Justdiggit launches Kijani app to scale regreening in Sub-Saharan Africa
It’s Kijani time! Today, on Nane Nane (Farmer’s Day) in Tanzania, we are launching this much-anticipated free educational regreening app designed to benefit 350 million smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We believe Kijani can truly scale up the regreening of the planet, so we are thrilled to share this huge milestone with the rest of the world!
What is Kijani?
Kijani (‘green’ in Swahili) is a one-of-a-kind smartphone app, available for free on the Google Play Store. It provides farmers with all the tools they need to successfully regreen their farms, including digital courses on proven methods to improve yields, soil health, and livelihood resilience. Kijani aims to accelerate the impact of our regreening programmes by fully utilising smartphone adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Organisations always give education and disappear, but this is the better option. I can download the app and it stays on my phone. Now I have a better chance of learning today and tomorrow,” a farmer from Owerendeke village, Arusha region, Tanzania.
Personalised regreening advice
The Kijani app uses GPS data technology to offer personalised advice to each farmer based on their location and individual circumstances. This enables us to assist farmers in regreening their land on a large scale without needing to be physically present.
Previous tests have demonstrated that digital engagement through visual content is the most effective way to teach regreening methods to farmers. After completing the course, participants can track their progress and impact by uploading photos of their work. On the backend, Justdiggit assesses the overall impact and validates reported results using satellite imagery. Additionally, farmers receive support through a virtual helpdesk and relevant notifications.
Accelerating ecosystem recovery
Over the last few months, we have done extensive user tests with hundreds of Tanzanian farmers all over the country. These tests have shown that physical training is no longer necessary; digital content alone can provide the benefits. This reinforces our belief that digital regreening can significantly accelerate the regreening of our planet, contributing to ecosystem recovery, a cooler climate, and the creation of climate-resilient communities.
The Kijani app can be downloaded for free in the Google Play Store from the 8th of August and is available in Kiswahili and English. Later this year the app will be made available in other African countries and more languages will be added. Visit the website here.
Frequently asked questions
We’ve already received many insightful questions from people about Kijani. To address them all, we’ve put together this FAQ to give you a clear understanding of what to expect from the app.
Do people have access to smartphones and if so, the internet?
Network coverage and smartphone adoption are rapidly increasing throughout the Africa continent. Although it will take some years until the majority of smallholder farmers have smartphones, the benefits of reaching this group are already enough to justify building an app for them. From experience, the people who are trained in regreening methods often become ambassadors of the methods. The users of the Kijani app can also be regreening ambassadors, also for people who are not yet connected to the internet.
Can people use the app offline?
The app has been designed to be used without any connection to the internet. New courses can be downloaded independently as soon as there is a connection to the internet.
Can illiterate people also use the app?
Yes, the courses are very visual and contain video and audio. While some basic literacy is needed to be able to install the app and navigate through it, our tests validated that the content is also accessible to people with low literacy.
In which country will the app be rolled out next?
After our launch in Tanzania, we will roll out the app in Kenya. Soon after, more languages will be added and we will accelerate our rollout to the rest of Sub-Sahara Africa. In addition, we will localise the app with suitable courses for local landscapes with images that people can relate to.
What features does the app offer?
The core feature of the Kijani app is the course library where people can take courses on regreening their land, for example on Treecovery or This is supported by a profile section where the progress can be tracked. There is a media section in which all kinds of relevant news and information can be found and there is a help section in which people can get support in using the app and applying the regreening methods.
Is the personal data of the users protected?
Yes, the Kijani app adheres to the GDPR guidelines. We only collect user data that has benefits to the user. At all times users can decide to delete all their user data.
How is the app funded?
This app will always be free for everybody. The Kijani app is powered by Justdiggit, a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands. The development has been funded by several partners amongst which: the National Postcode Lottery, Rabo Foundation, Milky Wire and Jingle Jam.