🌯 Inclusive FinTech Knowledge Bites [Week #42]
Uganda's Shared Banking Platform expansion, strategic digital payment partnerships in Francophone Africa, and how smallholder farmers leverage mobile tech
This week on The Barefoot Economist:
💔 404 Farmer Not Found: How Smallholders Use Their Phones is Key
💸 Shared Banking Platform in Uganda to Expand Services and Reach
⚙️ Digital Payments in Francophone Africa: Strategic Partnerships
Enjoy your reading!
Hugo Pacheco, The Barefoot Economist
💔 Why Agricultural Information Services Must Consider How Smallholders Use Phones
In low- and middle-income countries, the rise of mobile phones has connected rural communities, especially smallholder farmers, to vital agricultural information. This digital revolution has sparked interest from various sectors, leading to the development of numerous digital services aimed at enhancing farming practices. While these services, particularly mobile information platforms, have shown promising benefits in improving yields and resilience, there remains a significant gap in adoption among farmers.
🧠 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀
Behavioural barriers to the adoption of digital information services among farmers can be addressed and mitigated through several strategies:
𝗜𝗻-𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: Conducting extensive user research is crucial to understanding how farmers engage with mobile phones and what specific barriers they face. This involves observing diverse farmers in their natural settings to identify their habits, preferences, and challenges when using technology.
𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻: Involving farmers in the design process is essential. By engaging them in exploring ideas and testing prototypes, developers can ensure that the services are tailored to local realities and meet the actual needs of the users .
𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀: Providing information through multiple channels can help reach a broader audience. This includes using various formats (text, voice, visual) and delivery methods (push messages, on-demand services) to cater to different technological capacities and preferences among farmers.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸: After launching a service, it is important to maintain communication with users to gather feedback and insights. This allows for continuous improvement of the service based on real-life experiences and challenges faced by farmers .
𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Recognizing that not all farmers are reachable through digital means, integrating traditional communication methods can help disseminate information effectively. Engaging respected community members or local leaders to share information can enhance trust and reach .
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Providing training sessions and ongoing support can help farmers build their digital skills and confidence in using new technologies. This can reduce the cognitive load associated with using unfamiliar tools.
🌯 The Barefoot Insight
As mobile phones connect rural communities to essential services, particularly in agriculture, we often overlook the behavioural complexities that affect digital adoption.
🐘 The "Elephant, Path, Rider" framework (by Jonathan Haidt) sheds light on how low-income segments perceive and engage with digital financial services (DFS). In this analogy, the "elephant" represents the emotional side, the "Rider" the rational side, and the "Path" the environment that can either ease or obstruct adoption.
In comparison to fully digital solutions, agent networks offer an immediate and tangible support system that addresses both emotional hesitations and practical complexities—filling the gap between traditional banking familiarity and the future of digital finance.For many low- and middle-income (LMI) customers, the emotional "Elephant" is tethered to the trust and familiarity of traditional banking systems. There's an inherent comfort in established, cash-based methods, which is hard to shake even when DFS offer tangible benefits, such as marginal transaction costs or improved access to financial services. Meanwhile, the rational "Rider" recognizes the advantages of digital solutions—whether it's the efficiency of mobile wallets or the convenience of payments. However, change does not come easy when the "Path" is riddled with obstacles. Barriers such as lack of digital literacy, complex user interfaces, and fear of financial fraud make it difficult for the "Rider" to steer the "Elephant" down the digital path. This is where human agent networks offer a critical alternative. By providing trusted, face-to-face interactions, agent networks serve as a reliable guide for navigating this complex "Path."