Inclusive Digital Tools Project (ATDT)

Project overview

Digital resources in agriculture are changing how food is produced and inclusive digital tools can transform agriculture at large scales. However, inclusive digital tools are not widely used by smallholders, women, the rural poor, and other marginalized groups in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Involving farmers in the co-design of knowledge is a key principle of agroecology. If digital platforms are to be a major driver for scaling up agroecology, it is essential to support inclusive tool use and farmer co-design of practices to address LMICs’ needs. Therefore, the ATDT Project will evaluate how farmers benefit from using improved digital tools and their potential to generate large-scale impacts for climate-informed agroecology (Figure 1).

The Agroecological TRANSITIONS’ Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project will promote innovations related to digital tools and their interfaces that enhance inclusiveness, integrate climate change resilience and mitigation with agroecological aims, and enable farmers to develop new practices (Figure 2).

Key messages

• Digital tools are often top-down or extractive, hindering inclusivity & addressing farmers’ needs.
• Smallholder farmers in LMICs usually lack influence and access to digital resources aligned with their priorities, limiting their participation in climate action and sustainable agriculture.
• Prioritizing access, usability, & co-creation elements in digital resource development can enhance social inclusion & empower smallholders.
• Co-creation of farming practices with farmers supports solutions relevant to farmers’ contexts, integration of multiple knowledge systems, collaborative problem solving & gives farmers more agency.
• Farmer workshops in Brazil and Vietnam highlight challenges and opportunities for improving digital tool design, enhancing farmers’ agency & collaborative problem-solving in agriculture.
• Solidaridad and IRRI developed digital tools for co-creating agroecological livestock practices in Brazil (Solis) and performance assessment for rice systems in Vietnam (FaMoRe).

Activities & outputs

To achieve its goals, the ATDT Project has strategically planned activities and outputs to assess the global and site-specific digital ecosystems, improve digital tools to engage farmers in the co-creation of knowledge, and test and evaluate digital tool innovations for scaling up climate-informed agroecological outcomes.

Rice systems in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam

Sustainability standards are prominent within Vietnam in higher-value crops, like coffee and cocoa. However, they are less prevalent in staple crops, like rice. To address this in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta region, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and local stakeholder partners, will support the development, design, and improvement of digital tools facilitating agroecological practices for rice farmers. The Vietnam team and IRRI will focus research on advanced farming packages that promote agroecological production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing farmers’ income.

Livestock landscapes in Pará, Brazil

The Brazil team, led by Solidaridad Latin America, will support the improved use of good agronomic practices and traceability tools for incentives to smallholders and recognition of their livestock production practices. The team will work in the Amazon agriculture frontier of the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, Brazil. With this purpose in mind, the Brazil team will review the inclusivity of existing tools, map and systematize knowledge on production practices, and influence tool access, design, and improvement to support agroecological transitions.