The Farm Management Tool was developed as an expansion of CornBot, using eHealth Africa’s winnings from the 2018 Fall Armyworm Tech Prize. The tool aims to improve the livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Nigeria and to increase the resilience of communities in Nigeria to food insecurity by increasing the crop yield of target farmers.
countries
Nigeria
funding
Kano State, Nigeria
2018 USAID Fall Armyworm Technology Prize
The Farm Management Tool aggregates and delivers farming information tailored to smallholder farmers to enable them to implement good agricultural practices (GAPs). In partnership with Washington State University, eHealth Africa is working with a cohort of 25 farmers from five local government areas (LGAs) of Kano State— Bunkure, Dawaki Kudu, Doguwa, Karaye, and Takai LGAs—using a three-pathway approach consisting of a mobile application and a web-based dashboard to aggregate data, face to face training sessions and practical hand-holding sessions. Four GAPs were focused on in this study: soil testing, pest management, fertilizer application, and plant spacing. FMT’s theory of change assumes that if farmers understand these new practices and are guided to implement them from pre-planting to post-planting, they can double their crop yield using the same plot of land. The farmers mapped out test portions of their farmland to test the practices. They were then paired with a team of professional agriculturists who supported them from the pre-planting stage to harvest.
Currently, the mobile application and dashboard are being finalized.
eHA's role
Provision of Project management support for the development of the mobile tool and delivery of the field testing exercises.
Provide quality assurance support for the development of the mobile application and dashboard.
Logistics and operational support for the delivery of the tool and field activities.
who benefits
Smallholder farmers in Nigeria
National Agriculture Extension and Research Services (NAERLS)
Students of agriculture and crop production in Nigeria.
Impact
22,500
square meters of farmland were used in this study
260
hours of training and handholding sessions
263%
increase in Maize yield for test plots over the national average