PraEctiCe, an organization that helps smallholder farmers in their agroecological transformation, has developed a decision support tool to assist farmers and agroecology consultants in making informed decisions at the farm level in Nigeria.
The Farmers Mobile Application provides farmers with all the necessary information needed to take appropriate action regarding current agricultural conditions, as well as eases communication with advisors.
Its main features include access to the latest data insights and alerts on the farm, crop and fish data development and general farm information through questionnaires.
“This requires the installation of a monitoring system at the farm gate. These systems will provide farmers and advisors with real-time data monitoring and analysis of key parameters such as water quality, soil condition and crop health,” Margherita Trastini, general manager of Apodisi, said in a statement.
The advisor's application focuses on technical roles and supports data collection from sensors monitoring soil and water parameters. It includes an interactive map that displays farm locations and infrastructure, along with tools for indicator monitoring and visualization to aid decision making.
They are responsible for creating and managing indicators and alerts based on sensor and field data, ensuring accurate information for farmers, and providing clear, actionable solutions when critical issues arise.
“Advisers play a key role in creating and managing indicators based on real-world measurements, while farmers use these insights to take timely and informed action,” Trestini said.
The EU-funded Horizon Europe project developed these tools using a co-creation approach that involved key AE stakeholders throughout the process.
“Early in the project, specific frameworks were identified in the development of these indicators – barriers and drivers for AE infection in Eastern Africa, adjusting the indicators to reflect the characteristics of different agricultural sectors and climatic conditions in Eastern Africa,” the statement further read.
It adds, “Expansion of the indicator framework and climate change mitigation and adaptation impacts, as well as the financial viability of smallholder farmers.”
The statement said that, based on these results, the data were processed and refined using expert input from both within and outside the consortium.
It was highlighted that these results were used in the development of decision support tools incorporating the user's perspective to improve system efficiency, performance and visual analytics.
