Proximity Designs: Overcoming challenges in smallholder farming in Myanmar with Viber

32k

signups for crop-specific channels

236k

signups for Viber Business Messages channel

Challenge:

Providing timely and relevant knowledge to geographically dispersed smallholder farmers in rural Myanmar

Farming can be a challenge under the best of circumstances. It becomes much harder when access to critical farming knowledge isn’t readily available.

This was a challenge smallholder farmers faced in Myanmar. Small-plot farmers wanted to receive timely and relevant information – best-use farm practices, pest and disease information, as well as weather and market data – as they worked hard to improve their yields and care for their land.

But getting access to this knowledge proved difficult in areas dotted throughout Myanmar that have limited access to mobile data.

In addition, farmers relied heavily on just one platform, considering there were a limited number of digital channels that smallholder farmers in Myanmar used regularly.

Solution:

Viber Business Messages and SMS for farmer outreach

When Proximity Designs expanded their digital efforts, to reach as many small farm families as possible, they looked to Viber. They choose to use both SMS and Viber Business Messages to engage with farm customers.

Viber is a very cost-effective solution that helps achieve this goal, while SMS is a safe fallback to ensure messages get delivered to anyone who may not have internet access.

Thanks to the code-free interface in Conversations, the integration process was fast and seamless; and their own team easily managed the entire process from start to finish, and beyond.

In Viber, farmers can subscribe to crop-specific channels, under Proximity’s farmer-facing brand Yetagon, for five different crops: paddy, sesame, groundnut, gram and horticulture. 

With Infobip’s Conversations contact center solution, smallholder farmers can get support from customer experience representatives, so they can maximize the impact of Proximity’s products and services.

Result:

More than 32,000 signups for crop-specific channels and 236,000 for Viber Business Messages channel

Over a span of two years, more than 32,000 farmers signed up to Yetagon’s channels and benefited from customized crop-specific advice.

More than 5,000 farmers engage with Yetagon through Viber, annually, to receive support and information to grow healthy crops and protect them.

In addition to this, more than 236,000 users subscribed to Yetagon’s Business Messages channel.

We were in need of a widely-used channel to provide critical knowledge to smallholder farmers, so we can support them in growing more food, caring for their land and boosting their incomes. The challenge was finding a channel that most farmers have access to in rural Myanmar, where mobile data can be patchy.
Viber is one of the most popular chat apps in the country, so it was a natural choice to reach small farm families, share engaging content and allow for two-way dialogue with our customers. Our ability to create different channels for each crop ensures farmers receive the most relevant information, and will help us achieve our goal of serving one million small farm families in the next three years.

Tint Htoo Naung

Senior Digital Marketing Manager