Agricultural Social Networks
Technology and Innovation for Social Good and Inclusivity, 13 April 2024 |
Palace Hotel Kisii, 4550-40200 Kisii-Kisumu Rd, Kisii Town
Through research seminars and workshops on digital literacy programs targeting youth and women, held on March 15th and April 18th 2024. The establishment of ASNs has facilitated knowledge sharing and capacity building. Farmers now have access to a vast repository of information, best practices, and expert advice, which has improved their skills and competencies.
Dr Tombe with a group of students from universities and a high school across the western Kenya region during a workshop on Embracing Technology for social good and inclusivity. April 2024 at the Palace Hotel Kisii County, Kenya.
A group of university students attending a workshop on Digital Systems innovations, Technology and Inclusivity in April 2024. At the Palace-Hotel Kisii County, Kenya.
About ASN
Digitalization is revolutionizing agriculture by integrating technology and society through Society 5.0, promoting sustainable and resilient practices. Agricultural Social Networks (ASNs) play a vital role in this transformation, enhancing social-ecological adaptability and resilience in food systems. Despite challenges such as limited infrastructure and inadequate skills, especially in Kenya, Digital applications installed in smartphones and laptops utilize big data and IoT technology, making it possible to collect and analyse vast amounts of agricultural data. As evident in our prototype designed for this project, a digital platform supports collaborations among ASNs, thereby enhancing decision-making based on facts by combining data mining techniques with expert knowledge, offering significant benefits to small-scale farmers who often face diverse climatic conditions and field-specific challenges. ASNs foster innovation, collaboration, and boundary-spanning within cyberspace-physical systems, enabling the diffusion of innovation and enhancing collaboration and information sharing (read here). These networks help small-scale farmers and indigenous communities connect, access valuable knowledge, and improve their agricultural practices, leading to sustainable agricultural value chain services. Thus, digitalization and ASNs together will drive the sustainable transformation of agriculture, benefiting small-scale holders and indigenous communities by improving efficiency, productivity, and resilience. This project research developed an “Enterprise Architecture” for implementing digital services, including yield predictions, farm management, pest control and management (read here).
