Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has gone digital after they unveiled a mobile application, a Short Messaging Service (SMS) and an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform to enhance communication with framers.
Over 650,000 smallholder KTDA tea farmers will now be able to track their green leaf payment at the click of a button and also be able to receive daily, weekly and monthly notifications on the quantity of plucked tea weights delivered to the factories including extension services.
According to KTDA Management Services Managing Director Mr. Julius Onguso, the rollout of the KTDA Farmers App, SMS and USSD platforms is part of their reform agenda aimed at providing transparency and accountability by giving farmers full visibility of the status of their accounts.
“This heralds the digital transformation of KTDA’s service offering to its farmers, which we believe will go a long way towards sustained efficiency. By embracing and leveraging technology to enhance our communication and engagement with our farmers, we believe that this will enhance the transparency and credibility of all our undertakings for the farmers,” he said in a press release.
The app was piloted in eight factories prior to its rollout and will provide information about various KTDA services to registered farmers.
SMS subscription through the code “20213” will facilitate direct communication between the farmer and the factory while farmers have been advised to use the code *302# to make inquiries on green leaf deliveries, payment status for green leaf deliveries, and fertilizer disbursement.
