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Agricultural Data Analytics: Knowledge and decision support

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Experts from the Reading Cocoa Group share knowledge and insights with smallholder cacao producers in Colombia

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Cacao beans. Photo Credit, FEDECACAO

By Deborah Foy, Agricompas

The Reading Cocoa Group is a globally important centre for cocoa research and a leading force behind the development of more sustainable cocoa farming practices. Led by Professor Paul Hadley, the Reading Cocoa Group focusses on quantifying yield-determining processes in cocoa, particularly in the context of climate change. A key focus is higher productivity and greater resilience to unfavourable climatic conditions.

In December 2019, Professor Paul Hadley and colleagues joined a field trip to Colombia. They participated in high-level discussions with Agrosavia around the impact of climate change on cacao production and travelled to Rionegro in Santander to meet farmers and partners participating in the ‘Digitisation of Cacao’ project.

Led by Agricompas, ‘Digitisation of Cacao’ is funded by the Prosperity Fund’s AgriTech Catalyst. The project aims to use digital technologies to boost Colombia’s huge potential to become a major global cocoa producer. The University of Reading is a key partner in this innovative, multi-stakeholder partnership. Over a period of 18 months, the University will bring its international expertise in crop modelling to improve the sustainability of the cocoa sector in Colombia.

Professor Handley (right) visiting a cocoa field trial site in Rionegro, Santander together with Agricompas CEO Roelof Kramer (left)

Professor Hadley comments: “Cacao farmers in Colombia are hampered by a lack of scientific knowledge and analysis on the crop at farm level. The platform being developed by the project partners will allow for the storage, monitoring and analysis of various climatic and soil factors – all of which have the capacity to influence the optimal growth and production of cacao. Combined with further advances in machine modelling and artificial intelligence, this will enable farmers to optimise cocoa production, enhancing their commercial viability.”

Professor Hadley continues, “It’s exciting to see the potential that is realised when you harness the power of data. But in tropical environments such as the ones I visited on my trip to Colombia, collecting accurate data is not without its challenges. We’re working alongside other partners in the consortium – and applying the latest in digital technologies – to see how best we can respond to this challenge and translate data into knowledge and insight.

Successful installation of low-cost wireless sensor networks in Santander and Valle de Cauca

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Dr Saket Srivastav (right) and Dr Edmond Nurellari (left) install wireless sensor nodes in cacao fields in Rio Negro, Santander.

By Deborah Foy, Agricompas

In December 2019, Dr Saket Srivastav and Dr Edmond Nurellari of the University of Lincoln successfully installed wireless sensor networks in cacao fields across target field sites in Santander and Valle de Cauca, Colombia. This represented a key milestone for the development of a digitally enabled decision support tool for cacao production in Colombia.

According to Dr Nurellari, “The Internet of Things for agriculture is a rapidly emerging technology. Data collected from in-situ sensors makes it possible to monitor and control crop parameters to improve both the quantity and quality of yields. Each individual sensor node will make an estimate of a quantity, such as local temperature, humidity, soil moisture and radiation. The sensor nodes then send the data to a cloud server, allowing for online real-time predictive analytics.”

According to Roelof Kramer, CEO of Agricompas, data collected through remote sensing will ultimately enable cocoa farmers to increase efficiency on their land.

“Agricompas is thrilled to be partnering with the University of Lincoln in the Prosperity Fund’s Agri-Tech Catalyst programme. One of our goals is to deploy emerging digital technologies in Colombia in a way that can act as an impetus to smallholder cocoa bean farmers. These technologies will provide knowledge and information without the need for expensive onsite instrument and data specialists.” The team from the University of Lincoln first installed the wireless sensor nodes in Tuluá, in the Valle de Cauca region of Colombia. Valle de Cauca is home to what is the earliest known cacao plantation in Colombia, dating 1622. The team then headed to install the equipment in Rio Negro, Santander.

Installing the equipment in tropical environments is challenging

Deploying new technologies such as a low-cost Internet of Things and wireless sensors networks will empower cocoa farmers across Colombia to identify trouble spots much quicker and far more accurately. It will also enable them to respond to changing climate conditions to maximise crop yield and quality.

What is the Colombian Prosperity Fund? The Prosperity Fund aims to support economic development, unlock economic opportunities and lead growth in Colombia’s regions. It is targeting to benefit more than 3 million people, with a focus on women and girls in Colombia’s poorest regions. These include the departments of Antioquia, Atlántico, Caldas, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Meta, Santander and Valle del Cauca. One of the core instruments of the Prosperity Fund is the Agri-Tech Catalyst Challenge Fund, which aims to increase productivity and incomes for Colombia’s smallholders and agricultural MSEs through adoption of Agri-innovations and technologies from the UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/colombia-prosperity-programme

Love in the time of climate change

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By Deborah Foy, Agricompas

Chocolate is a magical food. In Colombia, according to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, priests “levitate by means of chocolate”. Chocolate boosts our endorphins, which makes us feel good, and is packed with antioxidants. It has also long been considered an aphrodisiac and a symbol of affection, attraction and deep love. It’s perhaps no surprise therefore that chocolate is one of the most popular gifts for Valentine’s Day.

But we may be facing a future without chocolate. Climate change and environmental pressures are already creating tensions along the global cacao supply chain. It’s thought that nearly 90% of areas that currently grow cocoa will be less suitable to do so by 2050. Cacao trees love high temperatures and they need plenty of rain, which is why they thrive close to the equator in countries such as the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Over the next several decades, these countries may grow warmer, drier, and less suitable to cacao cultivation.

In Colombia, cacao is a native crop and one that has played a key part in the country’s history and culture. The crop also has a vital role in Colombia’s post-conflict development, creating jobs in remote areas that for decades were beset by conflict. Today, cacao is grown by an estimated 100,000 smallholders across the country, typically on plots of 5 hectares or less.

Agricompas is working with partners in Colombia to find ways to help these cacao growers adapt to changing climatic conditions and to develop more sustainable practices. Whilst our goal is to enable the entire value chain to grow in a sustainable fashion, we know that the cocoa growing communities themselves that are a core part of the solution. Sustainable cocoa supply begins with empowered cocoa growers. That’s why we’re focusing on the prosperity of farmers. We want to help them to improve productivity and yields today, as well as plan for the changing conditions of the future.

Building the resilience of cacao is important not only to keep chocolate on the supermarket shelves for Valentine’s Day, but to maintain the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Empowering Smallholder Cacao Farmers in Colombia

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Photo Credit: FEDECACAO

By Deborah Foy

Colombia is a paradise of biodiversity, with more species of birds than anywhere else on earth.

It is also home to some of the world’s finest chocolate. Around 95% of Colombia’s cacao exports are classed as ‘Fine Flavour’ by the International Cacao Organisation.

In 2018, Colombia produced over 56,000 tons of cacao beans, ranking it the world’s 10th largest producer. But cacao is not just important for the economy. It’s also increasingly viewed as a vital ‘Peace Crop’. By offering a viable alternative for generating income among small-scale producers, it could play an instrumental role in Colombia’s efforts to transition to peace after decades of internal conflict.

However, despite its promise, the cacao sector is massively underdeveloped. Very low levels of technology and investment mean that it’s falling far short of its potential. Yields per hectare have barely changed over the past 50 years.

A new research initiative, “Digitisation of cacao in Colombia”, is aiming to change this. By combining ‘Internet of Thing’ technologies with the latest in artificial intelligence and machine learning, the initiative aims to develop a data analytics platform that will improve the sustainability of cacao across the country and improve the livelihoods of thousands of smallholder cacao farmers.

Funded by the UK Government’s Agri-Tech Catalyst Fund, partners in the Agricompas-led “Digitisation of Cacao in Colombia” consortium include the Universities of Lincoln and Reading, farm extension specialist Solidaridad and the cacao association of Colombia, Fedecacao.

Together, the five partner organisations are creating digitally enabled decision support tools that will equip cacao farmers with more information and better insights. Better decision-making as a result will lead to improvements in productivity, yields and incomes. For example, climate change is bringing more extreme weather conditions to Colombia, leaving smallholder farmers vulnerable to unpredictable seasons. Digital tools will help these farmers to respond to new weather patterns – by knowing when to add pesticides and fertilisers, for example, or by identifying when efforts are needed to boost irrigation.

“Digitisation of Cacao” will also benefit actors across the entire cacao value chain – from insurance companies and agricultural credit institutions, to processors, buyers and chocolate manufacturers.  The availability of near real time, affordable and accurate crop production knowledge will allow for the development of decision support modules that will offer sustainable solutions to some of the major challenges they face, such as risk-pricing.

Technicians from partner organisation FEDECACAO and local smallholder farmers learn how to use the new low-cost weather stations installed in October 2019

In October 2019, an important milestone in the initiative was passed, with the project team successfully installing low-cost weather stations in both the trial sites. Carefully placed in optimal locations in the two departments of Valle de Cauca and Santander, the weather stations will collect data on variables such as air temperature, soil temperature, air humidity, sunlight and precipitation.

Roelof Kramer, CEO of Agricompas, checks the low-cost weather station installed in one of the cocoa field trial sites

Roelof Kramer, CEO of Agricompas, comments, “This is an exciting development. Increasing smallholders’ capacity and crop production efficiency via digitisation really has a great potential to help Colombian cacao growers to exploit a growing global market for cacao”.