RiceAdvice
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RiceAdvice is a free Android app designed to improve rice farmers' yields and income by providing personalized agricultural advice. The app supports farmers in setting yield targets based on local conditions and market prices, offering recommendations on crop management practices. With training for service providers, RiceAdvice has seen substantial adoption and positive impact, including yield gains and increased income for farmers in several African countries.
RiceAdvice
- 1. a free app for AndroidTM that helps to improve rice farmers’ yield and income through providing personalized advice on rice management practices
- 2. Using RiceAdvice Step 2: Fill in farmers’ personal condition rice growing condition, typical practices, expected sowing date, fertilizer availability and market price Step 3: Set yield targets based on available budget or desired production level Step 4: Get a personalized advice including a crop calendar, fertilizer plan, recommended rice variety and other good agricultural practices Step 1: Download RiceAdvice from Google Play on smartphone or tablet
- 3. Key feature •Off-line •Pre-season recommendation •Fertilizer choice optimization •Set yield targets •Monitoring tool
- 4. 2017-: Dissemination together with scaling partners 2011-2013: “Nutrient manager” validation in Senegal with IRRI (Saito et al. 2015) 2013-2014: RiceAdvice developed by AfricaRice 2014- : RiceAdvice validation through Africa-wide Rice Agronomy Task Force and with scaling partners 2016: RiceAdvice large-scale dissemination in Mali & Nigeria Ex-ant impact assessment Assessment of constraints & opportunity for out- & up-scaling RiceAdvice bio
- 5. RiceAdvice is available in: (update in April 2017)
- 6. Progress towards impact >1,500 installs >1,000 service providers trained
- 8. Benefit from use of RiceAdvice It also improve farmers’ knowledge of good agricultural practices Yield gains of 0.6 up to 1.8 t/ha Income gains of $100 up to $250 per ha
- 9. Impact assessment study in Kano Treatment Sample size Yield (t/ha) RiceAdvice with input credit 99 4.3 RiceAdvice without input 280 4.2 Control 322 3.7 Farmers who followed RiceAdvice generally used more urea and less NPK compound fertilizer. About 80% of the farmers attributed three main advantages to RiceAdvice: increased yield, increased income and reduced use of fertilizer. Willingness to pay for service: 4-5 USD/advice.
- 10. Limited number of extension staff https://businesstech.co.za/news/mobile/49343/south-africans-spend-more-on- mobile-report/ Smartphone penetration in SSA Major challenges for impact Use of service providers • Public extension service • Private value chain actors (millers, input dealers, seed producers, machinery service, farmer association) • Youth Outscaling models
- 11. For private sector, potentially outscaling models combining with: • Threshing service (started in Kano; during harvesting time, farmers can pay for service in kind or cash) • Land preparation service (piloting with HelloTractor in Jigawa in 2018) • Seed business • Fertilizer dealers/local agents in fertilizer company • Youth in farmers association • Private extension officer from rice mills (e.g. OLAM) • Contractual arrangement of other value chain actors
- 12. Training to service providers by AfricaRice and NARIs staff Service providers provide with recommendations using RiceAdvice to farmers (at least 100 farmers per service provider) Public extension service can provide backstopping to service providers (e.g. youth) Farmers receive recommendation and follow it for getting high yield and profitability Impact pathway Example: annual budget 300K USD 100 service providers trained 100 service providers give recommendation to 10,000 farmers Additional 2,500 tons paddy produced (assuming 0.5 ha/farmer and 0.5 t/ha yield increase) Cost:benefit rate: 1.7 (considering paddy increase only; 200USD/1 ton paddy)
- 13. Country (site) Partners and their roles Burkina Faso (Banzon in Hauts bassins, Cascades- Karfiguela, others*) CARI/Green Innovation Center/FAO: contributes to identification of service providers, organizing training workshops, and supporting RiceAdvice dissemination by service providers to farmers INERA: providing technical backstopping for use and dissemination of RiceAdvice Service providers (public extension, youth): generates RiceAdvice recommendation to farmers Ghana (Afife & pong, others*) Ministry of Agriculture: identification of service providers, organizing training workshops, and supporting RiceAdvice dissemination by service providers to farmers CRI/SARI: providing technical backstopping for use and dissemination of RiceAdvice Service providers (youth, machinery service providers): generates RiceAdvice recommendation to farmers Mali (Niono, others*) Syngenta foundation/FAO: contributes to identification of service providers, organizing training workshops, and supporting RiceAdvice dissemination by service providers to farmers IER & Office du Niger: providing technical backstopping for use and dissemination of RiceAdvice Service providers (youth, machinery service providers): generates RiceAdvice recommendation to farmers Nigeria (Lafia, Kano, others*) CARI/Green Innovation Center/FAO: contributes to identification of service providers, organizing training workshops, and supporting RiceAdvice dissemination by service providers to farmers ABU/NCRI: training in use of RiceAdvice to service providers Service providers (input dealer, youth, machinery service providers, seed producer, public extension): generates RiceAdvice recommendation to farmers Senegal (St Louis) Syngenta foundation: contributes to identification of service providers, organizing training workshops, and supporting RiceAdvice dissemination by service providers to farmers ISRA/SAED: providing technical backstopping for use and dissemination of RiceAdvice Service providers (youth, machinery service providers): generates RiceAdvice recommendation to farmers * Other sites can be included based on demand by partners
- 14. Thank you very much! For more info on RiceAdvice, please visit • RiceAdvice website (https://www.riceadvice.info/en/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RiceAdvice/) • Google play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cocapacity.rice) • Slideshare (https://www.slideshare.net/RiceAdvice/presentations) Or email to Kazuki Saito (k.saito@cigar.org)