KILIFI, KENYA – Cryptocurrency is making headlines because it is shaking up the financial world, but it’s also gaining momentum in less developing nations. An American economist who introduced blockchain technology for low-income urban customers has now expanded the cashless system to the countryside in Kenya.
Emmanuel Kahindi, a 26-year-old farmer from Kilifi on Kenya’s tropical Indian Ocean coast, is collecting tomatoes and other crops on a lush green farm. He uses Sarafu, Kenya’s cryptocurrency, to sell his crops and get supplies without having to invest cash.
Sarafu has been quite beneficial to him, he says, particularly because it encourages him to save his money, which is in Kenyan currency. He stated he uses Sarafu to buy garden supplies like seeds and fertilizer.
Sarafu coins function as vouchers that may be redeemed for goods or services from other Sarafu users. Enrolment is open to anyone having a Kenyan mobile phone line. Free Sarafu are offered to users. They earn coins after that by selling a product or service to another user.
Sarafu is a community inclusion currency (CIC) that allows people to give and receive credit without having to deposit Kenyan shillings or other currencies in a bank.
Will Ruddick, an American economist, founded the organization through his Kenyan NGO, Grassroots Economics. It was only recently introduced to remote regions like Kilifi by him.
“I think that’s where there is the most chronic lack of national currency. So, I think what’s happening, we’re filling a gap. People say look, the national ledger system, the national currency it is not available for us. We can’t measure our trade in this thing,” said Ruddick.
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