Revitalizing Agricultural Extension through Digitally Enabled Service Delivery: GeoKrishi Initiative in Nepal

About GeoKrishiLocation specific agriculture advisory

2

The Problem

Access to info & inputs

Poor extension

services

Access to market linkages

3

Higher Demand for Extension Services

4

Call Center Enquiry

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Labour shortage

Availability of Inputs

Mechanization

Transportation issue

Advisory services

Access to markets

Cash flow shortage

Accessing credit

Yes No Don’t Know

Difficulties faced during COVID periodType of challenges

The Solution – Smart Farming

5

Theory of Change

If farmers are provided with

actionable advisory, if more

effective techniques are

promoted and assisted, if local

extension service providers are

reskilled, and if market linkages

are established, then farm

productivity, income and

resilience of farmers will

improve. Collectively, this will

accelerate the growth and

modernization of Nepal's

agriculture sector.

Digital Agriculture Infrastructure

&Platform

Innovative Tools & Synthesized

content

Unified Service Delivery Model

Transforming market-led extension service

6

753 Local Municipalities6000+ wards

30,000 Cooperatives

Government Call Center(s)

Research & Dev. Organization

Gov. Knowledge Centers

AgroVet &SME

Current Extension Providers

15% farmer receive extensionRatio of extension to farmers stands at 1:2000+

Farmer/Producer

Improved Agriculture Outcomes

with increased crop productivity and profitability

Planning Stage Post HarvestGrowing Stage

SMART FARMING

Safe FoodProduction

Production Plan

Business Plan

Smart Farming

Recommend engine

Farm mng. & monitoring

Supply chain operation

Digital Financial Service

Community Based Ag. Advisory Center

Inputs

Advisory

Credit

Planning Stage Post HarvestGrowing Stage

SMART FARMING

Safe FoodProduction

Collective marketing

Production Plan

Business Plan

Smart Farming

Recommend engine

Farm mng. & monitoring

Supply chain operation

Digital Financial Service

e-Community Based Ag. Advisory Center

End to End TechnologiesContinuously upgraded technology stack to build scalable and integrated system

7

MunicipalDatabase

@pixel level

BaselineDatabase

SectorialDatabase

SpatialDatabase

FarmDatabase

Crop Model

Crop Suitability Engine

Crop Recommendation

Market Intelligence

Open Science/Source

AI, m/c learning

Sensor Tech

Enabling System

Cloud Computing

Block chain

Earth Observation

ICT Software Product & Tool

(Competitive crop)

“what to grow, where, when

and how”

Tools to optimize use of inputs

Farm Management &

Surveillance

Statistical Data

Crop ChartCrop variety wise

requirement parameter

Agriculture ContentKnowledge product

DemographyAge, sex, migration

GIS & Satellite Products

Geo-physicalSlope, Aspect, Elevation

Soil CharacteristicsSoil fertility,texture,pH

ClimaticRain, Temperature

Data (GIS, Primary &

Secondary Data)Processing System

Decision Support/

Recommendation

8

Results

➢Evaluating crop suitability

➢Comparative advantageous crop

➢ Identify pocket area

Geo/Bio-physical Characteristicsslope, aspect, elevation, sun-shine, soil texture, fertility, pH

Climatic ParameterRainfall, temperature

Economic ParameterAccessibility, infrastructure, price

Tappingthe protentional of geo-climatic diversity

China

India

GeoKrishi FarmEnterprise

&

GeoKrishi ExT

Products

3 Easy Steps to Advisory

10

Step 2. Production Plan

When to plant, Crop calendar

Step 3: AdvisoriesStep 1. Profile of Farm & Farmer

• Tracking farm and farmers

e-Bazar (Marketplace)

11

Promoting collective production and collective marketing

https://samuhikbazar.com

Building an Ecosystem to Support Growth & Sustainability

12

Farmer’s Group/Cluster Formation(50-500 farmer members per cluster based on

socio-eco, commodities)

Production Plan (Crop Suitability Evaluation)

(Comparative advantage crops) Project Launch

MunicipalField Technicians

Selection (Municipality, wards Cooperative, FBO)

Tier 1Field technician, Group Leader

Tier 2Subject matter specialist

Tier 3Call center agents

Farmers (Orientation)

Lead Farmer (Specialized Training)

Digital Champions (Business Literacy)

e-Bazar(SamuhikBazaar.com)

GeoKrishi EXT(Adv. Tools)

GeoKrishi Farm(Day2day advisory)

ToT

13

Key Benefits

Farmers• Synthesized content at the fingertip• Input recommendations• Work in offline• Delivered in local language • Automatic notification based on

transplanting date • Smart personalized alerts • Weather information• Market Information• Pest & Diseases Management – AI and ML

System Level• Climate smart agriculture• Safe food production practices • Efficient farm management• Product diversification• Monitoring & surveillance • credit scoring and risk minimization

Skill Up – IncubationEngaging Aspiring Potential and Creating Jobs

14

Leadership Incubate Accelerate

Business Development1. Bankable Project2. Handholding3. Market linkages

Mentoring1. Idea bank – ext. services2. Innovation3. Business literacy & model

Couching1. User engagement 2. Field exposure 3. Solution oriented

Empowering Network of Farmer

15

Delivering agriculture extension services that help farmers to be competent decision-makers

Municipal Cooperatives PartnershipsLeadership &

Incubation

10Municipalities

6,500 farmer

12Local Service Provider

750 farmers

21Projects

Beneficiaries

Current

Next 1 Y

6Coops

1,500 farmers

30Municipalities

35,000 farmer

100Local Service Provider

7,500 farmers

30Projects

Beneficiaries

15Coops

5,000 farmers

12% - 33%Harvest Yield

25BankableProjects

?%Income

Next 3 Years 1 million farmers

• Platform as a ServiceA digital farm management and advisory system to coordinate with hundreds of farmers

• B2BMatching farmers with credible input and output suppliers, agreed commission on sales.

• Franchisees/Commission based/SubscriptionSubscription based mobile advisory at minimal cost, % of which is given as a incentive to the LSPs for every farmer they register and retain.

It can also be % of shared service charges (e.g. in-built with bank loan borrower)

Business Sustainability

Convergence through multi-sectoral partnershipStrategy to connect users, products and functions

17

• BFI’s – Banks, Coops, MFIs• Market linkages – Collection centers, Private

players

Access to credit & SME development

• Leadership-Incubation-acceleration• Field exposure, user engagement• Vocational Training: learning materials, extension• Bsc. Ag.; CTEVT - Youth Network, ToT

Up-Skilling Support

• Private-Public-Partnership at all level• Network of sustainable extension services• Standard operating procedure

Extension Service Delivery

• Development and Research Organization• Access to information• Farmer centric design

Synthesized Content\R&D Support

Bundled Service Delivery Model

Agriculture’s connection to many of the 17 SDGs

Goal 1Poverty

Alleviation

Goal 4Education

to extension worker

Goal 5Gender

Farmer (female) produce less

Goal 6Water Use

Agri-demand

Goal 7Energy UseCrops 4 biofuel

Goal 8Eco Growth & Employment66% employed

Goal 12Consumption &

ProductionPer capita

consumption

Goal 13Climate Change

Adoption of agro productive

Goal 15Ecosystem Mngt

Efficiency of farmland

Take Home Messages

19

• Government (local, provincial, national): Sustainable PPP model, strengthening extension services, Agriculture Development Strategy

• Research & Development: Create and synthesized farmer centric content

• Banking, Finance and FinTech: Access to credit, risk management, monitoring

• Education: Extension education in Ag/Vocational training, user engagement in relation to extension

• Farmer Based Org: Minimize crop loss/damage, bringing science and digital technology in operations

Thank You

• Bikash Dangol, CTO

• Hari K. Dhonju, Director Geospatial Solution

• Rajan Bajracharya, CEO

• Suraj Shrestha, Director Operation

• Radip Tandukar - Program Director – Skill Up NeXT

• Swapnil Chaudhari, Director Strategic Cooperation

www.GeoKrishi.farm www.pathway.com.np www.dds4dev.org

rajan@pathway.com.np