Tracking Cow Nutrition and Fighting Government Corruption in Africa With Phone Apps?

Fighting kleptocracy in Africa is no small effort—but to do so with a phone application?

That's exactly what an application called Kleptocracy Fighters Inc. does, and it's just won second place from the State Department's Apps4Africa contest.

It lets people record and report government corruption—in real time. That can mean reporting with audio, video, or text message, and the information will be forwarded to legal and media partners, who will help raise awareness of corruption cases.

According to Apps4Africa, "This application has potential to help build trust, accountability and transparency around the world."

iCow

The first-place winner: a voice-based app that helps farmers track the estrus stages of their cows—meaning farmers will be better-equipped to manage cows' breeding periods, and to monitor their nutrition in the build-up to calving day.

Improving maternal health

And in third place: Mamakiba, which the State Department describes as "a patient-facing SMS savings calculator and prepayment tracking tool specifically designed to help low-income women save and prepay for their maternal health needs such as ante-natal care and clinical delivery."

And this is just the beginning: the State Department says it will continue to host events and competitions in Africa. In announcing these winners, Hillary Clinton said,