Let's grow digital

Cutting-edge developments are not only reserved for agricultural corporations: even smallholders can make technical advances on their farms with a few simple steps. A mobile phone is often all that is needed to access specific information and knowledge as a first step and the addition of the internet, even smallholders can have their data volumes recorded and processed – an important step towards greater productivity and efficiency.

This is where the global project ‘Green Innovation Centres in the Agricultural and Food Sector’ by the special initiative 'One World – No Hunger' (SEWOH) comes in with currently more than 50 different instruments of digital information and communication technologies (ICT) in 15 country locations. ICT are used along the entire value chain (VC). They drive economic development and connect producers and microfarms, smallholders and medium-sized enterprises better to functioning markets.

This leads to a domino effect: successful ICT innovations must be further developed and disseminated in the partner countries so that other development collaboration projects can benefit from them. A transnational ICT task force was founded in September 2018 to promote the exchange of experience and joint learning between countries on digital topics. Here is a selection of four projects with perspective:

1. Mechanisation

A low degree of mechanisation limits the productivity of smallholders. Due to the small size of the farm, it is usually not worthwhile for them to invest in their own equipment. This is where the Green Innovation Centre Ghana comes in. It arranges mechanisation services for farmers in collaboration with the Ghanaian start-up TROTRO Tractor. Customers can order the service via a digital app. ‘Before, I could only farm two of my five hectares, since I only had my machete and a hand hoe’, says Grace Antwi, a farmer in Amanten-Bono. ‘But since I’ve had access to the TROTRO Tractor, I can cultivate the whole five hectares, which helps me feed my family.’

Contractors are often confronted with problems that are typical of the informal sector, which is characterised by small-scale farming structures. For example, it includes establishing contact with smallholders and handling payment.

TROTRO Tractor’sdigital platform offers a solution that allows farmers to order a tractor with a simple SMS and even indicate the type of service, their location, position and size of the field. TROTRO Tractorthen bundles the orders and passes them on to the next service provider. A GPS system is included for better tracking of the services provided – and even payment is made by mobile phone via well established mobile payment systems in Ghana.

2.  Delivery chains in the dairy industry

Farmers often encounter obstacles when they seek access to support, services and production resources. Adequate financing is also often denied because many lenders cannot assess their creditworthiness. In cooperation with telephone provider Safaricom, the Green Innovation Centre Kenya now offers Kenyan dairy farmers a way out:

DigiFarm for dairy cooperatives uses wireless technologies in the agriculture sector to facilitate supply chain operations. Safaricom’s ‘DigiFarm – Dairy Management Solution’and associated data analysis programme is a real-time online service that collects individual data on deliveries, purchases and consultancy services used by registered members and then sends it as an easy-to-understand text.

‘We have been piloting the DigiFarm – Dairy Management Solutionapp at the Naitiri Dairy Cooperativesince June 2019’, says Paul-Wesley Mulupi Maina from Naitri, Kakamega. ‘We work with a large number of smallholders in the North Kakamega region and the app helps us stay in touch with our members and provide them with the best possible service.’ He knows the farmers trust them: ‘we can quickly inform them about new prices for milk, production resources and services.’.“

To use the services, farmers first log into DigiFarmwith their mobile phone. Initially, the employees of the cooperatives record the quantities of delivered milk and the sold production sources and store the data in the app. All collected data is then transmitted weekly to Safaricom, where it is integrated into the accounting system. Each farmer then receives a text with a detailed statement of milk deliveries, purchased production resources and services used. In addition, each farmer can decide whether to have his income paid out directly via Mpesa(digital money transfer) or whether the amount should be saved. Furthermore, there is an option to make saved amounts available to other members of the cooperative in the form of a microcredit.

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3. Animal husbandry

For livestock farmers, the live weight of their animals is extremely important. Appropriate measurements help manage their herd effectively. Moreover, weight is crucial for measuring feed rations, market value, administration of veterinary medicines and mating times. Until now, the ability of Kenyan livestock farmers to determine the live weight of their cattle has been limited by time-consuming and stressful methods. Today the eWeigh app, developed by the Green Innovation Centre Kenya in collaboration with researchers from the Mazingira Centre at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), offers farmers a quick and easy alternative. The free smartphone app asks for animal identification and heart circumference. The app uses this information to calculate the live weight.

To date, 227 farmers (35% women) in the districts of Kakamega, Siaya and Migori have already been trained to use the app. They also learned how to obtain adequate feed rations for their cattle based on production targets, how to dose medication against various cattle diseases and how to determine the best time for first mating based on the weight of an animal. In the future, the project will expand the training courses on how to use the app so that it reaches as many farmers as possible.

4.  Intelligent irrigation

The growing water shortage in Tunisia, for example, is ubiquitous. Summer crops such as potatoes, chilli and tomatoes are particularly affected. In 2019, the Green Innovation Centre Tunisia launched its first pilot project for intelligent irrigation to address this issue. Soil, climate and crop data are collected on site and stored in the Smart Irrigationapp, which then calculates the need and timing of irrigation. The farmer can access the data using an app and view the recommendations. This concept enables farmers to use scarce resources more consciously and economically. It also supports optimal plant development. The ‘Seabex System’, which was developed in cooperation with the Tunisian start-up I.T. Grapesand the agricultural research institute INAT, facilitates further irrigation optimisation: With this innovation, irrigation is fully automated. ‘At first, I wasn't really convinced by the new technology’, says Houssem, a farmer from Sra Ouertane, ‘I’ve been a farmer for years, so how could a few sticks in the ground and an app help me? But the results really surprised me!’

After the first season, the results across all users showed:

• 46% water savings
• 15% increase in earnings
• 40% increase in water productivity
• Decline in the use of operating resources: pesticides and fertilisers
• Increase in net income of the producer

The experience gathered from these four case studies can also help in other applications. The ICT task force of the Green Innovation Centres therefore networks stakeholders with each other across national borders – sometimes via formal meetings. For example, the third South-South exchange in India from 27 to 31 January 2020 brought together experts from the private sector, implementation partners and government representatives. The participants discussed topics such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and secure data use as well as their applicability in the agricultural sector. And it is all about the exchange of knowledge. African and Indian start-ups presented their solutions, while ICT solutions applied in the field were also demonstrated in value chains.