ICT Benefiting Rural Women and Men Farmers Telenor
MDF supported Telenor to provide famers in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral access to actionable, timely and relevant crop information on their mobile phones which will give them higher yields and reduce their post-harvest losses.
The Company Telenor is a voice, data and content mobile communications provider, operating in 13 countries in Europe and Asia. In Pakistan, it acquired a GSM services license in 2004 and is one of the largest cellular carriers.
The Context Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Chitral are remote, mountainous regions in the north of Pakistan. Weather changes in these regions can be sudden and dramatic, causing significant losses to farmers and damaging crops. This is particularly difficult for apricot picking and drying, as many farmers manage land and orchards far from their homes, preventing them from taking action quickly enough to stop the damage. Additionally, weak infrastructure means that efforts by businesses to reach farmers are easily frustrated, while the content provided by the Meteorological Department covers too large an area to be useful in the many pockets of different weather conditions. Finally, a lack of information on cultivation practices means that farmers often use lowquality inputs, don’t apply enough fertiliser and lack understanding of disease and pest control.
The Challenge As rural farmers form one of the largest sectors of the country’s population, Telenor had recognised that reaching them with improved advisory and information services could offer significant growth potential. The company had already launched a crop advisory service in Punjab, so building on the successes of its experience there, it was keen to expand its digital footprint to the remote regions.
The service would serve a number of purposes: allow Telenor to provide relevant, actionable and timely information on crops and vegetables while also gaining market share and increasing customer retention. Since the regions were new, Telenor was struggling to enter the market and understand its dynamics. It needed to obtain content for horticulture products and get it adapted and disseminated among small farmers in order to make its initiative work. With experience of working in the region, MDF stepped in to support Telenor in researching the regional constraints, obtaining relevant content and stylizing and disseminating it among small holder farmers in these regions.
The Solution MDF recognised that there was potential for pro-poor growth in helping Telenor expand into the regions of GB and Chitral so they worked together to source the content for the free mobile agriculture advisory service - Khushaal Zamindaar (Prosperous Farmer) 7272. By helping with research and introducing farmers’ crops onto the platform, MDF helped Telenor to launch the service to smallholder farmers across Chitral and GB. This helped farmers to increase crop yield, reduce post-harvest losses, safeguard nutrition and better manage some of adverse climatic effects and natural resources common to the area. As a smart phone is not needed to access the service, a wide range of subscribers can access the information free of cost on their mobile phones. Telenor also airs a weekly radio show featuring agricultural experts, who discuss issues and take questions from live callers.
The Results
23,036 Khushaal Zamindar
Reached 64,021 farmers in GB and Chitral through Telenor’s Khushaal Zamindar 7272 service.
farmers benefited with the adoption of best crop practices.
Weather Information
7272
Crop Advisory
Average income increase of
158 USD
per year per farmer.
Quote from the field Sher Wali, a potato farmer from Chitral, shared:
Last year I lost 1000 kgs of potatoes in rain worth PKR 20,000. Now I listen to Telenor’s 7272 service daily and plan my cultivation and harvest accordingly. This season, I planned timely harvesting as per the rain forecast and avoided any losses.