NAIROBI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Tuesday launched an online agriculture data-sharing platform that is expected to improve the provision of extension services and boost production and farmers' income.
Eliud Kireger, director-general of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), said the platform, dubbed Kenya Agricultural Data-Sharing Platform (KADP), would enable both private and government agencies to use data to offer cost-effective delivery of extension services.
"This platform will enable the government to avail e-extension services to millions of farmers. KADP offers more customized services to farmers, fosters collaboration, enhances data accessibility, promotes sustainable agricultural practices, and reduces the barriers to organizations to share data by providing the tools to do this securely," he said during the launch of the platform in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Kireger noted that Kenya has an advantage since close to 90 percent of people own mobile phones, therefore, farmers can easily be reached by such initiatives. He said the KALRO, through the platform, seeks to build a digital community of farmers that would enable the sharing of information for the growth of the sector.
Salim Kinyimu, the network system specialist at the KALRO, said the institution had put in the necessary safeguards to protect farmers' data so that one would need consent before using it.
"Through this platform, farmers will be able to know the crop to grow, when to plant, how to water it and when it is going to be infected and by what and what to do," he said, adding that coffee, tea, and potatoes are among crops farmers will get information on.
Henry Kinyua, an official from the Presidential Economic Transformation Secretariat, said the Kenyan government would use data to transform the agricultural sector and improve farmers' income. "Agriculture is data-driven, and this is the reason as a country we have registered farmers digitally in a process that is expected to boost access to inputs, extension service, and market," he said.
