Technological innovation, especially in mobile, will be critical to improving agricultural productivity, but R&D funding must be ramped up after years of neglect

When Ismail Serageldin, director of the Library of Alexandria, told the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) that global population growth meant food production would have to increase by 70 percent by 2050, using the same amount of water, he identified agricultural innovation as the key to solving the problem. With global efforts to improve fertiliser quality, harvesting technology and water resources, what role can R&D and mobile communications play in transforming agriculture in Africa?

"Mobile technology can radically transform smallholder farmers' access to critical and timely information," says Fiona Smith, mAgri programme director at GSMA, an association of mobile operators. "New mAgriculture services being developed allow farmers to call a helpline and get advice from an agriculture extension service provider or receive personalised daily agriculture alerts through SMS or voicemail.

They can exchange up-to-date information on pests and diseases, seed and input varieties, weather, market prices and so on. In many African countries, agricultural extension agents are stretched to service up to 4,000 farmers each, which results in long delays between visits. Mobile phones provide a complementary way to reach farmers with timely and personalised information."

In Nigeria, Nokia is active in this area with Nokia Life, a phone-based information service that provides updates tailored to the subscriber's needs, such as weather reports; advice on when to sow crops, use fertiliser and harvest; and current prices for crops and fish.

Meanwhile, Sustainable Harvest, an Oregon-based coffee importer, has rolled out mobile-based technology to farmers across Latin America and Africa.

Its Relationship Information Tracking System collects coffee data, including information on where coffee was washed, dried and stored, to help smallholder producers increase their cooperative's competitiveness and transparency. It has piloted the technology with the Kilicafe cooperative in Tanzania.

"By tracking key data, starting from individual farmers, Kilicafe received the information it needed to maximise the availability of their highest quality coffees and identify areas for quality improvement overall," says Pam Kahl, director of communications at Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers.