Haller Foundation - Afrikan Heroes

Haller Foundation Partners Mara Phones to Boost Technology Accessibility in Rural Africa

July 11, 2021

The need for deeper telephone penetration especially in rural areas of Africa following the ongoing efforts towards acceleration of digital transformation across the continent has received a boost. As more companies and organisations than ever investing time, money and skills towards the goal Haller Foundation has entered into partnership with Africa’s first indigenous manufactured mobile phone, Mara.

This becomes even much more important with the effects of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit the hardest by the economic impact of COVID-19, with an estimated 23 million people in the region projected to be pushed into poverty by the pandemic.However, there are regions in Africa that this transformation has struggled to reach due to long histories of extensive digital exclusion from even before the pandemic. In these rural areas, the adoption of digital technologies and devices can make a tangible difference to the communities that inhabit them, especially through the sharing of educational material and digital infrastructure.

This is why the Kenya-based NGO and UK-founded charity, the Haller Foundation have launched the Haller Farmers App, a platform that leverages the ever-increasing availability of mobile connectivity in Africa to promote sustainable growth in rural communities and landscapes.

This is accomplished through the sharing of innovative and sustainable farming techniques needed to maximise food production and help build a thriving, self-sustaining community.

Within the App is 50+ years of local agricultural knowledge, with Haller describing the App as a “goldmine of information for smallholder farmers faced with the issues of climate change, land degradation and food insecurity.”

Haller says that all of the techniques demonstrated on the App are low cost and organic, meaning they can be readily transferred into routine farming practice.

Unfortunately, the rural communities that may need the App the most are also the communities most unlikely to have mobile technologies readily available. In order to combat this challenge, the Haller Foundation has partnered with Mara– the creators of the first high specification affordable smartphones manufactured in Africa.

Mara Phones focuses on creating inclusive employment for women and young people as well, helping to drive local economies. Now, through its partnership with Haller, and the donate a phone to a farmer scheme, Mara Phones’ affordable, high-tier smartphones are available to buy at a discounted rate of 10% simply by inputting the code ‘Haller‘ at checkout.

Any phone that is purchased through the scheme and using the code is then sent straight to Haller’s offices in Mombasa, Kenya, where the Haller Farmers App is pre-downloaded. The device is then distributed as donations to Haller’s ambassadors and community members who have not yet had direct access to Africa’s latest technological advancements.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Why Mobile Technology is Important to Rural African Communities

May 16, 2021

Mobile technology is at the heart of Africa’s digital journey thanks to its ability to provide communities with improved work and economic improvements. A great example of how access to online resources is The Haller Foundation’s award-winning mobile app — Haller Farmers. In this interview Joseph Baraka, Community Project Coordinator at the Haller Foundation in Kenya explains:

Africa faces one of the biggest digital divides in the world — with that in mind, how does access to mobile technology allow rural communities to thrive in an increasingly innovative era?

The use of mobile phones has increased drastically in Africa in the past decade. Many mobile phones companies have come in handy with cheap and affordable mobile phones. That said many community members have been able to access vital services like mobile banking ‘M-PESA’ for cashless money transfer, agricultural, marketing, weather advisory apps for farmers.

It is this advancement in technology that has led community members to thrive in most aspects hence improved the livelihood and living standards of community members.

Joseph Baraka, Community Project Coordinator at the Haller Foundation

Despite farming being a fundamental part of society, training and education on sustainable agriculture are neglected and underfunded at the government level. Have apps — like Haller Farmers — acted as a good solution to this issue?

Yes, this is because the Haller Farmers App offers comprehensive and practical knowledge at the touch of a button and also at very minimal cost. Once downloaded, selected content is available offline and also has a ‘chat’ section where farmers can ask questions in regards to farming and get feedback in real time.

Other than helping African farmers improve their agricultural productivity, what kind of benefits does mobile technology have on rural communities?

Mobile technology has brought about Mobile banking services like ‘M-PESA’ which helps community members transfer and receive money at their convenience. It is also safe and reliable for farmers since they don’t have to carry cash around with them once they sell their produce.

What is the main challenge when it comes to mobile technology in rural communities and how can this be overcome?

The main challenge is the lack of electricity to charge the mobile phones thus the need to equip community members with some charging solutions like solar charging units or solar phones. Poor network, illiteracy, poverty, and lack of compatible mobile gadgets like smartphones are also issues.

It could be argued that the increasing adoption of mobile technology across the continent is leading the way to a more innovative Africa — where do you see the future of mobile technology going and why?

Mobile phone technology has and is continuing to change the living standard of many communities members given that in rural Africa it was hard for community members to communicate and had to walk long distances in order to do achieve that but with the emergency of mobile technology, communication has become easy and cost effective given that sending a text message “SMS” is as low as 1kenyan shilling per sms hence cost effective. It has also provided easy banking options with most of the banks having a mobile phone app hence reduced transportation cost of going to the bank and also time spent queuing to be served in the bank. Mobile technology has also made life easier for scholars given that they can Google and research for data related to their studies.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Africa’s Youth Need Access to Agricultural Knowledge and Tools—Konde

February 13, 2021

There is a new level of attraction for farming within the young demographics in Africa, unlike what obtains before now. Despite farming being a fundamental part of society, training and education on sustainable agriculture in school curriculums is neglected and underfunded at government level. In this interview, James Konde, Head of Farmer Training and App Development at the Haller Foundation in Mombasa, Kenya outlines what needs to be done. Excerpts.

James Konde, Head of Farmer Training and App Development at the Haller Foundation

The Haller Foundation is a UK registered charity and Kenyan NGO that was set up to educate rural farmers. How is the foundation tackling the youth’s lack of interest in agriculture?

It’s very true and unfortunate that the young energetic youths whom we perceive to be the future of the nation are now the ones who are taking very negative stands towards farming. Despite this challenge, we at Haller have a different approach of trying to discard that and we believe in “Think Big Start Small”.

So we have for the last three years been involving youths and children of ages 12- 20 in farming activities (youth farming project) at our demonstration farm aimed at building their enthusiasm and mentoring them in different career paths that are linked to agriculture as a profession. Great impact has been achieved as during inception they were looking at farming as dirty and for low-class persons but now they are even able to carry vegetables home and do kitchen gardens in schools and at home without being forced.

We look forward to building this network among the youth, especially involving ones from very rural marginalized populations and share the same with a larger audience across the globe. Hoping this will bring revolution to the mindset of the youths towards agriculture.

The Haller Foundation recently launched a newly redesigned version of its award-winning app, Haller Farmers, to help African farmers improve their agricultural productivity. What kind of information is available through the app?

Through the Haller Farmers app, we are able to help African Farmers improve their agricultural productivity by availing to them well packaged and simplified information such as growing of local indigenous vegetables, native to their area, simple ways of identifying and controlling pests, easy and affordable solutions to soil nutrition, water management and erosion control as well as many new ideas of improving their livelihoods through use of waste and readily available materials within their surroundings. All of the techniques are environmentally friendly and available for free.

How is the redesigned app able to cater to the needs of farmers?

The newly released version of the Haller Farmers App is able to cater to the needs of the farmers by offering them quick solutions to their questions like; What? Where? Why? and How? in different aspects ranging from growing a variety of crops, food, fruits and vegetables as well as the rearing of livestock not forgetting marketing and sales within the same platform.

This means there is increased contact between the farmer and experts and farmer to farmer through the notice board on time. With limited access to technology in the rural areas of Africa, the new version allows users to download specific agricultural content for offline use.

What is the main challenge when it comes to the dissemination of the Haller Farmers app?

The main challenge at the moment is the availability of android smartphones especially to the very grass root farmer who lives on less than a dollar per day and this farmer apparently seems to be our ultimate audience.

However we have seen mobile companies and service providers coming up with lending strategies to enable the penetration of smartphones to very small scale farmers and so far they are working out to ensure more people own smartphones – still, the challenge remains and we ask ourselves How and When will we achieve the transition.

Use of the Haller Farmers app is highly dependent on increased penetration of mobile technology across the continent as well as access to a source of renewable power. How have sustainable partnerships with companies like Mara Phones and Deciwatt unlocked the potential of smallholder farmers?

Mara Phones and Deciwatt partnered with us to make some farmers realize some of the dreams. For the past few months, there has been a big impact among the group of ambassadors whom we are doing a test run with and we see more farmers being attracted to work closely with such progressive companies.

The phones help them train others on the Haller Farmers app and the lights are able to recharge the phones; more importantly provide a clean, healthy and cheap source of light for children to do their homework after school.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry