Integrated Farming and Extension Network (IFEN)

CUSTOM AGRICULTURE CHALLENGE; GHANA

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PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A mobile-accessible platform containing pre-developed video and audio content meant to teach farmers the most relevant practices to increase farm yields and incomes.

Learn more about the Custom Agriculture Challenge and why distributing proven agricultural interventions can greatly improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The ratio of farmers to extension agents in Ghana is estimated to be 5000:1; as opposed to the World Bank-recommended ratio of 500:1. Simply put, there aren’t enough agents to distribute extension services to the large number of farmers in need of the service. Mainly because training of new extension agents takes about 2/3 years of school training and another year of field mentoring, which comes with significant costs for both trainees and the government.

IFEN will be a mobile-accessible platform containing pre-developed video and audio content meant to teach farmers the most relevant practices to increase farm yields and incomes. Instead of relying on public extension officers to visit communities to deliver extension services, IFEN’s distribution model proposes the use of community-based members relying on the IFEN platform (accessible offline) to facilitate the same service to farmers within their respective communities.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

  • Facilitate iimproved access to reliable extension for 2,500 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

  • Provide technical training on use of smartphones and new technologies for 350 farmers by the end of year 1



FOUNDING TEAM

Xorla Adzoyi - Project Lead

Yuan-Ting Meng - Project Associate

Mohammed Shaibu - Field & Data Application Manager