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  1. 2007 /
  2. April-June 07 /

Rural shepherds go high tech

Afghan sheep herders can use their mobile phones for tasks as diverse as checking prices, keeping track of their flocks, receiving health information, and determining the best grazing areas.

April 25, 2007

In rural Africa, mobile phone penetration has grown steadily since the boom of 1999. A New York Times report states that although there is an average of only one landline for every 33 people in Africa, one-in-11 is now a mobile subscriber. Wireless communication is transforming dozens of other developing nations from the ground up.

TradenetINTL, for example, is a company that markets itself as "intelligence for farmers and traders worldwide," offering agricultural communities in Africa some of its services for free so that they can conduct business using SMS.

Mark Jefford-Baker, business innovation manager at Ericsson Mobility World, says this global mobile technology expansion has, potentially, enormous economic benefits for people in high-growth areas. "There are a variety of information services already available through operators and service providers," he says. "Farmers can find out the price of raw produce, such as yams and maize, and because they've already checked the price that day, they avoid the danger of getting unfairly paid once they get to the market. This is truly giving 'power to the people.' "

This empowerment is spreading across the deserts of Afghanistan, through the jungles of Africa and to the shores of Tanzania, where just one-in-10 homes has electricity, but where 97 percent of people can now access a mobile device. In Tanzania, fishermen use mobile phones to check prices and scope the market.

This proliferation of technology is as much about quality of life as it is business development. Mobile communications is serving a much greater purpose, and Ericsson is playing a vital role in bringing technology to enrich the lives of the people living in these communities. 

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