FAO Pilots Online Project to Assist Farmers

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is piloting a Digital Services Portfolio (DSP), which has been introduced to 42 farmers from Mile Gully in Manchester, via two workshops.

The aim of the project in Mile Gully, the extension area selected for the project, is to improve the digitalisation of agricultural services in rural areas.

The DSP is a cloud-based platform designed to bridge the information gap among researchers, agricultural organisations and, most importantly, rural farmers and communities.

In a statement from the FAO, Project Manager, Carlisle Welsh, said the DSP forum bridges the gap between information and action.

“It empowers farmers to access knowledge, connect with experts, and learn from each other, ultimately leading to improved agricultural practices, increased productivity, and a more resilient food system in Jamaica,” he said.

The project is being executed with support from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the University of the West Indies (UWI).

RADA and UWI were able to provide inputs enabling the integration of existing resources, such as the Met Office’s weather forecasting module and RADA’s Agri-Linkages Exchange platform.

The DSP offers four core themes – Weather & Crop Calendar; Livestock; AgriMarketPlace, which connects farmers to buyers; and e-Nutrifood, which promotes healthy diets.

For Jamaica, themes focused on crops, including Cassava and Hot Pepper, Upcoming Events, FAO Projects, Crop Calendar, Incident Reporting and Livestock, have already been implemented.

Meanwhile, Mr. Welsh said the success of the platform hinges on active participation.

In describing the experiences at the workshops, Mr. Welsh said they provided the opportunity for all stakeholders to co-develop solutions to enhance the DSP platform.

“The farmers were very enthusiastic, resulting in lively sessions with valuable feedback and suggestions from the farmers, including ideas for additional themes they would like to see. It was surprising to note the number of female farmers who participated, as they outnumbered the men. This really emphasises the participation of women in farming,” he said.

Another activity under the project includes two laptops and 15 tablets being delivered to RADA.

“Going forward, RADA will review the suggestions from the farmers regarding additional information they would like to see on the platform, and they will do the initial upload of the crop calendar, focused on seven crops,” Mr. Welsh said.

Data will also be uploaded to the Crop Calendar theme, and RADA personnel will be trained in updating and maintaining the Digital Services Portfolio.

The pilot project, which is part of FAO’s 1,000 Digital Villages Initiative to create and implement programmes aimed at advancing the digitalisation of agricultural services in rural areas, aims to serve farmers across all parishes.