Platform for Helping small and medium farmers to Incorporate digital Technology for equal Opportunities

Project Information

PHITO

Grant agreement ID: 101084332

DOI

10.3030/101084332

EC signature date 19 June 2023

Start date 1 September 2023

End date 31 August 2028

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 5 025 142,50

EU contribution

€ 4 542 116,25

Coordinated by

WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PHITO (Platform for Helping small and medium farmers to Incorporate digital Technology for equal Opportunities)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The role of ongoing technological innovations in agricultural decision-making is reshaping the horizon of agriculture to such an extent that it is considered the Fourth Agricultural revolution. Key technologies behind this new paradigm are recent advances in earth observation, real-time processing and storage of big (geo-spatial) data, and the digital connectivity of individuals. Large farmers are taking up the opportunities offered by this data revolution, while SMFs lag behind, leading to a growing digital divide.
In previous work by the project partners, SMFs have expressed several obstacles for the adoption of digital data in farming. PHITO envisions to overcome this digital divide and empower SMFs to engage in “digital farming” by turning the following four challenges into opportunities.


Challenge 1: Affordability of digital farming solutions.

Challenge 2: Access to digital data.

Challenge 3: Awareness of digital opportunities.

Challenge 4: Continuity: a long-term viable solution.

In view of the challenges outlines above, PHITO has set itself the following objectives:
1. Offering a diverse range of global geo-data translated into concrete local information in support of small farm systems, by:
a. Establishing a first-ever global open-access platform based on public geo-data harvesting, providing a one-stop app to favour awareness of digital data among SMFs
b. Synthesising data into hands-on farming advice tailored to the needs and capacities of SMFs, favouring accessibility of digital technologies among SMFs
c. Offering free basic app features to SMFs, allowed by a frugal innovation approach and a viable long-term business model, favouring affordability as well as long-term continuity of services to SMFs
2. Strengthening SMFs and local agri-communities of diverse food systems in the EU and beyond, by:
a. Co-creating (building, developing, testing, evaluating) the app alongside farmers and farmer representatives from 8 diverse food systems globally, applying a multi-actor approach
b. Improving the economic and environmental performance of local food systems, by offering local business cases and transitional pathways for sustainable yield optimisation and waste minimisation
c. Offering equal opportunities for marginalised groups (e.g. women, youth, indigenous), by creating an inclusive app

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Following are the project’s main achievements as the 18-month mark:

User-needs assessment
· A user-centred design approach was developed and adopted, which has been guiding the PHITO platform development through subsequent scrum sprints of co-creation with end-users, in adherence to the Principles of Digital Development.
· Needs of PHITO end-users were assessed through questionnaires and focus group discussions among 700 farmers across 8 food systems

Global geo-data harvesting
· Risks and environmental challenges to the food systems were identified through an extensive literature review. This involved a risk-ranking analysis, considering factors like impact on farmers, extent of potential damage, and frequency of adverse events; and a guide of the most relevant geodata-based indices for the food systems. This provides the PHITO platform with the capacity to help SMFs to address risks.
· A comprehensive, open-source global geo-database was developed, drawing on more than 100 sources and covering climate, hydrology, soil, land use, and agricultural resources. This database will form the basis for data and data-driven advisory offered by the PHITO platform to users.
· A set of guidelines was produced for each food system, which include a list of the most applicable geodata sources and datasets, the most appropriate indices, and a preliminary set of best practices to improve the system’s sustainability (Deliverable 3.1). This will guide platform design and the choice of functionalities offered. For example, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was selected as appropriate for inclusion in the ‘Roots’ beta version of the platform. Additional indices and data sources have been identified for inclusion in subsequent rounds of development.

App design and development
• A beta version of the PHITO platform was developed at the end of 2024. Available in English, Albanian, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian and Papiamentu, the beta was tested by 250 farmers across the 8 food systems in early 2025. The beta’s functionalities are based on the user needs assessment, and draw on the work around global geo-data harvesting described above

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PHITO is set to contribute to four key positive impacts which the Horizon Europe topic ‘Smart solutions for the use of digital technologies for small- and medium-sized farms and farm structures’ aims to have on Small and Medium Farmers:

1. Innovative solutions for the use of digital technologies (fostering soft- and hardware) tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized farms and farm structures, including crop- and livestock production

2. Increased uptake of innovative digital technologies by farmers

3. Contribution to avoiding an increased digital divide between small and large farms

4. Increase in the environmental and economic performance of small and medium-sized farms in the EU and associate countries

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