Farmers and communities producing cocoa, oil palm and other food staples in Africa continue to get agronomic and production support information amid Covid-19 restrictions.
This is because, Solidaridad, an international civil society organization is using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform to increase access to farming support.
COVID-19 pandemic elicited restrictions on movement and limited social interactions. This is straining livelihoods and the agricultural supply chain as it interrupted access to inputs and extension support services.
The IVR platform allows the target audiences to receive pre-recorded messages in real time. This remote support approach helps Solidaridad to quickly assess ground situations to generate response plans and interventions to farmers.
“At this time when physical interactions are less desired, the IVR platform helps us to reach out to a large number of our programme beneficiaries quickly. To share important information on COVID-19 protection protocols and to deliver other technical crop production content that aligns with the farming season and the cropping calendar.”
ISAAC GYAMFI, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR SOLIDARIDAD IN WEST AFRICA.
He said they used the IVR platform to sensitize 28,557 beneficiaries on the need to practice social distancing and other precautionary measures to prevent infection and contain the spread of the virus.
Digital Tools not new to Solidaridad
Solidaridad is said to have applied IVR and other digital tools in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. These are places it is promoting sustainable practices across the cocoa, gold and oil palm supply chains in West Africa.
The organization used the IVR platform to transmit messages on good agricultural practices to over 40,000 farmers, workers and producers in 2019.
Solidaridad also deployed mobile data collection tools to profile 60,068 cocoa farmers, 19,627 oil palm farmers and 1,056 miners in the operational countries.
The data is used to support the creation of markets for potential small and medium enterprises. It also serves as a baseline for programmes whose impacts and outcomes would be tracked using the IVR platform.
“The IVR platform provides Solidaridad and partners real-time feedback on farmers’ experiences, learning and practices for additional intervention where necessary. With over 60,000 cocoa farmers already subscribing to the voice application platform, Solidaridad would continue to maintain contact with project beneficiaries during the pandemic. A total of 39,000 farmers are using the platform.”
Ahmed Abdul Basit, Head of Digital Solutions at Solidaridad West Africa.
Other digital tools for sustainability
Solidaridad wants partnerships with development investors and foundations, as well as government ministries, departments and agencies. This is to scale the use of digital innovations in support of vulnerable producers and enterprises to grow as the world adapts to the new reality of physical distancing.
It is fast-tracking the development of a digital self-assessment tool for artisanal and small-scale gold miners to educate them on responsible mining practices. The organization has so far profiled some 1,000 miners in Ghana for a pilot use of a set of digital tools.
Support from donors and partners
In West Africa, Solidaridad’s work is funded by the Netherlands Government; the Mastercard Foundation, MCF; and the European Union, EU. Others include the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO; the World Bank,WB; Henkel; Achmea; and Mondelez International. There are also many other private sector companies.
