Digital solutions for rural development: STARLIT case studies

Technology transfer and digital tools promote sustainable agricultural development and rural transformation. The Strengthening Agricultural Resilience through Learning and Innovation (STARLIT) project in Rwanda and Kenya used two digital tools to accomplish its goals of training smallholder farmers in good agricultural practices and of strengthening the capacity of saving and credit cooperative organizations (SACCO).

Enhancing Smallholder Famers’ Resilience through Digital Solutions: Farmers were trained in climate resilient agricultural practices for maize production using an Interactive Voice Response tool. Farmers could call and listen to training sessions in their local language from their mobile phones. This increased accessibility of the training to remote areas and farmers with limited literacy skills.

Enhancing Agricultural Financing in Kayonza: SACCOs were introduced to the Agriculture Credit Assessment Tool through which cooperatives could estimate production costs, cash flow and productivity of crops based on estimates. This helped SACCOs identify required credit amounts for agricultural loans which led to better targeted loan disbursements and, in some cases, larger credits with flexible collateral arrangements.