Postobón and the mobile telephone operator WOM announced an alliance with the objective of promoting the digital literacy and access to connectivity for small fruit farmersin the departments of Bolívar, Santander, Tolima and Huila, belonging to the Hit Social Postobón program.
The union, which in principle will last for two years, will have as its objective the training of 300 farmers in the use of mobile devices and digital tools such as WhatsApp, social networks and email, digital marketing, finance for entrepreneurs and business plan development.
The digital gap in rural areas of the country reduces the possibility that agriculture is the development alternative for many people. For this reason, the union between both companies “will contribute to equity in the territories and provide a solution to a real, tangible and high-impact problem,” said Martha Ruby Falla González, Postobón’s director of Sustainability.
In addition, program data social hit postobon show that 72% of the linked farmers find it difficult to use mobile devices, while 47% of the farmers where the WOM intervention will be carried out do not have mobile equipment. According to figures from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTic), 40% of the population in Colombia does not have internet access and in rural and peripheral areas only 28% of the inhabitants have a connection to the web.
The beginning of activities of the alliance was marked by the training of 11 young beneficiaries of Hit Social Postobón, in leadership for the transfer of knowledge among farmersknowledge and configuration of mobile devices, use of digital tools and functions of applications for entrepreneurs, management of social networks and care that people must have in digital environments to avoid security risks.
In parallel, in the teaching stage WOM began the installation of 50 connectivity points, which will provide free internet access, during the first year of the alliance. The points will be located in the associations of fruit growers that bring together the beneficiaries of Hit Social, in collection centers and in community spaces where farmers and their families meetwith the purpose that these places become access points to services such as virtual training, banking transactions and payments, online procedures and purchases and supplies in virtual stores and businesses, among others.
The Hit Social program supports small agricultural entrepreneurs, accompanying them in their fruit crops, strengthening their associativity and boosting the popular economy in agriculture with the guarantee of purchasing fruit at competitive prices. This initiative has benefited 1,244 families from 35 blackberry, mango, lulo and guava growing associations in eight departments. At the same time, it generated 2,212 rural jobs.
For his part, WOM has brought connectivity to more than 640 rural communities in Colombiaand through the Connect with Learning program it has benefited more than 5,000 entrepreneurs who have developed their business project in the hands of experts.
