digitalGREEN

Agriculture in India 600M agriculture-dependent lives Majority small landholders (<3 acres) <$2 a day ($750 a year) Growing debts ($300 per year per farmer) Earlier technology intervention… –Green revolution had mixed results Increased yields, but… Led to rising input costs, declining soil fertility Due to excessive use of fertilizers/pesticides Indiscriminate use of technology partially responsible for current agrarian crisis A farmer from Yellachavadi village, outside of Bangalore 2

Agricultural Systems? Low literacy in local lang No bank account Expensive credit No unique ID Poor roads Credit card Computing device and connectivity not enough! farmer expert Quantity buyers Poor quality control Market

44 Agriculture Extension Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers Training & Visit extension popularized by the World Bank in 1970s –Face-to-face interactions of extension officers and farmers 100,000 extension officers in India –Extension agent-to-farmer ratio is 1: 2,000 –610,000 villages in India with average 1,000-person population Typical extension officer salary is Rs. 4,000 per month Extension officer commuting between farms

IT & Indian Agriculture Kiosks with Internet access for farmers aAqua –Pull-based Question and Answer Krithi Ramamritham, IIT Mumbai eSagu –Push-based Expert Review of Digital Photos Krishna Reddy, IIIT Hyderabad

6 ? ? Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005) Agricultural Social Networks 6

77 How can the speed and effectiveness of agriculture extension be improved at a reasonable cost? The Problem Extension officer on-field demonstration

88 Video provides… –Resource-savings: human, cost, time –Accessibility for non-literate farmers Digital Video for Extension

9 Six months in field trying various combinations Over 200 days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative design Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination, Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc. Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination, Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc. 9 Early Experimentation Parameters Varied Early Experimentation

10 Participatory Content Production 10 Digital Green System Introduction to innovations –Standard extension procedure Rough storyboarding –Repetitive pattern; easy to learn –Minimize post-production Local farmers on their own fields –Reduce perception of teachers –Promote local stars

11 Digital Green System Video Database Online video database ( >500 videos of 8-10 minutes each Quality-control, minor video editing, and metadata tagging Indexed by type, topic, locale, season, crop, etc. Distributed via DVD

12 Digital Green System Mediated Instruction Local mediator –Performance-based honorarium Human engagement –Field questions, capture feedback, encourage participation –Balance genders On-demand screenings –Choice time and place –Not stand-alone kiosk Support and monitoring –Daily metrics and feedback –Official extension staff

13 Digital Green System Structured Sequencing Group Participation Practices with longer-term visible rewards Practices with short-term visible rewards Community Assessment Audience Awareness Season Location Time

14 Digital Green System 1.Participatory content production 2.Video database 3.Mediated instruction 4.Structured sequencing

15 21 villages in Karnataka: –Language: Kannada –Crops: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut –Population: households –Irrigation: households with access –Television: households Metrics: –Knowledge: Before-and-after –Attendance: Farmers at each screening –Interest: Intent to take-up a practice –Adoption: Number of households taking up each new farming practice or technology 15 Experimental Set-Up Preliminary Evaluation Expert Extension Officer Farming Community Research Assistant Local Mediator Poster Green(3) Same as Digital Green with local mediator, but no TV/DVD Mediator makes posters and holds regular group sessions Classical GREEN (8) Same as usual Digital Green (9) 3 sessions per week Cost: Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD per village PC / camera costs shared Extension officer shared Mediator salary Accountability: Daily metrics and feedback Official extension staff 15-month study Audio Green (1) Same as Poster Green with MP3 audio tracks from videos

16 7 times more adoptions over classical extension months: 13 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars Sustained local presence Mediation Repetition (and novelty) Integration into existing extension operations Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer Desire to be on TV Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos Digital Green: Early Results

17 System Cost (USD) /Village/Year Adoption (%) /Village/Year Cost/Adoption (USD) Classical GREEN$84011%$38.18 Digital Green$63085%$3.70 Poster Green$49059%$4.15 Cost-Benefit 17 Note: Decreasing amortized cost of hardware with time and scale Digital Green is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than classical extension!

Network Effect Viral Web 2.0 in the Web-less world - Content ecosystem: education, entrepreneurship, entertainment - Cost-realistic access: pico projectors, TVs, DVD players, and camcorders Reinforce existing social networks to diffuse innovations through communities Local idol competitions to be a better farmer Digital Green System 19

23 Platform Digital Green System 23 Cloud-based central database Synchronized with local databases Cloud-based central database Synchronized with local databases OnlineOffline (no/low connectivity) Browser-based input Data stored in local database Synchronized when connectivity available Browser-based input Data stored in local database Synchronized when connectivity available

COCO Digital Green System

25 Platform Robust system to share, track, and analyse data to manage operations and target interventions over time Analytics dashboard built on top of a simple yet robust data entry system that can toggle between online and offline connectivity modes Digital Green System 25 Offline mode 10x faster than online 100,000 simultaneous offline users

Analytics Digital Green System analytics.digitalgreen.org

Non-Non-Profit Digital Green Digital Greens value to farmers is established. Could DG be supported by ads? Advertisers get access to a distributed, captive audience with demonstrated interest in better agriculture. Ads follow Digital Greens distribution channels. To do: –Scale Digital Green –Devise mechanism for ensuring appropriate ads –Quantify ad effectiveness –Quantify ad value to advertisers Digital Green DVD title screen Subsidize agriculture extension with ads?

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Over three years, improve the cost-effectiveness of the existing people-based extension systems of our partners by a factor of 3-times, per dollar spent, to improve the livelihoods of 60,000 smallholder farmers in 1,200 villages in India. Digital Green

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