Digitization of small-scale agriculture

Code:

ATN/RF-17245-RG(RG-T3387)-2

Initiative:

Call for Proposals

FONTAGRO Amount:

USD 200.000

Counterpart Amount:

USD 203.686

Execution time

42 Months

Total Amount:

USD 403.686

Participating countries:

Honduras

Colombia

Funding source:

FONTAGRO Amount 50% Other agencies 0% Counterpart Amount 50%

Executive Summary

Agriculture faces several challenges ,mainly an estimated increase of 70% in food production requirements by 2050 due to population growth, while fresh water and arable land will be reduced. Much of agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean is based on small farmers with traditional systems that will not allow, in the medium or long term, to satisfy the food demand of a growing population, nor to produce food in a sustainable way. To achieve these objectives, it will be necessary to have more efficient, inclusive and resilient production systems, which requires a transformation of the current system. Digital technologies can be part of the solution as they enable more efficient, productive and sustainable agriculture by optimizing their processes to produce higher quality food in a more sustainable way. The objective of this project is to develop technology for the measurement of soil moisture to maximize production, improve food quality, optimize water use and promote the use of technologies in agriculture.

The technological solution

Development of a low-cost soil moisture measurement sensor to maximize production, improve food quality, and optimize water use.

Results

After a participatory design process, using creative visualization methodology, and following field testing of three technological solution prototypes, the project already has a design for a device to measure soil humidity that is robust, highly usable, and low cost. The selected design has multiple improvements with respect to the prototypes, maintaining a charging autonomy of up to six months in the field, with automatic activation when the sensor is connected, greater robustness, a more elegant design, and greater ease of downloading data and charging the device. 90 replicas have been made of this sensor, which will be tested with producers in the three participating countries.

Additionally, the team of researchers has given two webinars, in which the experience in the design of the devices has been socialized, keeping in mind the reality of small and medium-scale farmers and sharing part of the results of the project.