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    Mobile internet can increase small farmers' revenue by 50%: Vodafone report

    Synopsis

    Small farmers, it says, typically, have limited access to internet resources, services, information, markets and social networks.

    ET Bureau
    KOLKATA: Mobile internet access via smartphones can lead to a 50 per cent increase in a small farmer’s revenue in India, especially if the correct inputs (read: agricultural information) are used, said Vodafone in a new report, christened "Towards a more equal world: the mobile internet revolution."

    "A 1 per cent increase in yields can lead to a 0.6 per cent-1.3 per cent reduction in poverty in India, having a greater impact than prices alone," said the Vodafone report on the potential of mobile internet access in tackling inequality in developing markets.

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    Authored by independent experts, the Vodafone study looks at how the shift to smartphones and data services in emerging markets represents a turning point.

    Small farmers, it says, typically, have limited access to internet resources, services, information, markets and social networks.

    The Vodafone report underscores that mobile internet access through smartphones can positively impact the lives of small farmers in developing economies like India, especially when the intensity of information needed in agriculture is increasing.

    These can be in the form of "reliable weather information, which can guide farmers on when to plant and harvest" while "increased price transparency" could help them obtain better prices for their crops.

    Mobile internet access, according to the Vodafone report, is also pivotal in reducing information asymmetries and equalising access to wider social networks and opportunities, but digital literacy is important in ensuring such potential is realised.

    Further, the report warns that "differential access to information has the potential to create an even bigger divide than exists now between rich and poor farmers, in effect creating a new division between farming communities based on their access to information".

    Growth in agriculture, the report said, particularly benefits those on the lowest incomes. "A 1 per cent gain in GDP originating from higher agricultural production generates a 6 per cent increase in spending by the poorest tenth of the population, who are predominantly small farmers in most developing countries."

    The report, however, said access to spectrum in sufficient quantities at market-determined prices is critical for continued investment in mobile broadband networks.

    It also advocated development of locally-produced information and apps for increasing the usefulness of mobile internet access. Although it feels this can prove a challenge due to the "high cost of creating hyperlocal apps, including those offering detailed agricultural information".
    The Economic Times

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