Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Farmtopia (Democratizing digital farming through smart solutions for small farms)
Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-02-28
Over the past decade, digital technologies have generated significant enthusiasm and investment aimed at improving the economic and environmental performance of the agricultural sector. Agricultural Digital Solutions (ADSs) leverage advanced data-driven technologies to make farming more precise, controlled and efficient. Despite significant investments, however, the adoption rate among small and medium-sized farms remains quite low, falling below sectoral expectations. These farms face multiple challenges such as high upfront costs, uncertain benefits, solutions incompatible with their needs, lack of digital skills, and low trust in commercial vendors. Experience has shown that a simple “technology push” is not enough to overcome resistance to change and drive widespread adoption. True progress requires solutions that address real-world problems and are combined with appropriate shifts in mindsets and business models. Farmtopia seeks to reverse this trend through a pioneering, synergetic farmer-driven approach that fosters the creation of cost-effective ADS tailored to the distinctive needs of small-scale farms. By engaging both farmers and ADS providers in the deployment process and introducing innovative business models, Farmtopia substantially lowers costs for both parties, rendering ADSs adoption affordable and sustainable. The overall objective of Farmtopia is to advance digitalization and democratize digital farming by creating a paradigm shift in the way ADSs for small and medium sized farms are created, deployed and financed. This will be achieved by a) fostering co-creation of ADSs to ensure they will solve real problems and fit the needs of small farms; and b) lowering the cost for both farmers and ADSs providers, by creating a set of reusable software modules, a number of business and governance models, and identifying public provision of infrastructure that can enable scale-out of ADSs. Using a multi-actor approach, Farmtopia will engage farmers, ADSs providers, and AKIS actors in 18 Sustainable Innovation Pilots (SIPs), focusing on crops and livestock where ADS availability is currently insufficient, as well as on crops of regional importance.
During the first 18 months of the project, Farmtopia carried out the following activities:
-Established and launched 9 SIPs across 7 agricultural sectors in 12 European countries to foster the co-creation, deployment and pilot application of cost-effective ADS tailored to the distinctive needs of small and medium-scale farms.
-Conducted a SoA analysis to define the technical and user requirements for ADSs specifically addressed to smallholders, guiding both the configuration stage in SIPs but also the design and implementation of the Farmtopia reusable software components.
-Developed a suite of reusable software modules based on microservices architecture, including a Digital Field Book, Data/Services Integration Module, Data Exchange Module, Benchmarking Tool, and Early Notification Service, for third-party integration.
-Developed an ADSs sharing platform, based on the “mycumaLink platform” model, to promote the collaborative use of agricultural equipment and digital solutions among farmers, enhancing accessibility to digital solutions in a cost-effective manner.
-Completed the initial co-creation of 9 ADSs through consultation with participating farmers in SIPs and in field customizations. Each ADS is accompanied by a refined business model - co-designed by farmers, tech providers, advisors & cooperatives – to ensure wide accessibility and long-term financial viability.
-Launched the first cycle of piloting activities across the designated SIPs, to assess the real-world application of the configured ADSs, and evaluate their performance against core agricultural KPIs.
-Conducted an extensive analysis of the EU legislative and regulatory landscape to assess the effectiveness of existing instruments in facilitating ADSs adoption, and proposed targeted policy recommendations aligned with CAP priorities to mainstream ADSs considerations into sectoral strategies.
-Delivered the initial version of a “Technology Code of Conduct” that places small farmers’ needs at the center, promoting fairness, ethical data practices, and responsible digitalisation.
-Launched an Open Call to fund 9 additional SIPs for the creation of new smart solutions, receiving 124 applications from over 30 countries.
-Established and launched 9 SIPs across 7 agricultural sectors in 12 European countries to foster the co-creation, deployment and pilot application of cost-effective ADS tailored to the distinctive needs of small and medium-scale farms.
-Conducted a SoA analysis to define the technical and user requirements for ADSs specifically addressed to smallholders, guiding both the configuration stage in SIPs but also the design and implementation of the Farmtopia reusable software components.
-Developed a suite of reusable software modules based on microservices architecture, including a Digital Field Book, Data/Services Integration Module, Data Exchange Module, Benchmarking Tool, and Early Notification Service, for third-party integration.
-Developed an ADSs sharing platform, based on the “mycumaLink platform” model, to promote the collaborative use of agricultural equipment and digital solutions among farmers, enhancing accessibility to digital solutions in a cost-effective manner.
-Completed the initial co-creation of 9 ADSs through consultation with participating farmers in SIPs and in field customizations. Each ADS is accompanied by a refined business model - co-designed by farmers, tech providers, advisors & cooperatives – to ensure wide accessibility and long-term financial viability.
-Launched the first cycle of piloting activities across the designated SIPs, to assess the real-world application of the configured ADSs, and evaluate their performance against core agricultural KPIs.
-Conducted an extensive analysis of the EU legislative and regulatory landscape to assess the effectiveness of existing instruments in facilitating ADSs adoption, and proposed targeted policy recommendations aligned with CAP priorities to mainstream ADSs considerations into sectoral strategies.
-Delivered the initial version of a “Technology Code of Conduct” that places small farmers’ needs at the center, promoting fairness, ethical data practices, and responsible digitalisation.
-Launched an Open Call to fund 9 additional SIPs for the creation of new smart solutions, receiving 124 applications from over 30 countries.
Farmtopia will deliver the following results:
-A network of 18 SIPs engaging >60 commercial farms, 18 tech providers, cooperatives and AKIS actors in the co-creation of ADSs, across >7 agricultural sectors, >15 crop types and livestock in >15 countries.
-18 validated innovative ADSs with associated sustainable business models tailored for small and medium-sized farms.
-5 reusable software components enabling the digitalization of agricultural practices and serving as essential building blocks for ADSs development and integration.
-A digital platform to foster the collaborative use of equipment and digital solutions among farmers within and across cooperatives and producers’ organisations.
-A stakeholder-approved Technology Code of Conduct that complements existing frameworks by extending focus to software and hardware aspects with the aim to address the key barriers to the digitalisation of farming.
-A catalogue with recommended regulatory and policy interventions to create enabling conditions for the widespread adoption of ADSs.
-Guidelines and good practices for the development of digital solutions tailored to smallholders’ needs, based on Farmtopia specifications.
-29 Open Days to showcase ADSs application in practice, facilitate experience sharing and promote innovation uptake and replication.
-64,000 farms gaining access to validated ADSs within the project duration.
-A network of 18 SIPs engaging >60 commercial farms, 18 tech providers, cooperatives and AKIS actors in the co-creation of ADSs, across >7 agricultural sectors, >15 crop types and livestock in >15 countries.
-18 validated innovative ADSs with associated sustainable business models tailored for small and medium-sized farms.
-5 reusable software components enabling the digitalization of agricultural practices and serving as essential building blocks for ADSs development and integration.
-A digital platform to foster the collaborative use of equipment and digital solutions among farmers within and across cooperatives and producers’ organisations.
-A stakeholder-approved Technology Code of Conduct that complements existing frameworks by extending focus to software and hardware aspects with the aim to address the key barriers to the digitalisation of farming.
-A catalogue with recommended regulatory and policy interventions to create enabling conditions for the widespread adoption of ADSs.
-Guidelines and good practices for the development of digital solutions tailored to smallholders’ needs, based on Farmtopia specifications.
-29 Open Days to showcase ADSs application in practice, facilitate experience sharing and promote innovation uptake and replication.
-64,000 farms gaining access to validated ADSs within the project duration.