Massive Uptake For Cattle Tracking App
Dumisani Ncube | Monday June 27, 2016 18:00
The application was launched about nine months ago as a pilot.
This is the same application (app) that won the duo the Orange Developer Award For African and Middle Eastern countries last year.
Business Monitor caught up with the two technology geniuses who prefer to be known as techpreneurs who explained how the app works. Using the app in one’s phone, one can easily locate their cattle once they get lost.
Through the same app one can get some farming consultation on various issues such as animal nutrition and animal health care.
“FarmConnectar is a community driven Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and SMS platform offering risk management services enabling farmers to adopt sustainable agro-economic lifestyles. Our flagship service is cattle location via phone as well as access to veterinary services and advices on animal healthcare,” said Darkwa.
The app is accessible from any phone be it a smartphone or an ordinary cellphone as most of the services are done through instant messages. When the livestock gets lost contact with the owner or farmer is made through phone calls and SMS so they start locating the animals. Darkwa claims that their notifications are up to date. The techprenuers have a networked data base system linking all the lost livestock or Matimela kraals nationwide.
Through their partnership with Orange, upon registering for their services using a special USSD code on the Orange network, they capture details such as the farmer’s cell number and the brand number (Tshipi) of their cattle.
Apart from locating livestock, he said they also offer services that deal mainly with the health of livestock through the same platform of sending messages and calling.
“We offer free access to government veterinary services via the platform whereby one can access the government vaccination schedule, direct contact with the nearest veterinary officer as well as advisory info on animal health and SMS alerts about disease outbreaks.” Darkwa said, “Soon, we are launching a new service that is targeted towards horticulture farmers as they will be able to access a broader spectrum of markets for their produce from their phones”.