Two reports by Reuters and the renowned Swiss daily "Tages-Anzeiger" highlight the activities around the farmer information 
system to which Avallain is contributing ICT components since 2005.April 1st marks the fourth birthday of "The Organic Farmer", an agricultural journal providing small scale farmers in Kenya with practical information on farming and income increase.
Since project start, more than 500,000 copies have been distributed. Each month, 18,000 magazines are being distributed to farmer groups reaching an audience of 100,000. Additional channels like radio enable to reach a wider audience of approx. 3 million people in Kenya and Tanzania - including people with literacy difficulties.
To support distribution on all channels, The Organic Farmer is also included in the database-driven information system "INFONET-BioVision". Developed by Avallain for the Swiss BioVision foundation who finances the production and distribution of the journal, INFONET-BioVision provides farmer groups and agricultural advisors with up-to-date material on environmentally friendly and sound methods for pest, water and soil management and income increase.
INFONET-BioVision offers all 45 issues of the Organic Farmer as pdf - and allows to search the magazine by keywords on specific subjects.
The following report by Reuters shows how organic farming offers a sustainable income opportunity for young men in Nairobi - and features Peter Kamau, editor of The Organic Farmer:
The article in the Swiss newspaper "Tages-Anzeiger" (PDF, German) reflects on the value of farmer information in the context of the water scarcity brought about by global warming.
Avallain will present the latest findings at eLearning Africa in Dakar 27 - 29 May.
www.elearningafrica.com
www.avallain.com/e4d
