But rather than focus on the newest and latest technology, 8Villages, a mobile social network for smallholder farmers, has gone old-school by using simple 2G/GPRS to supply farmers with a range of agriculture-related information via cell phones. It is part of the company’s DNA to ensure farmers in the field are have simple yet actionable information, while connecting mobile carriers and large agribusinesses to the ‘little’ farmer.

Potentially millions of farmers could benefit from 8villages technology platform. But big leaps take time and so a small, but significant, step was made in Indonesia which has a huge agricultural base combined with high cell phone penetration rates. This provided the perfect foundation for 8villages to launch its service in 2012 but primarily focused on linking farmers.

Thousands of farmers in Indonesia have had access to 8Villages service, which focused on setting up networks for farmers to receive information and communicate with each other in small groups using the simple mobile phone as its platform.

Armed with a mobile phone, a farmer can opt for a subscription package which would allow him or her to communicate in small groups about relevant content provided by the private or public agriculture sector.

Groups consist of between 10-15 farmers based on their crops and location. This allows them to share useful information, such as dealing with a particular pest problem, weather conditions or responsible use of pesticides, rather than being sent ‘spam’ or information simply not relevant to their circumstances (geography, crops etc.).

In order to make it interactive and avoid the top down communication approach, farmers can ask questions and get them answered either by other farmers in their user group or by agricultural experts from 8villages’ partners, which are a combination of the private and public sector. This all works without the need for an internet connection since it is SMS-based.

The scheme is focused on empowering farmers with knowledge and up-to-date information and techniques in order for them to make more informed decisions.

The challenge for extension services workers and the private sector is to adequately reach farmers in an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and then sustain that with appropriate information.

Simple cell phone technology could help bridge that gap by giving farmers the opportunity to connect to a relevant and broader community. The information flow can be secured with farmers not feeling isolated and relying on intermittent word-of-mouth.

Matt Kovac is Director of Advocacy at CropLife Asia based in Singapore.

** photo credits to http://www.8villages.com/

But given the huge advantages and few drawbacks of recycling, it can be surprisingly difficult to get some new projects off the ground. There are many barriers for organizations like ours in encouraging the farming community to recycle more used pesticide containers.

Malaysia is a good example of the challenges faced when launching such an initiative but of the huge rewards that can be achieved if they are overcome.

A container recycling pilot project was launched in 2003 in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. The interesting thing about the scheme was that it was a demonstration project using economic incentives, in this case a voucher redemption scheme.

The overall aim of the pilot was to encourage people to adopt environmentally-friendly behaviour through incentives or disincentives. In the initial stages it involved academics, NGOs, producers, distributors and end users.

One of the challenges was the sheer number of stakeholders involved. These included the Department of Agriculture, Cameron Highlands District Office, Malaysian CropLife & Public Health Association, WWF and Malay Vegetable Growers Association.

With any pilot scheme there are plenty of lessons that are learnt from doing something for the first time. The really interesting outcome from running an incentive scheme was that the farmers interviewed discounted the need for incentives: they were just grateful that a mechanism was set up for them to dispose of what was originally scheduled waste as normal solid waste.

Convenience is also a big selling point. If it’s too hard to return empty containers then farmers just won’t bother. They have countless other tasks to take care of so recycling needs to be easy and convenient to encourage them to participate.

According to the stakeholders, the pilot project was a success and once brought to its conclusion it was taken up by the authorities in Malaysia and evolved into a national recycling programme. The scheme expanded to cover the rice areas of Sungai Besar, Selangor and the vegetable growing areas in Tangkak, Johore.

In 2006 when the recycling program went fully nationwide, with the help of Malaysian CropLife & Public Health Association (MCPA), the national recycling program was integrated into the then newly created RSPO’s (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) Principles and Criteria (P&C).

This opened the door to for plantations to manage their empty pesticide containers in a legally approved manner by participating in the national recycling programme.

So what was the key to success?

• The Government had the political will – giving exemption to all triple rinsed containers from being classified as scheduled waste. Governments must be willing to work with the agricultural industry.
• The Government had the strong support of the industry.
• End users (e.g. plantations) should always actively seek Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification.
• The contractors who collect containers and recycle them are the key and were fully supported.

Matt Kovac is Director of Advocacy at CropLife Asia based in Singapore.

The Crop Protection industry is trying to find solutions to the perennial challenge of encouraging farmers to recycle pesticide containers. Pilot schemes and programmes across Asia have been a popular choice designed to improve container management recycling rates.

Unfortunately, Asia has one of the lowest recycling levels in the world, with about 30% of containers returned and processed for re-use. This is significantly lower than other regions although developed markets have experienced far more environmental and political pressure to recycle containers.

Part of the problem is the huge number of small and fragmented farm holdings dotted across the Asia Pacific region. This makes it much harder to get container management messages relayed to farmers, while convincing them that the small numbers of containers they often discard create environmental concern.

One of the key messages to convey is that the empty containers have plenty of uses once they are properly processed, cleaned and recycled. These include fence-posts, parking cones or drainage pipes. Schemes are exploring how some of this value can be passed back to farmers to incentivise them to hand back empty containers for recycling.

The Crop Protection industry is very much aware of this low figure and is determined to improve recycling rates with a host of promising and already successful initiatives taking place across Asia. These programmes are being delivered by both regional and national CropLife associations.

For example in the Hubei Province in central China, a pilot scheme was launched which involved the training of more than 2,000 farmers, service workers and retailers into safe container management.

The project created a high level of awareness within China and former Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao attended one of the events. More importantly, after the programme rice farmers reported higher levels of satisfaction with their crop protection services while boosting their incomes.

Other successful programmes have taken place in more developed markets such as Canada and Australia. For example, CleanFARMS was developed by CropLife Canada and has now become a global brand within container management programmes around the world. The CleanFARMS standard sets strict guidelines for the proper management of agricultural waste and has become a non-profit organisation in its own right.

Australia runs a national programme called drumMUSTER for the collection and recycling of containers, of which CropLife Australia is a partner. Established 13 years ago, drumMUSTER has disposed of over 20 million chemical containers.

Asia has yet to establish such a long-running and successful container management programme but the industry can at least see what the possibilities are.

Currently there is a real buzz about an established recycling project in Malaysia which involves a voucher redemption scheme for farmers. Interestingly, feedback from some farmers suggests they are not interested in financial reward, but just want a convenient way to return pesticide containers.

This is definitely food for thought for the industry weighing up the financial costs of such programmes.

 Matt Kovac is Director of Advocacy at CropLife Asia based in Singapore.

It’s a lifecycle approach that developed from a few scattered global programmes initiated by the CropLife association network twenty years ago into an integrated business model in which the major global players in the industry have embraced.

In many ways there are similarities between stewardship and today’s best run corporate social responsibility programmes: the ones that partner with a variety of stakeholders on positive societal change programmes and develop into new business models or practices, which is an impressive feat. (Ploughing with the former foe)

The similarities between stewardship and good CSR programmes are in stark contrast to the superficial that focus on public relations photo opportunities and self-promotion. These have contributed to the air of cynicism and perhaps distrust among multiple stakeholders concerning corporate claims of social responsibility.

Stewardship at CropLife International and regional associations has focused on building a comprehensive approach to stewardship that benefits farmers in the field first, but also safeguards the environment and to protect public health.

Think of it as appropriate management that helps underpin sustainable agriculture and the use of agro-chemicals. This is  work in progress; particularly in Asia where hundreds of millions of small scale farmers need training on responsible use of products and then support to fundamentally change their behaviour to ensure that new business practices are adopted for the long-term. This is a long-term commitment which has a positive impact on societal issues such as farming methods and sustainable agriculture and is not a ‘quick fix’ project.

We are fortunate that stewardship is embedded in many of the biggest crop protection companies’ business models as an ethical way to manage agrochemicals from their discovery and development, to their use and phase-out. They are actively running stewardship programmes across Asia, as is CropLife Asia, to ensure farmers and supply chains use products responsibly.

This is smart partnering and has been extended to a variety of NGOs who are also working with companies and CropLife Asia to train farmers from India to Thailand through to China and Australia.

This is mutually beneficial to  CropLife Asia, the agri-businesses and NGOs to ensure long-term success which is to help farmers to secure and protect food supplies from pests.

Clearly, stewardship is about doing good business and creatively addressing farming issues, not simply feeling good, which is what too many CSR programmes set out to achieve.

Matt Kovac is Director of Advocacy at CropLife Asia based in Singapore.