ICT and AG Profile: Tanga Fresh

Supported by USAID’s Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information Communication Technologies (FACET) project under the FIELD-Support LWA, this profile discusses Tanga Fresh (TF), a dairy company serving the domestic Tanzanian milk market that uses bulk SMS and weekly radio programs to improve the quality of extension and marketing messaging delivered to farmers and to build a direct connection between the company and its 3,500 active outgrowers. The majority of these are smallholders averaging 5 dairy cows each, which produce 8 liters daily. TF sends bulk SMSs to over 2,500 farmers each week, communicating seasonal extension and quality control information, as well as to announce the outbreak of diseases and price alerts. Instead of having to route through their cooperative leaders, farmers can text back questions or complaints directly to a full-time TF staff employee, which handles approximately 500 messages each week.

The FACET project aims to help USAID missions and their implementing partners in sub-Saharan Africa use information and communications technology in sustainable and scalable approaches to improve the impact of their agriculture-related development projects.