Today, Google Africa announced their launch of Google SMS in Uganda, which provides  a bundle of mobile services that allow users to access content on a range of topics, including traditional services such as sports scores and local news and also health and agriculture tips.

We are also launching Google Trader, a SMS-based "marketplace" application that helps buyers and sellers find each other, enabling greater access to markets and trade, especially for those who are most excluded today. With these services, we hope to help alleviate some of the information and access to markets barriers for the poor, especially those in rural areas. So, when farmers in Iganga want to sell their maize, they can list their crop on Google Trader and a miller in another trading center can find and contact them to buy their goods.

And, they also stated that (listen up, market price modeling team!):

We hope these services will help a variety of organizations already doing impressive work to reach a broader audience and those with the greatest need, in new and innovative ways, through the mobile phone. This is the first of many exciting, collaborative efforts we will be working on to support access to information in Uganda and more broadly, across Africa. So to everyone who participated in this effort, we say Webale Nyo!

Continue read at: Official Google Africa Blog: Google SMS to serve needs of poor in Uganda

Originally posted by Emily Schmidt (IFPRI):

The largest hazard here in Ethiopia (besides the normal cautions of don’t drink the tap water and steer clear of the raw meat dish) are door handles.  Most of the door handles are only slightly secure, and at any moment they may just come right out of the door as you are pulling it open.  Several times I have fallen backwards because I was trying to pull open a door with a little too much force and I took the door handle with me.  This experience is sort of like falling in the bathtub; you reach out for something to grab and the only object you find is a shower curtain (if you are lucky), which provides no stability whatsoever.  Same idea - as I feel gravity pull me backwards, I look for something to grab onto, but quickly realize that I am already holding the doorknob in my hand and there isn’t anything else to grab a hold of, so…away you go.  When you land, you feel ridiculous sitting in the middle of a hallway with a doorknob in your hand.  But, I am slowly learning to win this battle of doorknob wit, and I am becoming quite efficient at tugging lightly, and I try to stop and readjust if I sense any give in the doorknob.

AllAfrica.com has an article about AGRA developments, including emphasis on African "breadbaskets": http://allafrica.com/stories/200906110916.html They do mention some places where you can find these breadbaskets. But I thought the article came up a little short. What are the real potential areas in Africa?