Paraguayan farmers, like their counterparts across the developing world, are joining the legion of people at the bottom of the economic pyramid who now have access to mobiles—individually or through social networks.

They are also reaping the benefits of burgeoning agricultural markets, training opportunities and best practices that mobile-based systems help to inform them about and connect them to. The most recent, SMS Productivo, is premised on an SMS platformed, which was introduced by USAID’s Paraguay Productivo, under the management of CARANA Corporation.

This system has also automated data collection and enable agricultural planning to be more up-to-date and efficient, as farmers may now submit observations via text messages.

La Norteña, a cooperative, worked with PyP last fall to  introduce SMS Productivo to their members. There are now five participating cooperatives and another 20 are ebbing to join.

Learn more about SMS Productivo and the stories of those using the technology.