How small-scale farmers can use technology to transform agriculture

By Peter Makwanya | Aug. 5, 2024 | 4 Min read

The community of farmers that is hard-hit are the small-scale farmers, especially in Africa due to less coping mechanisms and weak technological orientation. Small-scale farmers can take advantage of the simple technologies they have or around them to enhance their farming activities, improve yields and fight climate change.

THE advent of climate change has not come as a blessing, but it is reshaping agricultural practices globally as farmers feel climate change impacts.

The available simple technologies can enhance weather prediction through early warning systems, introduction of skills efficiency, access to markets, eliminate troublesome middlemen, help farmers adapt to climate change, improve farmers’ networking in groups and syndicates, manage their crops, improve their relations and enhance co-operation. By doing so, small-scale farmers form the backbone of sustainable agriculture in many ways.

Simple WhatsApp groups and relative cost-effective internet access can be influenced by internet of things, to reach and reconnect and a bit of simple artificial intelligence as artificial insemination can be used to improve the quality of their livestock. Small-scale farmers can thrive by interacting with technology to improve their forecasting on what outcomes their crops will suffice and drive agricultural success.

Small-scale farmers can benefit from agriculture and climate related information, exchanged and shared through the internet to attend to immediate farming challenges, improve knowledge and information. Today’s farming should not be treated as subsistence but business where technology utilisation should improve inclusive farming where small-scale farmers are in the mainstream and at the heart of agricultural production.

The idea behind all these initiatives is to orient how technologies can build resilience to small-scale farmers in terms of food security and environmental sustainability.

Engaging in farming as a business, means that small-scale farmers’ focus is broadened, turn challenges into business opportunities, improve their livelihoods, feed their families, have disposable income, send children to school, strengthen their knowledge and information base and adapt to vagaries of climate change.

During these times of climate-induced droughts, small-scale farmers have strong water efficiency building skills because water is not only life but key to all livelihood options. Transformed online communication is key in realising these successes, therefore, sustainable utilisation of available water resources becomes paramount to drive sustainable irrigation which can also form the basis of technologies of choice. These technologies will sufficiently and effectively enhance small-scale farmers’ chances of adapting to climate change.

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Using mobile phones and their digital tools provide farmers with real-time information on weather, market prices, client information base and crop management techniques, among others.

These are important in helping the farmers to make informed decisions and improve their livelihoods. In this regard, information technology is a catalyst in boosting sustainable performance of small-scale farmers through broad-based inclusion. Information technology is important in providing small-scale farmers with updated data inventory for current and reliable information that will not leave them behind.

Information technology is not just a recreation tool but a source of innovation and efficiency that transforms operations of small-scale farmers through regular short message services to keep people in the know. This is important for farmers to plan, especially in connection with regular agricultural updates, awareness raising on weather changes and early warnings, among others. This enables small-scale farmers to monitor their environments, report on changes taking place, tackle environmental challenges and keep checking on climate changes.

Small-scale farmers also need to keep their produce fresh or control the environments in which their crops are, hence they can acquire the information on various chat-boards on the internet. By doing so, they can allow data flows across numerous value chains and cross-sectional stakeholders. Information technology can also be classified as Green IT, which focuses on minimising the environmental impacts of IT operations by enhancing designs and operations of small-scale farmers. Adapting to Green IT practices drives long-term agricultural growth, through the provision of a wide range of environmental compliant green products providing zero-carbon footprints on the environment.

Green IT plays a significant role in carbon management by providing tools for accurate measurement and reporting of carbon emissions associated with farming as agriculture is carbon emission intensive.

Through IT, farm produce can be traced from the source to the buyer or food processor in attempts to avoid food wastage on the environment. Precision farming in terms of using drones in applying chemicals to crops reduces labour and wastage of herbicides.

This is important in optimising crop health and management, through provision of information on food, useful for building the path for advancing sustainable goods and information services.

Through online platforms, small-scale farmers are connected with suppliers online, buyers and farming groups including access with relevant and appropriate markets. In addition, agricultural technologies are opening new avenues for small-scale farmers to access financial services and resources aimed at strengthening their farming operations.

Using online technologies enables small-scale farmers to produce more food with fewer resources while contributing to minimum environmental impacts. This will also contribute to sustainable building of food systems for the future therefore small-scale farmers need to sufficiently orient themselves with the transformative power of technologies, for the resilient and sustainable future that they want.