East Africa's largest mobile phone operator, Safaricom, has partnered with pan-African insurer UAP to offer low-cost mobile phone payments and data systems to thousands of farmers in the region.

The project is the first in the Eastern and Southern Africa region to use mobile phones to set up insurance contracts and issue payout to farmers using Safaricom's M-pesa service, a mobile money service transfer system. The data system will be transmitted through Safaricom's expansive national 3G network. Safaricom is the only mobile operator in East Africa currently operating on a 3G network.

The project, dubbed "Kilimo Salama," which in Kiswahili means safe farming, is also a partnership with the Syngenta Foundation for sustainable agriculture. It was conceived to offer farmers insurance policies to shield them from significant financial loses from drought or excess rain.