written by Lindsay Ferris
Agricultural data, from soil and weather information to market prices and product yield, touches upon many actors throughout the processes of collection, storage, sharing, analysis and re-use. However, if this data is to benefit those people whose livelihood is closely tied to agriculture – such as smallholder farmers, pastoralists or traditional communities – it must be collected, used and communicated in a way that is accessible to them. It also needs to consider the risks that these processes pose to all actors in the agriculture sector.
Over the last few months, we’ve been working with GODAN to map the responsible data challenges associated with the agriculture sector with an emphasis on understanding how populations with the least power stand to benefit or be harmed by these processes. By speaking to people from a range of perspectives, we aim to identify practical solutions to combat these challenges. In order to see how all the roles within the agricultural data ecosystem overlap, we believe it is vital to get the perspective of all stakeholders throughout our research — even the most hard to reach actors.
Therefore, we’re calling upon the community to better understand every role within it: does your organisation work with agricultural data? If so, we’d love to talk to you about your experience in this sector for a quick (30-40 minute) chat.
Most notably, we’d like to hear from:
- Farmers, both smallholder and large-scale
- Agricultural ministries
- Service providers
- Research institutions
- NGOs
By including a wide range of perspectives, we hope to produce resources that can be helpful to the field widely. If you’re available to speak on these issues, please contact research@theengineroom.org. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!