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Digital Green: Technology and social organization to amplify the effectiveness of development
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digitalGREENdigitalgreen.org
Agriculture in India600M agriculture-dependent lives
Majority small landholders (<3 acres)
<$2 a day ($750 a year)
Growing debts ($300 per year per farmer)
Earlier technology intervention…– Green revolution had mixed results
• Increased yields, but…• Led to rising input costs, declining soil
fertility• Due to excessive use of
fertilizers/pesticides
Indiscriminate use of technology partially responsible for current agrarian crisis
A farmer from Yellachavadi village,outside of Bangalore
2
Agricultural Systems?
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Poor roads
Credit card
Computing device and connectivity not enough!
farmer expert
Quantity buyersPoor quality
control
Market
44
Agriculture Extension
Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers
“Training & Visit” extension popularized by the World Bank in 1970s
– Face-to-face interactions of extension officers and farmers
100,000 extension officers in India– Extension agent-to-farmer ratio is
1: 2,000– 610,000 villages in India with
average 1,000-person population
Extension officer “commuting” between farms
5
?
Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005)
Agricultural Social Networks
5
66
How can the speed and effectiveness of agriculture extension be improved at a reasonable cost?
The Problem
Extension officer on-field demonstration
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Video provides…– Resource-savings: human, cost, time– Accessibility for non-literate farmers
Digital Video for Extension
8
Six months in field trying various combinationsOver 200 days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative design
Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination,
Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc.
Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination,
Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc. 8
Early ExperimentationParameters VariedEarly Experimentation
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Participatory Content Production
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Digital Green System
Introduction to innovations– Standard extension
procedure
Rough “storyboarding”– Repetitive pattern; easy to
learn– Minimize post-production
Local farmers on their own fields– Reduce perception of
“teachers”– Promote “local stars”
1010
Digital Green System
Video Database
Online video databasehttp://www.digitalgreen.org
>2,100 videos of 8-10 minutes each
Quality-control, minor video editing, and metadata tagging
Indexed by type, topic, locale, season, crop, etc.
Distributed via memory cards
1111
Digital Green System
Mediated Instruction
Local mediator– Performance-based honorarium
Human engagement– Field questions, capture feedback,
encourage participation– Balance genders
On-demand screenings – Choice time and place– Not “stand-alone” kiosk
Support and monitoring – Daily metrics and feedback– Official extension staff
1212
Digital Green System
Structured Sequencing
Group Participation
Practices with longer-term
visible rewards
Practices with short-term
visible rewards
Community Assessment
Audience
Awareness
Season
Location
Time
1313
Digital Green System
1. Participatory content production
2. Video database
3. Mediated instruction
4. Structured sequencing
14
21 villages in Karnataka:– Language: Kannada– Crops: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut– Population: 50-80 households– Irrigation: 10-20 households with access– Television: 15-20 households
Metrics:– Knowledge: Before-and-after– Attendance: Farmers at each screening– Interest: Intent to take-up a practice– Adoption: Number of households taking up
each new farming practice or technology
14
Experimental Set-UpPreliminary Evaluation
ExpertExpert
Extension Officer
Extension Officer
Farming Community
Farming Community
Farming Community
Research Assistant
Local Mediator Local Mediator Local Mediator
Poster Green(3)Same as Digital Green with local mediator, but no TV/DVDMediator makes posters and holds regular group sessions
Classical GREEN (8)Same as usual
Digital Green (9)3 sessions per weekCost:
Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD per villagePC / camera costs sharedExtension officer sharedMediator salary
Accountability:Daily metrics and feedbackOfficial extension staff
15-month study
Audio Green (1)Same as Poster Green withMP3 audio tracks from videos
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7 times more adoptions over classical extension
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15 months: 13 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars
Sustained local presence
Mediation
Repetition (and novelty)
Integration into existing extension operations
Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer
Desire to be “on TV”
Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos
Digital Green: Early Results
Apr-
07
Jun-
07
Aug-
07
Oct
-07
Dec-
07
Feb-
08
Apr-
08
Jun-
08
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Classic GREENDigital GreenPoster GreenAudio Green
Adop
tion
Rate
(%)
16
System Cost (USD)/Village/Year
Adoption (%) /Village/Year
Cost/Adoption (USD)
Classical GREEN $840 11% $38.18
Digital Green $630 85% $3.70
Poster Green $490 59% $4.15
Cost-Benefit
16
Note: Decreasing amortized cost of hardware with time and scale
Digital Green is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than classical extension!
Jun-
10
Jul-1
0
Aug-
10
Sep-
10
Oct
-10
Nov
-10
Dec
-10
Jan-
11
- Chili Nursery Raising,
Beans Line Sowing
Chili Line Sowing,
Beans Fertil-izer Applica-
tion
System of Rice Intensi-
fication
Bitter Gourd Pest & Ginger
Rot Man-agement
_ Potato Line Sowing,
Tomato In-tercropping
Improved Onion Seed
Improved Poultry Rear-
ing
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
17
In first 8 months, adoption of improved practices increased the incomes of farmers by an average of $242!
Incremental Adoptions, Incremental Incomes
$100 $150
19 1
2
3
Network Effect
Viral Web 2.0 in the Web-less world - Content ecosystem: education, entrepreneurship, entertainment - Cost-realistic access: pico projectors, TVs, DVD players, and camcorders
Reinforce existing social networks to diffuse innovations through communities
Local “idol” competitions to be a better farmer
Digital Green System
19
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PlatformDigital Green System
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Cloud-based central databaseSynchronized with local databases
Online Offline (no/low connectivity)
Browser-based inputData stored in local database
Synchronized when connectivity available
COCO | Connect Online, Connect Offline
Digital Green System
digitalgreen.org/tech
23
Platform
Robust system to share, track, and analyse data to manage operations and target interventions over time
Analytics dashboard built on top of a simple yet robust dataentry system that can toggle between online and offline connectivity modes
Digital Green System
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http://www.digitalgreen.org/
Offline mode 10x faster than online
100,000 simultaneous offline users
AnalyticsDigital Green System
analytics.digitalgreen.org
AnalyticsDigital Green System
analytics.digitalgreen.org
Non-Non-Profit Digital Green
Digital Green’s value to farmers is established – viewers contribute Rs. 2-4 per screening.
Could DG also be supported by ads?
Advertisers get access to a distributed, captive audience with demonstrated interest in better agriculture.
Ads follow Digital Green’s distribution channels.
To do: – Scale Digital Green– Devise mechanism for ensuring
appropriate ads– Quantify ad effectiveness– Quantify ad value to advertisersDigital Green DVD title screen
Subsidize agriculture extension with ads?
Wonder VillageDigital Green System
apps.facebook.com/wondervillage
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VARRAT
32
Agricultural Systems?
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Poor roads
Credit card
farmer expert
Quantity buyersPoor quality
control
Market
Technology not enough!
Technology magnifies human intent and capability.
Technology itself requires support from well-intentioned, competent people or organizations.
Successful technology interventions work as a part of well-intentioned, competent organizations.
