Editor’s Introduction: Earlier this year, The Moodie Davitt Report launched an editorial series called The Future Shapers which explores breakthrough technologies; Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) initiatives; and other visionary innovations that are changing our world for the better.
In this edition, published on the eve of the Virtual Travel Retail Expo where the ESG credentials and aspirations of all sector stakeholders will be a core theme, we examine Dimitra, whose mission is to place technology in the hands of millions of small farmers around the world. By doing so, Dimitra aims to enhance productivity and therefore the lives of farmers, improve food safety, and enable greater food security globally.
The ambitious venture is led by Jon Trask, who as CEO is passionate about using the power of information to deliver Agricultural Technology (AgTech) to smallholders who, while playing a vital role in keeping the world fed, often struggle to feed their own families.
{Click on the YouTube icon to view the Dimitra mission: The all-in-one app empowering smallholding farmers all around the world}
Dimitra’s target is to grow its AgTech platform to 100 million smallholder farmer users over the next three years. In 2021 it has set itself two additional objectives. One is to advance AgTech innovation and the other is to secure operational grants for developing countries around the world to enable participation in the Dimitra eco-system. The company continues to seek partners to join that eco-system today.
The Challenge
What are the key problems and opportunities related to AgTech innovation and how does Dimitra aim to solve the former and embrace the latter? What are the potential benefits, economic and social, not only to farmers but to a myriad of business sectors, including travel retail?
The answers to those questions are both complex and urgent, says Dimitra CEO Jon Trask. Every sector of retail, including travel-related, sells a vast array of end products that ultimately trace back to raw material drawn from the world’s circa 600 million farms. Those farms play a vital role in the long-term sustainability of our sector and our world. From cocoa-sourced chocolate to grain-based spirits to the cotton and other natural materials that anchor the fashion business, the future of farming is a vital and pressing agenda topic for manufacturers, marketers and, increasingly, consumers in travel retail and indeed any retail channel.
Over the past decade we have witnessed a progressive shift by many of the world’s largest brand houses and manufacturers to support farmers, with programmes designed to protect the sustainability and safety of their partners, helping to secure billions of livelihoods.
But even with that support, farmers around the world are under acute pressure. By 2050 the earth and its resources will need to feed an estimated 9.7 billion people. Most of the world’s farms (around 84%) are small and family-run, the owners operating subsistence level operations and struggling to produce enough food even to feed their own families.
Current farming methods further threaten food security, with over one-third of the food produced lost or wasted in the process. Food security issues exacerbate growing challenges with malnutrition, while the cost of healthy diets is unaffordable to over 3 billion people. Not only that, but many of today’s farming practices are less than sustainable with agriculture accounting for 70% of the world’s freshwater usage and most farms generating high levels of pollution.
These are challenges with huge implications for the planet, and for industries, including travel retail. Jon Trask, who in 2020 established Dimitra, an innovative company within the global Agricultural Technology (AgTech) sector, is determined to tackle those challenges head-on. His mission: to help small farmers enhance productivity, improve food safety, and enable food security by placing technology and information efficiently in the hands of farmers, including less well-off small-holders.
“Every smallholder farmer, regardless of economic status, should be able to benefit from simple, beautiful and useful technology because when farmers thrive, economies thrive,” says Trask [look out for a special Podcast interview with Jon Trask, coming soon].
The Solution – The ‘Connected Farmer’ network
Dimitra’s vision is to play a lead role in decentralising agriculture and enabling every farmer to avail of sophisticated technology that was previously available only to large providers.
| Dimitra snapshot Dimitra Incorporated is an international company with a mission to deliver AgTech globally to farmers. Smallholder farmers in many areas of the world struggle to make ends meet. They can play a huge role in solving the world food shortage, improving food safety and addressing food security issues. “Putting simple, beautiful, effective technology in their hands is our core goal,” the company says. “We want to help them improve their productivity with the power of information.” Dimitra is setting ambitious and impactful goals, looking to grow its platform to 100 million smallholder farmer users in the next three years. Contact: www.dimitra.io |
Dimitra is building an ecosystem of agricultural technology products aimed at advancing smallholder farming performance using mobile technology, IoT sensors, artificial intelligence, blockchain, satellite imagery and drones.
The team at Dimitra is already working closely with governments and non-governmental organisations to roll out its ‘Connected Farmer’ platform, available to smallholder farmers in developing nations, free of charge. The platform enables users to access actionable data and insights, breaking the cycle of poverty, enriching their economy through increased crop yields and healthier livestock.
The widespread access to mobile phones even in poor economies is a critical driver of the solution. Dimitra delivers a mobile-ready platform to help run their businesses, learn new farming techniques, record their performance and communicate with government ministries and agricultural experts. The expense involved in these tasks was previously unaffordable to many.
The Dimitra ‘Connected Farmer’ platform allows smallholder farmers in developing nations to record their farming activities, receive reports and recommendations, thus allowing them to make more informed decisions that increase yields, reduce costs and mitigate risk.
One of the projects recently awarded to Dimitra by the OBC Indian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture will support 1.3 million farms in India. It focuses on enhancing farming productivity while doubling farmers’ income through the application of digital technology and regenerative farming methods.
“Dimitra is the right combination of emerging technologies like satellite, AI, Blockchain, and DNA analytics to support small farmers across India. Our farmers will greatly benefit from Dimitra’s technology innovation,” says Dr. Pradeep Kagane, GREAT-VET, National Technical Advisor.
In this case the Dimitra platform is configured to use satellites to evaluate crop performance, supplement that data with farmer observations and IoT soil sensors, then feed that information into a machine learning algorithm to help farmers make better decisions about how to prepare, sow, care for, and harvest crops, then get them to market.
The mission – Towards shared prosperity
According to World Bank, agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity and feed a growing world. Growth in the agriculture sector is 2-4 times more effective in raising incomes among the world’s poorest compared to other business sectors.
Typical farms consume about 80% of what they produce. Dimitra’s mission is to use data and machine learning tools to fuel an increase in output by +20%, a goal that if achieved effectively doubles the real world income that farmers can yield.
Trask’s determination is driven by a desire to equip the farmers of developing nations with the world-class tools already enjoyed by the richest nations. “This underserved group of farmers represents the production of almost 70% of the food in the world,” he says. “Increasing output and revenue by +20%, if we distribute it right and don’t waste it, theoretically could solve the world hunger crisis.”
He continues: “In the conversations with the different ministries of agriculture around the world, I started seeing a real need. Large tech companies are working to serve big farms. There are 608 million farms in the world and 38 million of those are well-served by the big tech companies. The rest are completely ignored.”
With over 15 million farmers registered, and a target of 100 million within three years, Dimitra is firmly establishing itself among the largest agriculture technology providers. Dimitra’s Connected Farmer Platform is an all-in-one digital solution that encompasses hundreds of digital instruments for farming.
“Farmers not only are feeding the world: with the right tools, they have the ability to change many of the world’s biggest problems,” concludes Trask.
Footnote: The Moodie Davitt Report has recently launched Sustainability Curated in association with L’OCCITANE de Provence, a regular newsletter dedicated to highlighting global and industry response to the crisis facing our planet. To see previous issues click here.
At the Virtual Travel Retail Expo (11-15) October, Beam Suntory VP – Global Environmental Sustainability Kim Marotta will address the issue of putting global sustainability at the core of every corporate agenda. The sustainability theme will also be picked up on by several other speakers, including Diageo President Greater China and Asia Pacific Sam Fischer; Nestlé International Travel Retail General Manager Stewart Dryburgh; and other speakers.
