Connected-Farmers

In emerging economies farmers often face many additional
challenges in improving productivity and livelihoods. These
range from lack of access to vital information, resources and
financial services to barriers such as low levels of mechanisation
and poorly developed infrastructure. These issues all contribute
to comparatively lower yields in many emerging markets.
Comparative yields, 2013
Tonne/hectare
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
United
States of
America
France China India Africa
Source: FAOStat. See back page for details.
Source: FAOStat, UN FAO Statistics Division, http://faostat3.fao.org/download/Q/QC/E
Overcoming these challenges is critical, since most of
the expansion in agricultural production needed by 2050
must come from emerging economies. The OECD and FAO,
for example, have said that 75% of additional agricultural
output predicted over the next decade will come from
developing regions 10 .
Maize
Rice, paddy
Soybeans
Wheat
Half of all people living with
hunger are smallholder farmers
Agriculture and food security – challenges
for developing countries
MACK RAMACHANDRAN, Head of Strategy,
Performance & Risk (Procurement), UN World Food Programme
Despite great progress, there are still more than 800 million
people living with hunger. Half of these are smallholder
farmers, and a further 25% are people living in the same
rural communities. Improving the lives of smallholder
farmers is absolutely central to meeting our goal of ending
hunger by 2030.
One of the main challenges is that smallholders lack
access to formal financial structures and markets.
Without a bank account or credit history, they can’t get an
affordable loan. Without access to markets for high-quality
seeds and inputs, they are reliant on local supplies, often
of poor quality. Together these factors conspire to limit
agricultural yields and access to food.
If we can find new ways to overcome these challenges,
we can empower smallholders to increase their yields and
income. This is a huge opportunity. Research by the FAO
shows that investment in agriculture is five times more
effective in reducing poverty and hunger than investment
in any other sector.
At the World Food Programme, we see technology as an
absolutely critical part of the solution. With technology,
we can enable communication and collaboration between
smallholders and vital players like banks, input providers,
buyers and aggregators. We can reduce transaction costs,
making it economically viable for businesses to source
from smallholders, providing more possibilities for farmers
to boost their incomes. We can give smallholders the
information and tools they need to break out of the cycle
of poverty.
Mobile and agriculture
Mobile technology has great potential to improve agricultural
productivity in emerging economies through services for
small-scale farmers and agricultural businesses. Mobile
products and services have the ability to deliver real-time
information direct into the farmer’s hand to improve
traceability, quality control and logistics systems and to enable
agricultural businesses to operate more efficiently.
Mobile financial services can enable farmers to receive and
make payments and access financial services. At each stage
of the agricultural value chain, mobile can help to improve
communication and efficiency, supporting increased food
production and better livelihoods.
4 Vodafone Connected Farming in India