Enabling Resource Poor Small Holder Farmers to use New Technology

What does it take to enable resource poor smallholder farmers to use the most appropriate technology to improve productivity and profit of their land holdings?

Let us take the case of use of Information and Communications Technologies. The farmer will need hardware, software, connectivity, skills, content, security and safety in use, privacy and the environment to make productive and profitable use of the technology. The environment includes social, political and physical factors. For example, if a society prohibits or even frowns upon a woman to own and use a cell phone, the use of ICTs to address women farmers farming information needs will be difficult and even defeated. For a smallholder farmer in India earning about INR 60000 per annum, a useable Smart Cell Phone costs not less than INR 5000, the basic operating software may be free but specific apps for useful, customized farm support may have a cost. Connectivity is also a cost. It would not be less than INR 100 per month. Skills to use the farm app for impact on his/her farm, if not the phone, needs specific skills. The content or information from the app has to be localized, trustworthy and useful to the farmer who also must have the skills to effectively use it.  For example, if a farmer has a pest problem, just indicating a spray of pesticide may not be enough. The farmer will need to know the cost of the pesticide application, what is the potential loss if it is not controlled, how to prevent the pest’s attack in future etc. There must be adequate data and information provided on how many farmers or how a research center solved the problem, what was the impact and the after effects by using the solution proffered by the app to assure the farmer that the solution will be useful in his/her farming. The app should respect the farmers right to privacy and not ask for access to data not immediately needed such as the farmers’ contact list to solve his/her farm’s problem nor make private information public.  When aggregated, farmers ‘individual data can be commercially exploited or used against their interests and thus will need protection and security from misuse.

Apparently, the above indicates a variety of actors in the public, private and possibly community sector will have to act in synergy to ensure effective ICTs use to a farmer. In India, these include the Government to regulate and monitor the availability, access and affordability of the technologies, the private sector to provide hardware, software, connectivity and even content, of course, at a cost. The Government can intervene to provide content free or at a subsidy but must ensure its availability, access, trustworthiness, timeliness and usefulness. At the moment, going by what is available, this is a far cry and will need significant investment, skills and capacities to do so. The private sector does not yet have the capacities to offer farmers effective and useful agricultural advice. And, it will be too costly to do so. Thus it will need public-private partnerships but such partnerships are rare and the Institutional structures needed for such partnerships are not yet in place. The community will play a very big role in the appropriation of the technology and the content it transmits and make it useful. Thus, community and non-government organisations will need to play an important role in the use of a technology such as ICTs in farming. For the smallholder farmer, the government may have to subsidize the entire process and focus it for use of that specific group of farmers.

In India, several bits and pieces of the framework for farmers to use ICTs now exist.  There is availability and access to hardware (smart phones), connectivity (3G and rapidly expanding 4G), some apps though whose usefulness is not yet proven. Schemes like Skill India should be implemented for skilling farmers to use apps for evidence based, data driven farming. The Government has invested significantly in digital information systems for agricultural use such as E-NAM and I-KISAN but these will need to be made useful to farmers. For example, E-NAM information of wholesale prices at different markets cannot be translated directly as farm gate prices for the smallholder and thus does not really help. Similarly, I-KISAN (or I-KHEDUT) information is reproduction of farm extension pamphlets, many just scanned, and thus hardly helps the farmer solve his/her problem. Another major issue is that many of the information systems function in silos and hardly offer an integrated approach, for example flow information with that of flow of commodities and finance in the value addition or market chain. The regulatory mechanism for a farmer to use his ICTs safely, securely and his/her rights protected hardly exists.  Another feature of concern in the support systems needed to deliver use of new technologies effectively to smallholder farmers is that most agricultural research, innovation and development Institutions in India have very little experience, skills and capacities to use new ICTs and other new technologies effectively to support farmers.

It is here that the open data, information and technology movement now gathering pace across the world can play a very big role in enabling smallholder farmers to effectively use ICTs. In addition to improved access, all three can reduce costs to the user making new technology more affordable. The open movement can enable innovation and transparency. Open data and information can also help weed out false advice and ineffective technologies. Open technology can enable better adaptation. The Bazaar model of open access and use which allows all developers and generators present technology and information with equity compared to the Cathedral model where there is  supreme, tight  control over lines of production encourages greater community participation. Governments can accelerate the open movement through policies, strategies, regulatory mechanisms and structures that support open access and use of data, information and technologies.  However, this needs significant attitudinal changes in its framework of functioning.

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