Consultancy, research & partnerships Netherlands and Nigeria

Agri-Logic solution: Farmer field book

Measuring the effects of investments made with large numbers of small-scale farmers is often a challenge. Conventional studies rely on irregular or once-only surveys, which are not always reliable. The Farmer Field Book is a data collection method combined with a software package which allows detailed and reliable estimation of return on investment.

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Farmers
Farmer Field Book came with undreamt-of benefits for me, one of the most significant being the trainings I received. I am now able to accurately record each farming activity I carry out and this has enabled me to know exactly the net profit of my coffee farm. Other farmers of the community now see me as an example, as somebody who knows what she is doing. That is why I am regularly consulted by other farmers. In itself, filling the Farmer Field Book recording forms constitutes a source of motivation because it reminds me of the tasks I have yet to do.
Juliana Bongfen
Coffee farmer in Cameroon

COMPREHENSIVE INSIGHTS AND BENEFITS

Farm productivity and profitability

Measurement of return on investment is achieved by real-time data collection, recording and sophisticated analysis. Reporting functionalities include reports for companies, individual farmers and farmer groups. This provides participating farmers with an opportunity to learn from their peers and improve their farming practices and business skills. This in turn improves data quality because farmers have a stake in providing accurate information.

Environmental footprint

Climate change mitigation and adaptation are increasingly important. The Farmer Field Book contains features to gain insight in the impact of products on the environment, and ways to minimize impact. The tool calculates CO2-equivalent emissions of production and on-farm carbon sequestration, resulting in a net carbon footprint per hectare, farm or unit of product. Calculation of pesticide and water footprints is also possible, and farmers who use banned pesticides can be identified.

Farmer livelihoods and segmentation

Livelihoods are a key topic for sustainability programs implemented by companies and non-profit actors. Understanding that not all farmers and farming households are the same is a starting point for design appropriate support for each type of farmer. The analyses also shed light on social topics such as the gap to a living income, gender pay gap and the risk of the occurrence of child work.

Using the FFB has given our cocoa operation in Ghana better insight into farm and farmer realities on the ground. We expect that with a better understanding of the economic and agronomic situation we can design and target our farmer support programmes to yield better returns for both ourselves and our suppliers.
Jason Green
Head of cocoa sustainability at ECOM Agroindustrial Corp

easy implementation through sampling and offline data collection

Easy offline data collection

Data-driven and fact-based

Adaptable to crops, countries and languages

Customizable to company or partner requirements

Confidential and secure

Case studies Farmer Field Book

Farmer Field Book implementation Ghana

Sustainable Management Services Ghana (part of Ecom group), a number of its chocolate manufacturing clients and IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative run a large scale sustainability programme in Ghana targeting tens of thousands of cocoa farmers. The programme aims to improve their productivity, profitability and in turn enhance farmer loyalty. All parties expressed a need […]

Farmer Field Book on smallholder cocoa farming Côte d’Ivoire for three large cocoa traders

Three Farmer Field Book projects on cocoa farming are ongoing in Côte d’Ivoire in collaboration with three large trade houses. A total of 1,075 cocoa farmers participate in these programs. They record data on their daily farming activities. The gathered data provide insight in the farmers’ farming practices, their cocoa production and productivity as well […]

Farmer Field Book on coffee farming in Honduras for Olam Honduras

In collaboration with Olam Honduras 2019 has seen the start of a new Farmer Field Book project in Latin America. In Honduras, Arabica coffee is grown. However, productivity of coffee farmers in the department of Santa Bárbara is among the lowest in the country. To gain more insight in how farmer productivity can be improved, […]

Agri-Logic Farmer Field Book brochure

Contact Agri-Logic to find out more about the benefits and possibilities of the Farmer Field Book for your organisation.