Africa’s farmers click with digital tools to boost crops

A Kenyan farmer who uses digital technology services provided by Mercy Corps Agrifin initiative poses for a photo in this undated picture. — Mercy Corps/Reuters

NAIROBI: Until a year ago, it would take Pamela Auma a whole month to prepare the land on her farm in western Kenya for planting ahead of the rainy season.

With hoe in hand, the mother-of-seven spent her days digging up the one-acre (0.4-hectare) plot – roughly the size of a football field – and praying she would finish in time to sow her maize and beans crops before the rains arrived.