Digital Green
{{Short description|Non-governmental organization}}
Digital Green is an independent non-governmental organization that focuses on training farmers to make and show short videos where they record their problems, share solutions and highlight success stories.{{cite web|last=Biswas|first=Soutik|title=Digital Indians: Rikin Gandhi helps farmers with video|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23867132|publisher=BBC News, Delhi|accessdate=December 10, 2013|date=September 11, 2013}}{{cite web|last=van Vark|first=Caspar|title=Improving access to services for women in agriculture|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/sep/25/women-agriculture-access-india|publisher=theguardian.com|accessdate=December 10, 2013|date=September 25, 2013}} It was first conceived as a project in Microsoft Research India's Technology for Emerging Markets in 2006 by Rikin Gandhi and his colleagues.{{cite journal|last=Gandhi|first=Rikin|author2=Veeraraghavan, Rajesh |author3=Toyama, Kentaro |author4= Ramprasad, Vanaja |title=Digital Green: Participatory Video and Mediated Instruction for Agricultural Extension|journal=Information Technologies & International Development|date=Spring 2009|volume=5|issue=1|pages=1–15|url=http://itidjournal.org/index.php/itid/article/download/322/145}} It later branched out as an independent NGO in 2008.{{cite web|title=Technology for Emerging Markets|url=http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/tem/all_papers.aspx|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=December 10, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Revkin|first=Andrew C.|title=Knowosphere at Work: Farmer-to-Farmer Video Advice Boosting Yields|url=http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/agricultural-extension-service-extended-via-farmer-to-farmer-video-advice/?smid=tw-share|publisher=dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com|accessdate=December 10, 2013|date=April 5, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Bornstein|first=David|title=Where YouTube Meets the Farm|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/where-youtube-meets-the-farm/?_r=1|publisher=opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com|accessdate=December 10, 2013|date=April 3, 2013}}
Digital Green works across seven states in India, parts of Ethiopia, Ghana and Afghanistan. The organization engages over 150,000 farmers (over 70% women) in more than 2,000 villages. It received an Rs 3 crore Global Impact Award from Google in 2013,{{cite web|title=Google Impact Challenge {{!}} India|url=https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/india2013|accessdate=December 10, 2013}} and Manthan award in 2012.{{cite web|title=The Manthan Award South Asia and Asia Pacific |url=http://www.manthanaward.org/section_full_story.asp?id=940 |accessdate=December 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214104948/http://www.manthanaward.org/section_full_story.asp?id=940 |archivedate=December 14, 2013 }} Rikin Gandhi, the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Green, was awarded IFA Norman Borlaug Award{{cite web|title=2012 IFA Norman Borlaug Award |url=http://www.fertilizer.org/ifa/HomePage/INITIATIVES/IFA-Norman-Borlaug-Award/Past-recipients/2012-Award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213102031/http://www.fertilizer.org/ifa/HomePage/INITIATIVES/IFA-Norman-Borlaug-Award/Past-recipients/2012-Award |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 13, 2013 |publisher=International Fertilizer Industry Association |accessdate=December 10, 2013 }} by the International Fertilizer Industry Association in 2012.
Loop
With time, it was found that smallholder farmers in rural India spend anywhere from a half to a full day selling their produce at the nearest market while also incurring transport costs. To reduce costs, Digital Green created Loop, a mobile app based intervention that improves farmers’ access to markets by helping them to aggregate their perishable produce through a local village level entrepreneur trained to use the app and aggregate - himself a farmer.
Digital Green nurtures these village-level entrepreneurs to recruit farmers, assess daily produce volumes, determine which nearby market offers the best price, arrange transport based on volume, and sell farmers’ produce directly to wholesale buyers. They record volumes and sales on the Loop mobile app, which sends receipts to farmers via text messages. After completing transactions on behalf of all farmers, the entrepreneurs return to the villages to deliver same-day payment and earn their commission.{{Cite web|url=https://www.socialapphub.com/case-study/driving-impact-through-tech-story-how-technology-changing-livelihoods-farmers-india|title=Driving Impact through Tech - A story on how technology is changing the livelihoods of farmers in India {{!}} Social App Hub|website=www.socialapphub.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-06}}{{Cite web |title=LOOP Mobile App Makes Farm to Market Linkages Easy – Digital Green |url=https://digitalgreen.org/loop-mobile-app-makes-farm-to-market-linkages-easy/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |language=en}}
Wonder Village and Farmer Book
Digital Green has developed two social online games, Wonder Village and Farmer Book. Through these games, players set up a simulated village economy and have opportunities to relate with the actual farmers that the organization works with in the field. Players are placed in a resource-constrained setting and pursue quests like setting up small farms of paddy and maize and supplying raw materials to farmers' markets. The game follows a so-called "freemium" model which allows users to play for free and allows users to purchase virtual currency to advance more quickly. Deniss Berezins composed the music for Wonder Village.{{cite web | url = http://digitalgreentrust.org/wondervillage | title = Wonder Village Game Credits | author = Digital Green | publisher = Digital Green | date = 2011 | accessdate = 2014-06-14 | url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714210657/http://digitalgreentrust.org/wondervillage |archive-date=2014-07-14 }}
Events and workshops
- Farmer Funda, Mumbai – Jun 1 11:00am{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/events/561457090561636/|title=FARMER FUNDA|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-06}}
- [https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/indoustechsummit India-U.S. Tech Summit 2014] at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, Nov 18–19
- [https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152764026180219.1073741944.197117485218&type=1 Participatory Stakeholders Workshop] – Puri, Odisha
- TOT (Training of the trainers), Hyderabad – July 7–9, 2015{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitalgreen.org/blogs/becoming-super-trainers/|title=Digital Green|website=www.digitalgreen.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-06}}