Ethiopia. Testing carbon offset with mobile phones

Small farmers near Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, are testing a carbon offset market facilitated by mobile phones. Green.Inc reports

Mr. Pohjonen’s son Matti, a Fellow in Digital Culture at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, has been overseeing the technology end of the project.

“The standard function of a mobile phone is talking and texting,” Veli Pohjonen and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said. But it can also be used, he added, to access the Internet and run queries regarding carbon prices or exchange rates.

Veli Pohjonen and his son Matt have been testing the system on eight farms in the country’s central highlands, where the average farmer is earning approximately 1000 Birr, or $80, every six months from their carbon offsets.

Read full article. Image from EthioBlog.

emily | 9:45 AM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World, New SMS Services |
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