Emmanuel Ogah became a TracTrac booking agent two seasons ago. He covers eleven villages around Akwanga, most of them by motorcycle.
On a busy day during land preparation, his phone rings from six in the morning. Farmers want to know when a tractor can come, how much it will cost and whether they can pay part now and part later.
The farmer trusts me, and the tractor owner trusts me. My work is to keep both of those promises.
Before he can make a booking, Emmanuel visits each farm to confirm its size and location. He measures the plot, records the farmer’s details and checks that the land is ready for a machine.
He then groups nearby requests so that a tractor owner can work several farms in one trip. That grouping is often what makes a small farm worth the operator’s time.
Network coverage is patchy in several of his villages. He captures information offline and syncs it when he reaches a signal, sometimes at the end of the day.
When the tractor arrives on the day I said, people remember. That is how the next farmer calls me.
Agents like Emmanuel are the link that makes the network work. Every booking a machine owner receives started with an agent who knew the farmer, the land and the road to get there.
