devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
GIACIS Ethiopia Geodata for Innovative Agricultural Credit Insurance Schemes G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


GIACIS is a public-private partnership, aiming at expanding financial service delivery to all smallholder farmers living in the highlands of Ethiopia. Focus is on a geodata-driven riskmitigation (insurance) products that offer a basic safety net to protect them against the occurrence of weather related perils. The main value proposition of the project for smallholder farmers is that they can insure a taken credit amount to purchase and use agricultural inputs, against weather-related perils. It thus protects a farmer against risks that seriously impacts on their ability to repay credit taken. It modifies/unlocks the risk-aversion behavior of farmers towards farming that prioritizes optimization of long-term productivity, profits, and sustainability.

Kifiya will design a transaction fee structure to enable the development and delivery of the GIACIS product through technology and use of their agent network. The insured-credit product will be part of a basket of services that runs on their mobile financial services platform bringing an increasing value-content as a cost-effective value-proposition to farmers. By transaction, Kifiya is able to charge bottom-price costs; when achieving transaction volume, their business proposition is viable. The purpose of the Public-Private Partnership is to expand financial service delivery to smallholder farmers in Ethiopia with a geodata-driven risk-mitigation (insurance) product that offers a basic safety net to protect them against weather related perils. In partnership with local financial institutions, the insurance product will be bundled with credit to purchase agricultural inputs. In combination with weather prediction services, the insured credit package will locally be made available through ICT infrastructure services (branchless banking). The project consortium will align to the rural finance strategy (RFS program) as managed by ATA. This allows for a systematic synergetic approach to provide financial inclusion, promote investment for agriculture, broker sustainable production methods and provide risk transfer tools. The followed system approach creates a suitable legal, institutional and organizational framework. Small farmers (80% < 0.5 ha) in the rainfed cropping areas of the 4 key-regions of Ethiopia: Oromia, SNNPR, Amhara and Tigray, who cultivate Tef, Wheat, Barley, Maize and Sorghum. The 3-year target is to reach > 7 million households, of which 1.6 million are expected to purchase the product offered. The insurance addresses the needs of Ethiopian farmers that operate at the lowest step of development and those that have moved somewhat up the ladder.
Smart Agriculture Myanmar (SAM) Smart Agriculture Myanmar (SAM) G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


The Smart Agriculture Myanmar (SAM) program aims to provide personalised farming advice and stimulate financial inclusion for smallholder farmers. The program leverages the Golden Paddy platform and mobile app, agronomic and satellite-based models and big-data and machine learning expertise to deliver services to users. Myanmar has the potential to reclaim its position as a global agriculture powerhouse due to its rich soil, favourable climate and strategic geographical location. After decades of isolation, the country is opening up, making it possible for new technologies to be developed and for its markets to connect globally. Smallholder agriculture represents more than 40% of Myanmar’s economy and involves more than 60% of its population. To systematically improve this sector, greater productivity, wider access to markets and better financing options are required. The smartphone penetration of more than 70% provides an opportunity to develop this at a rapid pace. The SAM program aims to generate revenue from its services to financial institutions. Value will be created by providing financial institutions with bankable portfolios of smallholder farmers and providing easier and low costs access for loan origination, delivery and risk management. The program will not charge smallholder farmers for standard services but might decide to setup premium subscription accounts for users that extract significant value from its services. 

The costs per user are expected to drop significantly as the user base grows and the platform, models and self-learning algorithms are optimized. The aim of the program is to have a fully automated advisory and financial services system setup after 3 years that runs at low operational costs. Existing farming advisory services on the Golden Paddy app will be enhanced using real-time and personalised crop calendars. Based on these specific crop calendars, satellite-based insights, agronomic rules and farmer feedback, advice is provided around crop planning, extreme event management and productivity improvements. The objectives are to improve productivity and reduce on-field crop loss by reducing the effect of major events. The Golden Paddy platform also enables access to input and offtake markets. It provides market prices, product, retailer and buyer profiles and facilitates matchmaking between the farmers and seller/buyer. 

To stimulate financial inclusion, the program will develop tailored financial products with local financial institutions, develop bankable portfolios of farmers and facilitate loan origination and delivery through the Golden Paddy platform. The aim is to improve the attractiveness of this new market segment for financial institutions by making risk, delivery and operational costs transparent and manageable. The project targets more than 550,000 food producers, including 450,000 paddy farmers in Bago Division and 100,000 maize farmers in Shan State.
MODHEM Burkina Faso Mobile Data for Moving Herd Management and better incomes in Burkina Faso G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


This project will improve the position and situation of the pastoralists in Burkina Faso through herd management, conflict avoidance and marketing. 
By using satellite data, the pastoralists will be informed on the best locations for pastures and water areas via their mobile phone. An early warning system will warn pastoralists for floodings, droughts, diseases and other subjects. 
The crossing of herds over planted areas are frequently the cause of conflicts between pastoralists and farmers. Ecodata will inform the pastoralists with text messages on rainfall and market prices, bids and offers. Consequently the farmers will see a reduction in field damage. A significant amount of scientific research has been conducted on pastoralists in Burkina Faso and related subjects. A specific and recent research (see Annex E) has been done by Zampraligré, Dossa and Schlecht in 2013 with the title ‘Climate change and variability: perception and adaption strategies of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists across different zones of Burkina Faso’. Through research based on focus group and individual interviews, the researchers came to the following statement: 

“For pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, major impacts of climate change on their livestock husbandry systems were the shrinkage of grazing areas and the decline of forage resources with consequently lowered animal productivity (offspring numbers, milk and meat yields). Since pasture areas and livestock corridors are increasingly cut-off by crop fields that cannot be trespassed during the rainy season until crop harvest, livestock mobility is restricted. Further problems named were limited access to watering places and increased conflicts over natural resource use with crop farmers. All participants mentioned increased vulnerability and poverty as important consequences of climate change variations.” This project will reach 100,000 pastoralists directly and 200,000 farmers that see a reduction in field damage. The target group are the pastoralists in the seven regions in Burkina Faso which are about 220,000 in number. This project will reach 100,000 pastoralists through its information platform and its complementary training and infrastructure improvements. 
The farmers that will benefit as much as the pastoralists are 52% women. The number of beneficiary farmers is estimated at 200,000.
SIKIA Tanzania SAGCOT Integrated Knowledge and Information for Agriculture G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


SIKIA is a public-private partnership in the rice value chain in Tanzania. The project targets 125,000 smallholder farmers in the SAGCOT area, enabling them to increase their yields and incomes. Furthermore the partnership will enable better connectivity in the value chain for provision of new products and services. In order to make the information services financially sustainable, agri-businesses play a crucial role as paying customers. Based on collected (geo)data for the information
services as well as farmer registration data, agribusinesses have the opportunity to directly connect to smallholder rice farmers to offtake rice/paddy or to offer specific products or services. Agribusinesses will pay annual fees and fees per ha covered. In order to guarantee affordability for smallholder farmers, the partnership intends to provide the information services free of charge to farmers (except SMS cost price), allowing for low entrance into registration while increasing the commercial potential for subscribed agribusinesses. SIKIA is aimed at providing weather forecasts, geo-information, and crop conditions service(s) to 125,000 smallholder rice farmers within the SAGCOT area of Tanzania.

The SIKIA-project will develop three information services. Information service 1 provides weekly weather forecasts for the rice sector through radio broadcasts that cover the rice cultivating areas in SAGCOT, with the opportunity for smallholder rice farmers to receive growth stage-specific weather forecasts via SMS. For receiving regular weather related crop advices, smallholder rice farmers need to register themselves. The collected registration data is used as input for information service 2, which allows agri-businesses to periodically receive aggregated geo-information about the actual rice cultivation in the rice value chain in SAGCOT to improve their logistic planning, planning of milling capacity, product promotion, and finance or insurance schemes. Service 3 aims to provide smallholder rice farmers in the Mbeya region with advice based on the measured crop conditions of their specific plots.The information services use satellite geodata (e.g., environmental, crop status via SAR, and plot boundaries information), augmented by more detailed data acquisition under the clouds (multispectral agronomic information) and web-based information. Through a train-the-trainers program farmers will be trained to take action on basis of the received information. SIKIA is aimed at 125,000 smallholder rice farmers within the SAGCOT area of Tanzania. These farmers typically have land holdings between 0.5 to 2 ha and cultivate rice twice per year. Farmers expressed needs in better information on weather condition, crop management (advices) and market information and financial security.
R4A South Africa Rain for Africa G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


The Rain for Africa (R4A) project will make a significant contribution to empowering the most important actors in the food production chain: the farmers. The project aims at providing the correct information at the right moment to food producers, to help improve the quality and quantity of food production in a sustainable manner, so ensuring local food security. Information from in-situ monitoring, earth observations with satellites, geo-data and modelling will be translated into agricultural advice. This will be accessible via the web and mobile technologies (computers, cellular telephones and tablets) and facilitates higher crop yields and more efficient use of seed, water, pesticides and fertilizer.
R4A envisions one central entrance for all historical, actual and forecast weather information in Africa through a portal supported by an operational data stream. The R4A Data Connection Kit (DCK) provides easy access to the best weather information available from weather radars, satellites and weather stations. Applications for integrating weather data with expert agricultural knowledge will be developed and made accessible at an affordable price to farmers, national weather services, added value providers and other potential clients in South Africa. The co-creation business model of HydroNET (the IT engine of the system) encourages companies, institutions and governments to jointly develop, distribute and maintain information services to a wide range of users through web technologies, a web portal and mobile device applications. The HydroNET platform is currently operational and licensed to 1 750 users in eight countries, including South Africa and Mozambique. The ‘R4A platform’ will be customised to meet the requirements of the specific applications and will be further developed, implemented and  validated in South Africa. Sustainability is ensured through an innovative business model based on public/private partnerships and service charges based on user affordability. Improved food production by more than 10% (thanks to the improved weather forecast and the sowing and spraying advices).
Reduced spraying by 20% (thanks to personalised spraying advice).
Reduced risk of crop failure by more than 10% of crop failure (thanks to the personalised sowing and spray advice). Smallholder farmers will be engaged via a participatory model and will receive data and information for free. The project aims to reach 125 000 small holder farmers, to increase their income by 10% and to also decrease their input resource use (water, fertilizer pesticides) by 10%. It is the intention of the R4A partnership to scale-up this initiative into southern Africa. The project's services will meet the information needs of a number of differentiated users including national weather services, local commercial and subsistence small holder farmers, input providers and financial service providers. Applications will be tailored to provide user specified information to these diverse user groups.
Sat4Rice Vietnam Information services for rice farmers in Vietnam G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


Sat4Rice (Satellite data for rice farmers/production) aims to improve the effectiveness of existing extension services and output of (smallholder) rice farmers in the Mekong Delta. This will be done by enriching the existing basic agricultural information with advanced geodata. It will help raise awareness, provide knowledge and build resilience of local communities. The efficiency of inputs for rice production in the Mekong Delta, e.g. water, fertiliser and pesticides, will also be improved. Vietnam is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world and among the countries that are hit the hardest by climate change. The Mekong Delta region is a vulnerable region, but also one of the largest rice producing regions in the World. The An Giang and Soc Trang provinces are two of the most important rice producing provinces. This project will significantly improve the information that LT Group distributes to rice farmers. Integration of satellite data with local measurements and use of advanced geoprocessing techniques will provide high quality information.

The information services will cover:
• Crop management advisory (e.g. choice of varieties, rotation, timing and quantity of fertilizer use)
• Pests and diseases advisory (e.g. observed and predicted spread)
• Drought and salinity advisory (e.g. timing of water use, irrigation frequency and quantity)
• Flood mitigation advisory (e.g. risks and potential damage reduction)

After the project, the operational service is hosted by LT Group with support from Dutch and Vietnamese partners. If successful in these two provinces, the Sat4Rice partnership intends to scale-up in the entire Mekong Delta and the rest of Vietnam. In addition to rice farming, the partnership will explore broadening of the services to other types of agricultural services like coffee. Sat4Rice will implement a financially sustainable information service, hosted by Loc Troi (LT) Group, with support from public private Dutch and Vietnamese partners. After the project the service can easily be implemented to other regions/countries and for other types of agriculture. Improve the effectiveness of existing extension services and output of (smallholder) rice farmers in the Mekong Delta by enriching the existing basic agricultural news service Agri.One  with advanced geodata. At the end of the project period, 300 000 rice farmers in the Mekong Delta and Soc Trang and An Giang provinces in particular are reached. After the project ends, the service will be scaled-up further, to reach around 12 million rice farmers in the Mekong Delta and beyond.
IDSS - NSO NSO G4AW The primary objective of IDSS is to significantly enhance the capacity of (smallholder) farmers, retailers and extension agents by providing localized advice. The advisory service will be customized, combining advanced geo-data and better agronomic practice into actionable crop-specific advice for farmers. IDSS service will eventually empower the farmers with information they currently lack to solve critical problems. The service will be available through different channels, including automated outbound call and mobile applications. IDSS aspires to raise awareness, providing knowledge and building resilience of local farming communities and prove itself as a reliable tool in collecting information.
G4AW programme Geodata for Agriculture and Water G4AW:   http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


The food producers of our planet face the extraordinary challenge of feeding 9 billion people by the year 2050. As a consequence of climate change, there will be a growing competition in using water and finding fertile land. Further, reliable weather forecasts for food producers are scarcely available in developing countries.
Science and technology can help to improve this situation by empowering the most important actors in the food production chain: farmers, fishermen and pastoralists. Providing the right information at the right time to food producers can help to improve and increase food production in a sustainable manner thus ensuring food security on a global scale. * Improve the output of the agricultural, pastoral and fishing sector in 26 partner countries by providing food producers with relevant information, advice or (financial) products.
* Reach a minimum 10% increase in sustainable food production and/or an improved financial situation for at least three million food producers, by providing them with relevant and timely information services.
* Help achieve a 10% more effective use of inputs for food production (water, seeds, fertiliser, pesticides, etc.)
* Focus on sustainable improvement and increase of food production alongside a more efficient use of water in agriculture. G4AW aims to alleviate poverty by enhancement of sustainable economic growth and self-reliance in the G4AW partner countries.
GAP4A Burundi GAP4A - Good Agricultural Practices 4 All G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


In Burundi there is a need for useful, accurate and real-time agricultural information in relation to the weather, variety selection, soil fertility management, integrated pest and disease management and mitigation of climate risks. GAP4A aims to address these pressing needs by delivering information services to smallholder farmers, provided by the Agri-Coach app, as well as to public institutions, agri-businesses and NGO’s provided by the Agri-Business app. Both apps will run on the same technical infrastructure tailoring the information services to the specific needs of the specific user group. The project is based on a direct revenue via subscription. This means farmers pay a monthly fee for the use of the service. AUXFIN Burundi, a social enterprise legally founded in Burundi, will become the local business owner in the project. They are business owner of the UMVA platform for Burundi, that reaches 3500 G50 farmer groups through tablets with agri-knowledge. The Agri-Coach app and the Agri-Business App will be added to their portfolio, digitizing and improving the knowledge with geodata and satellite data. AUXFIN International, Waterwatch projects and The Next View intent to scale services outside Burundi, looking at but also beyond the AUXFIN network. The Agri-Coach app provides farmers in the field with information on: 1) WHAT crop to plant (Crop Selector), 2) WHEN to plant and implement crop management practices throughout the season (Activity Timer), and 3) HOW to do this for optimal results (Best Practices). Such information is believed to result in considerably higher yields while reducing (climate) risks and preserving water and land, increasing the income for smallholder farmers throughout the country.

The Agri-Business app provides the regional or national perspective on the production factors and the agricultural sector in general. Currently this information is not available in Burundi but needed for public institutions, agri-businesses and NGO’s to serve their smallholder clients by making better and more informed decisions. The Agri-Coach app will provide at least 100,000 smallholder farmers in provinces Gitega, Kayanza and Karusi with information. The Agri-Business app will provide the regional or national perspective on the production factors and the agricultural sector in general. Currently this information is not available in Burundi but needed for public institutions, agri-businesses and NGO’s to serve their smallholder clients by making better and more informed decisions.
GEOPOTATO Bangladesh Geodata to control potato late blight in Bangladesh G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/


Late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is the most common and highly destructive, fungal disease in potato, tomato and other solanaceae crops in Bangladesh. Annual potato yield losses due to late blight have been estimated at 25-577%. Late blight can be controlled but only by frequent and costly applications of fungicides. Moreover, the degree of control heavily depends on the timing of the fungicide application in relation to local weather conditions, crop development and disease pressure. So, the efficiency of late blight control can be improved considerably by informing farmers in time about predicted infection periods of the potato crop and the effectiveness of past spray applications. The late blight alert service will be provided on a subscription base to farmers, through SMS or voicemail during the potato growing season. Expected farmer benefits range between 100 and 250 Euro per hectare - depending on the farmers’ current agricultural management and disease control. To sustainably improve resource use efficiencies and profits in potato production in Bangladesh by providing to small holder farmers a decision-support service to control the late blight (Phytophthora infestans) fungal disease. Approximately 750,000 small farmers in Bangladesh produce an irrigated potato crop in the dry winter season. We aim at reaching approximately 15% of these famers through an SMS service, i.e.100,000 of these farmers in the 3rd project year.