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Business Reporter
ECONET Wireless has launched the EcoFarmer Club that offers farmers access to a rich bundle of services covering agricultural commodity prices, valuable farming tips, relevant local weather information and a mobile trading platform that links farmers to buyers.

Speaking at the launch of the facility in Harare, chief executive Mr Douglas Mboweni said the initiative demonstrated the company’s quest to offer relevant products and services that meet the needs of ordinary
Zimbabweans where they are.
“We are excited to launch this service that will serve millions of farmers and consumers of farming services throughout our country,” Mr Mboweni said.

“We always pride ourselves in our ability to use technology to address the needs of ordinary people. The EcoFarmer Club is an example of one such product,” he said.

Econet has led the digital and fintech revolution that has transformed the way Zimbabweans from all walks of life transact and do business through its integrated EcoCash mobile money platform. Mr Mboweni said the EcoFarmer Club would come with a transactional personalised EcoFarmer Club Card, which entitles farmers to discounts on vital farming inputs and implements from approved suppliers.

The card is linked to a bank account and can transact on ZimSwitch. Farmers will also be able to link their bank account with their EcoCash wallet, thus enabling bank to wallet transactions, and vice versa.

The Econet boss said his company’s aim was to create shared value by providing a platform to connect millions of farmers directly with buyers, as well as offering them the convenience to check market prices from municipal markets throughout the country. Econet chief operating officer, Mr Fayaz King, paid tribute to the several organisations that had partnered Econet to deliver EcoFarmer Club to the farming community. He said that EcoFarmer Club members would have the convenience of being able to access farming inputs at selected outlets throughout the country.

Approved outlets under the scheme include Windmill, Agricura, Tanaka Power, Agriseeds, Farm Shop, National Tested Seeds, Graniteside Hardware, Seedridge and Arda Seeds. The EcoFarmer Club card would also give farmers access to special farming events, over and above access to exclusive products, such as an exclusive Steward Health Farmers package, Mr King said. The EcoFarmer service, which was originally introduced to the market in 2013, boasts over one million registered customers on its platform.

Econet head of agri-business Ms Caroline Mozhendi said existing, registered EcoFarmer customers can subscribe to the EcoFarmer Club and enjoy all the benefits of the Club. An entirely new customer needs to register as an EcoCash user and simply dial *144#, to register for EcoFarmer, and select the EcoFarmer Club on the menu to subscribe.