DIGITAL FOOD SYSTEMS EVIDENCE CLEARING HOUSE 
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The “Let it rain” campaign gamifies weather prediction to incentivize farmers uptake of localised agro-advisories
Description
The campaign helps crowdsource weather information, which, when run through machine learning, will further improve weather forecasts. Using Mediae’s popular farm make-over TV show Shamba Shape Up, the campaign encourages farmers to guess the start of the rains, stirring up a national discussion on the relevance of weather forecasts and helping build farmer profiles for later providing customised climate info.
Estimated number of active users:
- At inception: 286789
- At time of last report: 335215
Evidence of impact
‘Let It Rain’ project received a total of 25312 participants. 57% were male while 43% were female. About 46% were youths (age 18-35 years). 245 participants gave the correct predictions on the onset of the rains in their respective wards. This was 0.96% of the entire population that played the game. They won a cumulative sum of $10,000. All the participants were given a free subscription to iShamba advisory service. They have been enjoying free e-extension services through SMS advisories on weekly weather updates, weekly market prices on two main value chains of their choice, and tips on Good agricultural Practices (GAPs) and unlimited access to the call centre of experts (agronomists & livestock experts). The winners were given a 1 year premium subscription and continue to receive advanced advisories (agri tips on 4 value chains, access to a Whatsapp group with farm experts among others).
