In retail, technology has transformed the consumer experience and improved the ability of business to respond to what consumers want. Is it feasible to apply the same approach to the smallholder farmers who grow and sell cash crops at the start of the supply chain?
The use of mobile technology among smallholder farmers in emerging markets, such as Africa, is gaining momentum. Last year, Vodafone and Accenture’s Connecting Agriculture report concluded that 80% of a predicted $138bn uplift in farmers’ incomes in the developing world would come from mobile communications through providing vital connections to finance, markets and even training.
But there is a long way to go to harness the value of a genuine ‘information exchange’. The first step is the immense task of collecting data. Thanks to a combination of surveys via mobile phones and GPS, Olam is now able to start building a richer socio-economic picture of landscapes and communities.
“It’s a long way from scanning a Clubcard but the idea is the same”
Mapping farm co-ordinates and recording factors such as labour, terrain, yields, and eco-systems provides manufacturers and retailers with greater product insight and traceability beyond the farm gate. Better data to assess yield potential enables more cost-effective ‘precision application’, whether that’s for fertiliser or farmer training.
And, crucially, the root causes of socio-economic issues in the supply chain can also be revealed and resolved - if we know a farming community has 20 children but the nearest school is six miles away with no transport, then we can target social investment at education to mitigate the risk of child labour. We have seen these benefits first-hand through our Olam Livelihood Charter, having GPS-mapped 37,682 farms this year across our cashew, cocoa, coffee, cotton and sesame supply chains.
Such insights then enable companies further up the supply chain to understand where they can strengthen their operations. Whether it is selecting where best to make a commercial investment or channel a CSR initiative, data is enabling better decisions, both for farmers and the bottom line.
Harvesting ‘big data’, however, means surveying millions of smallholders across the globe. It’s a long way from scanning a Clubcard. But, the principle of improving performance through better understanding of groups critical to the sector is the same.
Companies like Olam, which are on the ground 24/7, can drive the data collection and collaborate with knowledge partners such as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture to identify the trends. But the onus is also on manufacturers and retailers to use the insights to educate and inspire more players to see the relevance to their operations, and participate.
We all have a shared interest in getting closer to the root of the supply chain through the innovative application of new technology we have the opportunity to understand this group as closely as we do the people they supply. Big job. Big data. But huge shared benefits.
Chris Brett is Olam Intl senior VP and global head of corporate responsibility & sustainability
No comments yet