Planting advice

One plant-or-wait instruction for each plot, by USSD or voice in the farmer’s own language.

Farmers get a voice call, or dial in by voice or USSD. The message is one action, such as “Wait for the next rain to plant,” with no percentages to interpret, and ends with “Press 1 if you have done this.”

The same calls warn of a dry week ahead, say when to water, drain or add fertiliser, and tell the farmer what their field agent’s photo of a sick plant shows.

Calls go out at the hour each farmer usually answers. A missed call is tried again, then sent as an SMS. Each instruction fits a 160-character screen and is written to be recorded by native speakers, for farmers who cannot read.