With digital tools, farmers can lead the way to a sustainable future

While digital technology has revolutionized almost every workplace, small-scale farmers in developing countries are being left behind.

Even where digital agriculture tools exist, they can be very complex to install and operate and often require memberships that are too expensive for small-scale producers. This is the result of a top-down approach that fails to offer the information and services that farmers need.

However, when designed with the needs and contexts of rural people in mind, digital tools can be a gamechanger for both small-scale farmers and sustainable food systems as a whole. One of the key principles of agroecology, co-creation, is at the core of the EU-funded Agroecological Transitions programme.

Under this programme, IFAD together with the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, IRRI and Solidaridad Latinoamerica are testing the use of digital tools to transform food systems for a more sustainable, agroecological future.

The Mekong Delta is the rice bowl of Viet Nam, but its people are also among the country's most economically vulnerable to climate change. Rice farming itself is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, largely due to unsustainable water and fertilizer use.

The 1 Must-Do, 5 Reductions (1M5R) package, established by the Vietnamese government, promotes agroecology by encouraging farmers to plant high-quality seeds and reduce the seed rate, fertilizer, pesticides and water, while minimizing post-harvest losses.

Digital tools co-designed with farmers are now providing the knowledge and tools needed to adopt 1M5R and adapt to climate change. For example, Mekong Delta farmers receive daily SMS updates on water levels in their local fields from the WaterIntel tool, so they know precisely when to water their rice paddies on any given day.

Using FarMoRe, which was developed by IRRI with support from the Agroecological Transitions programme, farmers can track their own farming performance and benchmark it against 1M5R sustainability practices and the performance of other farmers in their community. The integration of FarMoRe with a water management app and a rice carbon calculator is boosting farmers’ incomes through reduced input costs, along with benefiting the environment.

Initially piloted with five farming cooperatives, FarMoRe has been selected by the government to scale up so that 1.5 million farmers in all 12 Mekong provinces will begin to shift towards low-emissions, high-quality rice production.

In the Pará state of Brazil, cattle farming has been a major contributor to the deforestation of the Amazon. Small-scale farmers in this region have an opportunity to introduce regenerative cattle production systems that increase family incomes while diversifying the ranches and reducing deforestation.

But technical information on how to introduce agroecology is hard for farmers to access. That’s why IFAD and its partners supported the development of Solis, a digital communication application that Solidaridad Latinoamerica created in collaboration with small-scale farmers. Solis enables them to connect, share and access practical information on sustainable farming.

“Sometimes, when people talk about technology, they think that it's only cities that have it. But technology really comes in handy on farms,” says 20-year-old farmer Marciana, who believes that digital tools pave the way to a future of opportunities for young people in rural areas. “For us farmers, to be connected to an app that is developed specifically for us and to be able to trust the information you find there – it's simply amazing.”

Using the app, extension agents design workplans to guide farmers through a gradual transition towards agroecology. Farmers and youth ambassadors share best practices on the app and post entertaining “knowledge pill” videos on a wide range of topics, from rotational grazing to pest management.

Although these practices are not novel, the limited reach and effectiveness of an agricultural extension system in Brazil mean that most small-scale farmers do not receive adequate technical assistance to support them in new farming approaches.

Using Solis, farmers can learn not only from extension agents, but also from each other's experiences.

Irivelton, a dairy farmer, had no notion of becoming a social media sensation a few years ago. Today, farmers in his region wait eagerly for him to share videos on Solis that demonstrate the low-cost agroecological solutions he has implemented on his farm. The 26 videos he has posted have sparked excited discussions and information-sharing between farmers.

“Agroecology means not harming nature,” says Irivelton. “It means working in a sustainable, healthy way – managing to live off the land, but without attacking it in a way that leads future generations to suffer.”

By using technology to bridge the gap between expertise and practical application, Solis ensures that Brazil’s small-scale farmers are on the cutting edge of sustainable farming.

In Brazil and Viet Nam, digital tools designed with and for farmers show how technology can empower rather than exclude. With this boost, small-scale farmers can lead the transition to a sustainable future.