Why won't we see Mxit in the Developed Countries? Interestingly this is one of those technologies that has an easy fit to Africa even though it may never gain traction in developed countries.

• SMS costs nothing

A new technology has crept onto the African scene that has enabled a step change in the way that the poor can access and share information. This concept note outlines why we believe that Instant Messaging (IM) through services such as Mxit can make a significant difference to the provision and impact of information services. It proposes a programme of action research

FAO have run a number of e-fora on their e-agriculture site.  I think this one is likely to be of widespread interest because it's scope is much broader than agriculture:

"This forum will examine the challenges that rural communities face in enhancing the benefits of mobile telephony, and look at some examples of interesting initiatives and good outcomes from around the globe".

Have a look at:

www.e-agriculture.org

I heard yesterday at Chatham House that since its launch 3 months ago, MPesa has 150,000 customers, 430 agents signed up, $6,000,000 in transactions, and 2,500 signing up every day.