are followed by an inbound call
Data Analysis (October ‘13 to Feb ‘14)

9. • Agriculture Knowledge
• Experience
• Poem
• Song
• Drama
What do farmers share?

10. Sustainability
• Sponsored Content
• Voice Advertisements
• Freemium model where farmers pay for certain add on services
such as one to one consultation with agriculture expert

11. Thank You
https://www.facebook.com/KhedutSaathi