Interesting perspectives regarding using data and mobile interfaces in emerging economies, from the http://ushahidi.com folks. Conventions that are commonplace in the west may not be so intuitive elsewhere.

Open source farming wiki!

It's like an industrial lego set: interchangable parts that create 50 machines -- one of everything you need to build a self-sufficient farming community.

FrontlineSMS has created an extension to their open source software that allows for mobile payments via Laptop/Modem and mobile phones.

An overview of the Kenyan Mobile banking system and who offers what.

"M-PESA (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili for money) is the product name of a mobile-phone based money transfer service that was developed by Sagentia".

A compliment to microfinance, "microsavings" is starting to emerge as a beneficial product both for the poor consumer and the bank. At the tail end of the financial crises, many microfinance institutions have found they have an uncomfortable dependence on outside funding. Microsavings evens things out. Since it revolves around many small deposits, creative ways of reducing transaction costs are being invented, many involving deposit-by-cellphone.

Open-source one-to-many, two-way SMS platform that connects a laptop and phone, turning the pair into a mobile communication center. "FrontlinesSMS allows you to text message with large groups of people anywhere there is a mobile signal." No internet connection required.

The Guardian.

A collection of essays on Mobile devices (cellphones) used in relief and development/activism situations in Africa. I firmly believe that the wildcard of social change in our lifetime will be mobile platforms and the web.

Causes, effects, small steps