The Grameen Foundation has announced the launch of a suite of five mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda that deliver services and information previously unavailable to Uganda’s poor and disadvantaged communities.

The first tools developed through the Application Laboratory (AppLab), an initiative launched by Grameen eighteen months ago, the new applications are designed to provide real-time health and agricultural information and a virtual marketplace for buying and selling goods and services. The applications include Farmer’s Friend, a searchable database of both agricultural advice and targeted weather forecasts; Health Tips, which provides sexual and reproductive health information; Clinic Finder, which helps locate nearby health clinics and their services; and Google Trader, which matches buyers and sellers of agricultural produce, commodities, and other products.

The services use Google SMS Search technology and are designed to work with basic mobile phones through the MTN network. Users can search relevant content on-demand as they would if they had access to the Internet.

“AppLab is a great example of innovation from and for the base of the pyramid, bringing relevant, actionable information to communities where access to the Internet is unavailable,” said Grameen Foundation president Alex Counts. “We are excited to take the next big step — going from an innovative product development approach to scaling proven and sustainable applications across Uganda for the benefit of the poor and poorest.”

Read more on Grameen Foundation website.

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