Extending its expert support to the Government of Punjab in the latter’s ‘Empowerment of Kissan through Digital & Financial Inclusion’ initiative, Telenor Pakistan and Department of Agriculture – Punjab have launched the Connected Agriculture Platform for Punjab (CAPP). The platform aims to resolve the longstanding challenges faced by the Pakistani farmers through a suite of digital solutions that improve their access to information, financial resources, and market besides enhancing supply chain efficiency.
Under CAPP’s mAgri ecosystem, a suite of Android apps including on boarding, mobile wallet, weather, crop calendar, video on demand, expert opinion, marketplace, supply chain tracking, and agriculture subsidy will be designed by Telenor Pakistan and Inbox Business Technologies. In the first phase of the project, up to 110,000 mobile phones with said apps pre-installed as well as Telenor GSM and data SIMs with special packages, will also be disbursed.
Since a majority of the farmers also need education on the use of the mechanism, around 500 on-ground training sessions will be conducted in 72 facilitation centers to train 25,000 farmers across 144 Tehsils of Punjab. CAPP also comes with an incentive program for the ‘most connected’ farmers whose engagement will be gauged on most mobile notification views, most time spent on apps, most tutorials/videos viewed, most transactions made through Marketplace, and most number of queries generated for experts.
“We at Telenor Pakistan, being one of the largest cellular operators and mobile financial services providers in the rural areas of the Punjab, believe that we are the natural partners for the Government of Punjab in their efforts to uplift the status of the Pakistani farmers,” said Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan. “Given that we already have a dedicated business unit focusing on mobile agriculture and enabling digital solutions for the agriculture value chain, we hope to support further development of this sector for the empowerment and inclusion of the Pakistani farmers through CAPP and our extended mAgri services,” he added.
“We are aware of the challenges faced by our Pakistani farmer with growing crops, raising livestock, and struggles to find reliable sources of information that have no vested interests,” said Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab. “The Punjab Agriculture Department and PITB are fully aware of these issues and how they result in significant productivity and financial yield gaps between the small-holder farmers and the progressive ones and hence affect their ability to improve their livelihoods. CAPP may contribute greatly to our ‘Empowerment of Kissan through Digital & Financial Inclusion’ initiative and we are confident in our partners, especially Telenor Pakistan, for the project’s success,” he added.
