Soutenance de thèse Gilbert Mushi

Sustainable agriculture among smallholder farmers has the potential to ensure food security and alleviate extreme poverty in a rapidly growing population and in the face of global climate change. Additionally, smallholder farmers contribute 70% of the world's food and employ more than one billion people, the majority of whom live in rural and semi-urban areas. However, this group of farmers faces various challenges in adopting sustainable agriculture. We conducted a literature review and a survey of key agricultural stakeholders in Tanzania to identify common challenges of smallholder farmers. It was revealed that smallholder farmers lack access to essential services, including subsidies, credit, insurance, government services, markets, and farming information.

In this thesis, we aim to design and implement a digital framework for smallholder farmers to access all essential services (subsidies, credit, insurance, government services, market, warehouse services, logistics services, quality farm inputs, and farming information) under one roof. Indeed, digital technology can play a significant role in digitizing the agricultural value chains (AVCs) of small-scale farmers in countries of the Global South. The use of advanced digital technologies in agriculture, including artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, robotics, and big data, has enabled sustainable farming through increased production and income, as well as enhanced environmental conservation. However, these technologies are not accessible to smallholder farmers (the majority of whom reside in countries in the global South) as they require high investment capital, expertise, and well-established infrastructure. Although various digital services are available for smallholder farmers, the existing services often lack sustainability in the agricultural context and fail to meet their needs.

We employed the Design Science Research (DSR) method to design and implement a digital platform that brings together all key agricultural stakeholders, enabling farmers to access all essential services throughout the complete farming cycle. Moreover, we conducted a literature review using the PRISMA guidelines to establish the state-of-the-art technology in agriculture and the use of ICT-based services by smallholder farmers in Tanzania. A survey method was employed as part of the DSR to collect stakeholders’ opinions on the proposed digital artifact solution. The study follows the theories of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), which posits that technological advancements should have a positive impact on people’s lives by developing solutions that work well within the local context, rather than simply copying and pasting technology from other contexts, such as from developed to developing countries.

As a research contribution, we identified common challenges of smallholder farmers, designed and implemented a Farmers' Digital Information System (FDIS) that integrates services from different stakeholders, including farmers, agro-dealers, warehouses, logistics companies, subsidies, advisory services, market, credit, insurance, and government(permit) services.  We expect our findings will help governments, the private sector, and policymakers to adopt and implement FDIS. This will make the agriculture sector more dynamic and help smallholder farmers participate in sustainable agriculture.