Johannesburg — THE hand-embroidered skirts and bead-encrusted shawls of Makuleke village in Limpopo have been joined by an another equally decorative accessory -- the cellphone.

Farmers in the rural community have become the first in SA to test a project giving them instant access to produce prices over their cellphones.

The farmers on the edge of the Kruger National Park have struggled to make decent money from their crops, not realising the tomatoes and onions they resell for a few cents at the local market were fetching multiples of those prices for middlemen who resold them at the produce markets of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Now the villagers can check the going rate by accessing a farming website over their handsets. They can invite buyers to strike a deal for their crops via SMS, and see which fresh produce the tourist game lodges are looking for that morning.

Daniel Mashava does not look very dexterous with his cellphone yet, as he taps in his user name and password and picks the menu option for vegetable prices.

"If I can manage to use this now I have been trained, I can see the prices from home rather than go to Johannesburg with my produce before I see the prices," he says. "I know how much I can get and I can decide to sell it locally if the prices are not worth travelling for."

By sending an SMS he can tell potential buyers about his crops. "If someone wants what I have to offer, I can get their response by SMS or by phone," he says. If a deal is struck, he knows he has a buyer before he treks to the city.

For farmers who cannot make that journey, they can at least ensure traders at the local market pay a far more realistic price for crops that will be resold later.

Prevailing prices from the major markets are entered into the database regularly, so users can see what their crops are worth.

"It's very easy to use," says Norman Josini. "Even old people who can't read the English words can learn." He presses the keypad and a little pink apple icon pops up, showing a price of R1,20 for a kilo of crisp pink apples.

The farmers can also build up relationships with buyers, so they can plant the particular crops their contacts will require in the coming months, Josini says.

The technology has been supplied by Vodacom, Alcatel and Manobi. Vodacom has erected a cellular base station and provided 360 SIM cards and airtime vouchers. Alcatel provided 200 handsets and the hardware to support the system. Cellular software developer Manobi created the trading system and is training the farmers to use it.

Dakar-based Manobi piloted the system in Senegal. Now it ambitiously hopes that bringing its software to SA is the first step towards Africa-wide expansion.

In Senegal some rural farmers have increased their income almost 50%, earning an extra R7000 a year for every hectare.

"It's just like the stock market, where knowing when to sell is important," says Manobi founder Daniel Annerose.

He estimates the project has cost the three companies about R5,2m. Manobi spent R2,4m tailoring the software to South African needs, Vodacom invested about R1,6m and Alcatel R1,2m.

So far about 100 farmers are beginning to use the system, with plans to train another 100 in coming weeks.

The project is also generating more business with local restaurants and guest houses, which can use the internet to post their requirements onto the database.

Makuleke needs all the help it can get. The community is one of the most remote in SA, formed to house people displaced by the apartheid government. Its three villages are home to almost 20000 people. To fight high unemployment, village elders set up an irrigation project and encouraged people to grow crops to sell. But it failed from a lack of funding, a lack of communications and a lack of marketing skills, says treasurer Gibson Makuleke.

Alcatel, Manobi and Vodacom have revived the business, with their technologies helping to alleviate poverty and make the community sustainable, he says.

"Cellphones have been handed out to farmers who attended intensive training, and today they are able to decide which products are to be marketed where, when, and for how much."

The communities are improving their revenue, sales margins and their quality of life, says Alcatel vice-president Thierry Albrand. The technology partners are benefiting by taking their products to new audiences.

The farmers pay for their SMS and voice calls, but it is well worth the fee, says cotton farmer Johanne Ndluvu. "When I want to take my cotton to market, I look at how much it gets in Johannesburg, how much in Pretoria and how much in Tshwane. Now I know where I can get big money."