Case study: Farmcredibly Jamaica

Farmcredibly is an Agri-tech solution provider in Jamaica that leverages blockchain technology to enable rural farmers to build profiles that are later used to create lucrative relationships between farmers and lenders like Banks, Agri-processing entities, and farm produce dealers.

With less than five (5) per cent of formal loan portfolios in the Caribbean going to agriculture and a lot of land being held collectively by families, most smallholder farmers in the region have no access to formal credit.3 Digital solutions have opportunities to use person and environmental data to provide alternative means of credit scoring for farmers in the region. Farmcredibly is a frontier solution in Jamaica working to solve this problem.

Companies and individuals that rely on sourcing from farmers or connect with various clusters of consumers use the farm credibly platform data to participate effectively in supply chains by making data-driven decisions regarding their interaction with the farmers in their various value chains. In addition, the solution provides an alternative to lending to farmers, which is not reliant on the traditional collateral that is usually in the form of land and other physical farm assets.4

Value proposition summary

• Alternative credit scoring for farmers in Jamaica.
• Enables banks to expand their lending portfolios to farmers and agribusiness entities.
• Builds and documents farmer credit profiles.
• Enables farmers to access farm produce distributers based on their produce data history.
• Enables farmers to build long-term relationships with agri-processors.

Product offerings

General outreach

Like many farmers in the region, most of the farmers in Jamaica are largely unbanked. In Jamaica, an estimated 90 per cent of farmers in the region are underbanked and cannot access capital to finance their farms. While this is largely due to the absence of physical collateral, which causes formal lending institutions to consider these smallholder farmers as largely risky, farmcredibly is changing this providing a data-driven alternative to credit scoring.

Use of farmer data to enhance farmer credit profiles

Since its establishment in 2017, the Farmcredibly has ultimately simplified financial services for underbanked farmers who are productive, and typically on small land parcels of less than two hectares but want to be more productive. The solution brings together multiple entities within farmers’ business networks ranging from farm input distributors, lenders and agri-processors on behalf of farmers.

Farmcredibly also empowers lenders with the means to reduce risk in issuing loans and micro-investments to underbanked farmers by leveraging Blockchain technology to provide alternative credit scoring. The solution also provides a trusted and secure farmer profile is established based on existing farm investment, past transactions (farm also expenses and income), any amounts owed and the farmer's years of experience. Farmcredibly enables banks to expand their agricultural lending to farmers and agribusinesses by automating the credit assessment process. By providing an efficient and standardised scoring tool for agricultural loans, banks can reduce reliance on loan officers who may have limited knowledge of agriculture.

Case study: Semios Canada

Semios offers a smart farming platform that provides real-time crop data and pest management tools for growers of tree fruit, nut and vine crops.

The platform leverages a proprietary, Internet of things (IoT) wireless network, machine learning and big data analytics. The platform is installed on the farms to help farmers manage insect pests, disease, frost and irrigation. The Semios platform engine draws on a diverse range of sources of data and information including a robust, wireless network of IoT sensors on each customer’s farm measuring climate, soil moisture, insect and disease activity. Semios collects sensory data on every acre in near real-time, helping farmers manage the complex biosystems in orchards to optimise the sustainability and profitability of their crops.5

Value proposition summary

• Automated camera traps, spray timing tools, and variable rate mating disruption that is customised to unique pest behaviour.
• Insight into the in-canopy climate conditions faced by crops and powerful forecasts.
• Planning and monitoring irrigation schedules. These enable cost-effective utilisation of water sources.
• A scouting tool that enables the centralised storage of farm observation data during crop activities.

Product offerings

General outreach

Since its founding in 2009, the Semios IoT network has grown to become, the largest in agriculture on the North American Continent. The solution provides critical insights into the relationships between organisms and their environments, leveraging big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Semios aims to amplify the experience and confidence of farmers by providing a clear picture of how environmental and agronomic factors influence the yield and grade of their crops.

Data-driven approach to weather, pest and water resource management

Semios provides an integrated pest management solution, which uses machine learning to determine the most effective period for the application of pheromones to target specific pests. The solution enables the farmers to reduce expenditure on pheromones by ensuring targeted application only during periods when specific pets are active. The solution also provides microclimate predictions to farmers based on the locations of farms to ensure that farm activities such as the application of pheromones and other farm inputs are timed to occur during periods when the weather would not disrupt their effective application.

Smallholder farmer impact

Since being founded by Dr. Michael Gilbert in 2009, Semios has grown to a technology entity helping farmers in Canada manage more than 150,000 acres of permanent crops. It reaches also extends to over 500 farms in the United States. Its in-field data and control systems make it simpler and more efficient for growers to adopt technology to address their most pressing problems in crop production. Its sensors collect data on every acre in near real-time, helping farmers manage the complex biosystems in orchards to optimise the sustainability and profitability of their crops. Its cloud-based analytics platform ingests highly granular data from over one million IoT sensors in the field, measuring in-canopy microclimate, soil and plant conditions every 10 minutes. The 350 million data points collected daily feed established and proprietary models that provide guidance to improve agricultural practices addressing weather, insects, disease and water management challenges.