6
Clinic participation exhibitions and one permanent clinic
Agriculture
Egypt
Mobile Agricultural Clinic
The agricultural sector in Egypt is dominated by 5 million smallholders who own less than one feddan (0.42 ha) of land. These farmers live in remote regions with little access to technology, know-how and services. BASF’s Mobile Agricultural Clinic helps these farmers to make vital agricultural decisions by providing access to information and technology.
Why
Agricultural transformation in Africa is often hindered by the region’s fragmented infrastructure. Lack of access to agricultural technology limits farm productivity in Egypt. In addition, counterfeit and other illegal crop protection products have become a serious threat for agricultural development. To contribute to overcoming these challenges, BASF established the Mobile Agricultural Clinic to serve, support and educate smallholder farmers in remote regions of Egypt.
How
We are working to transfer knowledge and technology and promote sustainable agriculture. Training in good agricultural practices contributes to food security, improves farm income and the farmer’s standard of living.
Clinics in Egypt focus on potatoes, tomatoes and grapes. PPE kits are handed out with every order through partnering retailers; seminars are run by CropLife Egypt. Additionally, the visits can be organized in partnership with local retailers, farmer cooperatives, larger distributors or even NGOs (such as BlueMoon). In 2022, BASF partnered with Yara to expand its services to include fertilizers.
The Mobile Agricultural Clinic travels from location to location: Farmers can talk to BASF technical experts who help diagnose plant diseases, test water pH and explain how to use crop protection products to protect their crops and increase yields. The farmers receive specific pictorial product recommendations. This helps illiterate farmers to avoid potentially unsafe counterfeit products. On clinic days, CropLife Egypt also offers courses on responsible use of crop protection products, spray services, container management and how to detect and avoid counterfeit products. Safety awareness for farmers and their families and providing personal protective equipment is central to all activities.
In Egypt, a new clinic format has started in 2022 with a “mobile car” with more stops to reach even more farmers.
Result
120
Mobile clinic stops
1,700
PPE-kits delivered
12
Areas visited
5,000
Farmers reached
SDGs
Helping farmers increase productivity and yield, contributing to food security and improving their standard of living.
We never compromise on safety for healthy lives and sustainable farming. We train farmers on product stewardship and safety awareness, promoting the use of Personal Protective Equipment.
Training and advice on Good Agricultural Practices.
We increase the project’s positive impact by establishing a successful partnership with different stakeholders who share our vision and goals for the project. BASF is partnering with Blue Moon and CropLife Egypt and working with Egyptian farmers’ organizations and NGOs.
Ardena - A digital solution for Egyptian farmers
Agriculture accounts for one-third of all jobs in Egypt, with up to 80% of the country’s arable land being cultivated by small-scale farmers. Small-scale farmers often make field decisions on the basis of generic recommendations or historical information rather than scientific data. The cornerstone of the Ardena project is to adapt precision farming technology to deliver farming-related information via mobile phones to smallholder farmers in Egypt, in order to help them make sound decisions specific to their fields.
Why
Small-scale farmers face daily challenges often due to a lack of know-how about optimal cultivation practices, management of plant disease and pests as well as insufficient equipment. It is also often difficult for these farmers to assess the right time to apply crop protection product, which in many cases leads to overuse or underuse of crop protection inputs. To address these issues, BASF is adapting precision farming technology with an Early Disease Warning System (EDWS).
How
The EDWS utilizes a dynamic disease model based on ground truth data as well as weather and satellite data. The system provides up to 7 days of disease risks for tomato crop. Farmers and retailers will be able to sign up to receive tailored, disease-specific risks (extracted from EDWS) and actionable advice. These messages will be sent to farmers whose crops are at risk of disease via text messages, interactive voice response and Whapsapp. Retailers will receive a similar message, enabling them to stock the necessary products and prepare to engage with farmers.
The success behind Ardena lies in helping smallholder farmers become more resilient with the access to critical, timely information directly on their mobile phones. Ardena includes product stewardship messages that support farmers make a better life for themselves by educating and training them to implement good agricultural practices which will directly and indirectly impact their life for a better future. Moreover, digital innovation can create employment for young people in the agricultural sector by making farming more attractive, promote inclusiveness and enhance food security.
Result
41,000 ha
covered
7,800
Farmers involved
39,000
sms notifications to farmers
1,800
Retailers involved
6,000
WhatsApp notifications to retailers
SDGs
Increased agricultural productivity improves the livelihood of small-scale farmers and their families in rural Egypt
We support smallholder farmers in rural areas to grow more quality food and increase their incomes by providing them with trainings and technical advice
We never compromise on safety for healthy lives and sustainable farming. We provide safety awareness, product stewardship trainings and promote the use of PPE kit
BASF works closely with local organizations who engage with small-scale farmers; small-scale farmers from these groups can also sign up for the disease alert service as well as general farming information
