Precision Agriculture for Development

Problem

An estimated three billion people live in smallholder farmer households [FAO, 2015]. A majority live at subsistence levels, with most surviving on less than $1.25 per person per day. In the eight countries where PAD operates, roughly 200 million smallholder farmers and almost 1 billion total household members subsist on farms typically less than two hectares in size; most live below the poverty line.

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Solution

PAD harnesses technology, data science and behavioral economics to provide targeted information to farmers in developing countries. By providing actionable information to the right people, in the right way and at the right time, PAD helps smallholder farmers improve productivity, increase profitability, and advance environmental sustainability. PAD is pioneering a new model for agricultural extension: delivering to farmers personalized agricultural advice through their mobile phones.

Target Beneficiaries

Smallholder farmers in developing countries, their dependents and the broader communities to which they belong.

Mission and Vision

By providing actionable information to the right people, in the right way and at the right time, PAD empowers smallholder farmers to improve their productivity, increase their profitability, and advance environmental sustainability.

Competitive Advantage

Digital agriculture is a rapidly growing field, with over 150 “mobile agriculture” solutions operating in developing countries. While a few solutions have reached scale and some have high levels of farmer engagement, PAD has achieved both of these objectives, and has done so in only three years of operation. For example, one national government digital extension service has reached over four million farmers, but only 15% of users access additional agricultural content after their first interaction [PAD, 2018]. Other services achieve high farmer engagement but small reach, for example by providing highly customized advice but tending to focus on a single country and few crops with limited scale.

Planned Goals and Milestones

As we catalyse our transition from early stage organization to a mature organization that delivers impact at scale, we intend to multiply our impact on the lives of the poor in three ways: maximizing scale; enhancing the value of our information and services to farmers through the integration of new data and services; and through continued innovation and learning to enhance the precision and applicability of our services.

	Funding Goal	30,000,000
	Projected Cumulative Lives Impacted	100,000,000
	New Implemented Countries	Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Colombia, Nigeria
	Recruit	Recruiting for start-up Nigeria office
	New Feature	The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the physical limitations imposed by social distancing protocols, have severely limited and – in many instances – entirely halted traditional in-person extension services. Yet farmers remain hungry for information capable of empowering them to improve their incomes and sustain livelihoods. Precision Agriculture for Development’s digital services bypass the need for in-person information provision, offering a two-way, low cost and impactful service at scale that empowers farmers despite the impacts of the pandemic. A lack of systematic and reliable data on the evolving needs of smallholder communities acts as a significant constraint for policymakers in mounting an effective and targeted response to the crisis. To address this information deficit, and to inform ongoing program design and content development, PAD is conducting a multi-country phone survey to understand how the pandemic is affecting agricultural production, food security and behaviour. In addition, we will collect data from agro-dealers in a subset of countries to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on agricultural supply chains. Data and findings will be published on our website, contingent on obtaining the necessary approvals. Specific research focus areas include: Current conditions in agricultural markets and the extent of disruptions experienced by farmers and agro-dealers, including changes in market access, prices, and goods availability; Farmers’ food security and changes in food availability; The availability of information about coronavirus and related public health advice, as well as farmers’ responses to that information; and The impact of COVID-19 on in-person extension systems (in Pakistan only). Current Data Collection Activities: PAD is currently conducting survey operations in India (three sub-national states), Pakistan, and Kenya. We plan to conduct panel data collection in selected locations and anticipate that data collection activities will span the period April 2020 – October 2020, and that additional countries and/or sub-national entities will be added following the fulfillment of review procedures and the commitment of funding. Sampling targets: 1,000 farmers per week in India; 1,000 crop farmers, 100 dairy farmers and 500 agro-dealers in the first round of our survey in Kenya; and 300 Agriculture Officers (extension agents) and Field Assistants in Pakistan. We are currently in advanced talks to expand data collection activities in several countries in Asia and Africa. Please check our website and our social media handles for updates.

The Team Behind the Innovation

PADs co-founders and board members are 2019 Nobel Laureate for Economic Sciences Michael Kremer (Harvard University), Shawn Cole (Harvard Business School), Daniel Björkegren (Brown University), Amrita Ahuja (Douglas B. Marshall, Jr. Family Foundation), and Heiner Baumann (PAD). PAD is led by Chief Executive Officer Owen Barder, who brings to the organization more than three decades of experience as a development practitioner, scholar and advocate.

EXECUTIVE TEAM INCLUDES WOMEN