Covid-19 meets digital solutions

Digital applications and TV and radio programming have already been in use for some time by the Green Innovation Centres to educate farmers in a decentralized way. However, not until the start of the corona crisis and country-wide lockdowns has the value of digital solutions been displayed for the future in, above all, infrastructurally weak localities - and how the centres can react flexibly to acute challenges.

Consultation at a distance - thanks to radio, chats and video calling

Where direct contact with farmers is no longer possible, the Green Innovation Centre reaches for unusual methods in Ethiopia, in association with global initiatives in food security and resilience strengthening. A new radio program is already informing half a million producers on how they can protect themselves from the corona virus, especially during the planting season. Because farmers cannot currently be advised practically at demonstration fields, agricultural practices for increased productivity are also taught via radio. To date, the program has been broadcast in the Amhara region and in cooperation with a local media agency. The projects plan to expand the campaign in a timely manner to the agriculturally important regions of Oromia and Tigray.

In India, too, the Green Innovation Centres support broadcasts of radio programmes for farmers, and have already been able to inform 24,000 households in one of their project regions. The broadcasts list measures for preventing Covid-19 infections. Partner Skillgreen also offers digital training for farmers' organisations on agriculture and business in times of Corona. Two editions of the online programme have already been completed and a third is currently running. Participants in the workshops include employees in farmers' organisations. The first course was held as an open event with an indirect reach of 140,000 farmers. The second workshop, multipliers passed on what they had learned to 95,000 producers. The Green College of the Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC) in Colcata, a training centre specifically for the agricultural sector in rural areas, has started to offer a course on Urban Gardening. Using chats and video calling, producers maintain their communications and exchange information on nutrient management, pest control and cultivation. Additionally, call centres were established in various districts to support farmers individually regarding daily challenges.

Digital farming: Apps as advisors

Necessity is the mother of invention: The Green Innovation Centre in western Kenya reaches for the smartphone as a result of the country-wide lockdown. The new "KALRO GAPs App“ conveys sustainable agricultural practices and is obtainable immediately and cost-free for any android device. It provides extensive recommendations on 14 crop cultures in daily need, among them maize, sweet potatoes and bananas. The owner of the application is the KALRO research institute (Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation). Participating in the development were also a number of GIZ projects and agricultural consultation services.

The new app is directed at farmers– with information on selecting and preparing acreage, irrigation, the use of fertilizers types and after-crop practices. A particular focus is put on protecting Nature and climate-friendly practices. In the future, the app should be supplemented with additional functions - such as integrated crop protection, processing and marketing.

The development of the app is not only a good example of the effective cooperation of various public and private actors, but rather also a big step in the direction of digitalisation in distributing knowledge. "This is an enormous advantage in a time during which we can no longer implement our usual training without limitation," Lucas Zahl, of the Green Innovation Centre in Kisumu, summed up.

Also in India, as was the case already previous to the corona-crisis, agricultural apps such as the "SmartFarming" app" were used for potato planting. Since the start of the lockdown, the app's usage figures have increased by almost a fifth to 1,700 users currently.

Analogous measures: Protection through distancing and hygiene

In addition to digital solutions, among others are measures taken to support the implementation of contact and hygiene requirements. The Green Innovation Centre in Ethiopia educates select members of cooperatives in open land training. They thereby learn to convey their knowledge with loudspeakers while maintaining the contact limitations. The Innovation Centre additionally produced 30,000 posters and 3,000 flyer with precautionary measures against COVID-19 for distribution in rural areas.

In Mali, the Green Innovation Centre supports mango farmers, processing operations and exporters in maintaining strict hygiene regulations - so that the sale of fruit does not come to a standstill. In a first step, the project has provided over 1,500 employees in fresh mango packaging centres with so called hygiene kits. Contained therein are disinfectants, gloves, mouth-nose protection and other utensils.

As a local partner of the Green Innovation Centre in India, the Mahila Abhivruddhi Society, Andhra Pradesh (APMAS) has distributed dry rations and hygiene kits worth around ten million Indian rupees (approximately 120,000 euros). The NGO could provide food for 10,000 families in extreme poverty, mainly migrant workers, slum dwellers and job seekers. APMAS also helps producers manage the transition to collective marketing through producer organisations. During the two-month lockdown, the NGO supported almost 1,500 farmers with a total volume of 2,500 tons in fruit and vegetable produce.