SOFADRICLIMATE app

Globally, climate change presents a significant risk multiplier for hunger and poverty, particularly in developing countries where agriculture is pivotal in sustaining livelihoods. Nigeria, with its substantial reliance on rain-fed agriculture and a predominantly smallholder farming base, is particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. The World Bank (2013) highlights the susceptibility of Nigeria's agricultural sector to fluctuations in rainfall and rising temperatures, exacerbating the challenges faced by its estimated 121 million smallholder farmers.

The repercussions of climate change on Nigeria's agricultural productivity have been profound, resulting in heightened hunger levels and poverty among farming households. Nigerian farmers' diminished adaptive capacity and resilience further compound the challenges associated with climate variability and shocks. A formative survey conducted revealed that a staggering 88% of farmers were adversely affected by erratic rainfall patterns in previous years, translating to an average loss of 1.165 hectares of maize per farmer, equivalent to approximately N233,000 ($764) (Olowogbon et al., 2019).

Traditionally, Nigerian farmers have relied on historical farm experience and community peer pressure to navigate climate-related challenges. However, this approach has proven inadequate in addressing the complexities of climate change, often resulting in significant crop failures. Moreover, the absence of accessible and affordable micro-insurance options leaves farmers vulnerable to the financial impacts of climate risks.

To confront these pressing challenges, the SOFADRICLIMATE app was developed as a transformative solution. Departing from traditional methods, the app integrates scientific techniques and data-driven solutions to empower farmers to adapt to climate change. By providing personalized climate information and facilitating access to affordable micro-insurance packages, SOFADRICLIMATE aims to enhance the resilience and livelihoods of Nigerian farmers amidst climate variability and shocks.

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In response to the challenges outlined earlier, our team has developed the innovative SOFADRICLIMATE app, accessible at www.sofadriclimate.com, to provide maize farmers in Nigeria with a comprehensive and affordable solution to bolster resilience against climate risks. This app offers a bundled package comprising data-driven climate information and user-friendly weather index micro-insurance tailored to the specific needs of crop producers.

The climate advisory section of the app furnishes farmers with precise, location-specific climate data essential for informed annual farm-level planning and decision-making. Unlike existing solutions offering only daily or weekly weather forecasts, our app provides detailed, annual climate change predictions downscaled to offer crop-specific calendars and optimal planting dates. This feature empowers farmers to make timely and strategic decisions aligned with climate variability, effectively mitigating risks and optimizing agricultural productivity.

Central to our solution is integrating a weather-based index micro-insurance platform designed to trigger compensation for losses attributable to adverse weather conditions, such as erratic rainfall. This component addresses the critical need for accessible and affordable insurance coverage, offering financial security to crop producers during climate-related setbacks.

The SOFADRICLIMATE app operates entirely through digital channels, ensuring cost-effectiveness and accessibility for farmers. Upon signup, farmers can select their crops and locations, gaining instant access to personalized climate information tailored to their needs. Subsequently, they can subscribe to the weather index micro-insurance, pay the premium, and receive their insurance certificate seamlessly through the app.

Notably, our bundled climate services represent a pioneering approach, as we are unaware of any existing solutions that integrate data-driven climate information with weather index micro-insurance to enhance farmers' resilience to climate risks. Currently available to farmers in twelve states across Nigeria, our solution is poised to significantly mitigate climate change-induced crop failures, enhance crop yields, and ultimately improve farm income and livelihoods.

The SOFADRICLIMATE app is specifically tailored to meet the needs of Nigeria's vast community of crop farmers and farming households, estimated to exceed 121 million individuals. These farmers are dispersed across Nigeria's six geo/agro-political zones, representing various agricultural practices and challenges.

Our preliminary survey conducted across selected states in Nigeria revealed compelling insights into the technological landscape of these farming communities. Approximately 97% of surveyed farmers reported owning mobile phones, with around 53% equipped with smartphones, highlighting widespread access to mobile technology within the farming population.

It's crucial to note that the target users of the SOFADRICLIMATE app are predominantly smallholder farmers, typically operating on less than 3 hectares of land. Furthermore, a significant proportion of these farmers face economic hardship, with over 80% living below the poverty line of 2 US dollars per day. This demographic profile underscores the importance of developing accessible and affordable solutions tailored to small-scale farmers' needs and constraints.

By recognizing the prevalence of mobile technology among Nigerian farmers and their unique socioeconomic circumstances, the SOFADRICLIMATE app is strategically positioned to reach and empower a wide spectrum of farming households nationwide. Through user-friendly interfaces and personalized features, our solution aims to bridge the gap between climate information and actionable insights, ultimately enhancing the resilience and livelihoods of Nigeria's smallholder farmers.

The SOFADRICLIMATE team, anchored at the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Empowerment (CSAE), stands as a formidable force poised to address the pressing challenges of agriculture, climate change, and digital innovation. With a collective experience spanning over 200 years, our team brings together a wealth of expertise and insights garnered from extensive work in digital agricultural interventions across Africa.

At the core of our mission lies a deep-rooted commitment to empowering smallholder farmers to thrive in the face of climate change. Leveraging our five years of hands-on experience in training farmers on climate change adaptation in Nigeria, we have honed a nuanced understanding of the complexities and nuances inherent in agricultural sustainability in the region.

The development of the SOFADRICLIMATE app underscores our dedication to harnessing technology as a catalyst for transformative change. In collaboration with esteemed partners such as Royal Exchange General Insurance and Cloudware Technologies, we have forged a dynamic ecosystem that marries cutting-edge technological solutions with domain expertise. This synergistic approach ensures the robustness and relevance of our solutions and fosters sustainable impact at scale.

Our interdisciplinary composition sets our team apart, drawing from diverse backgrounds encompassing agricultural economics, development economics, policy, agricultural extension, insurance, business development, human capital, data science, and technology. This multifaceted perspective enables us to tackle challenges holistically, navigating the intricate interplay of economic, social, and technological factors with agility and insight.

Crucially, our commitment to inclusivity permeates every facet of our approach. From the outset, we actively engage with farmer organizations such as the All Farmers Association of Nigeria and Fadama Farmer User Groups, ensuring that their voices and needs are integrated into the design and implementation of our solutions. By co-creating with end-users, we enhance the relevance and effectiveness of our interventions and foster ownership and sustainability within the communities we serve.

The SOFADRICLIMATE team stands as a beacon of innovation and collaboration, uniquely positioned to drive meaningful change and empower smallholder farmers to thrive in a rapidly changing climate landscape.

In 2021, the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Empowerment (CSAE), accessible at www.csaempowerment.com, secured a Catalyst Grant worth $14,000 from the Roddenberry Foundation USA. This funding was pivotal in developing the SOFADRICLIMATE app. This cutting-edge, data-driven web-based platform provides farmers with reliable climate change information for intelligent seasonal farm-level planning and decision support.

The transformative impact of the SOFADRICLIMATE app was swiftly recognized, earning CSAE the prestigious SCALE Creative Adaptation Award (People’s Choice) from USAID & Mercy Corps in 2022. This recognition underscored the app's effectiveness in addressing the evolving needs of agricultural communities, particularly in navigating the challenges of climate variability.

Building on this success, the app underwent refinement in 2023 to evolve into a bundled climate service for farmers. This iteration saw the integration of weather-based micro-index insurance directly into the platform, enhancing its utility and resilience-building capabilities. Timely decisions led us to complete the micro-insurance integration by the end of the previous farming season, aligning with farmers' needs and growth stages.

While the impact of the bundled services on a large scale is yet to be fully documented, initial findings from a survey conducted in 2023 offer promising insights. Significant improvements were observed, with approximately 700 maize farmers utilizing the climate information. Notably, there was a marked decrease in climate-induced losses compared to the previous season, with farmers expressing a strong desire for regular reminders and follow-up support throughout the season.

The survey, funded by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI) project, revealed valuable user demographic information. Most notably, most users were male, with a mean age of 43 years and an average farm size of 3.5 hectares. Furthermore, the survey highlighted farmers' willingness to pay for operational costs associated with climate information services, demonstrating a clear demand for accessible and actionable agricultural insights.

Looking ahead, the bundled climate service is poised to expand its reach. It is currently available in 12 of Nigeria's 36 states, with plans to migrate to six more states this farming season. This season, anticipated user growth from 700 to at least 5,000 users underscores the increasing demand for our solution. Moreover, ongoing efforts to gather evidence on the impact of the bundled services will inform future scalability and refinement, ultimately propelling the product into the scale-up stage and driving tangible improvements in crop yield, farm income, and resilience against climate risks across agricultural communities in Nigeria.

We are interested in this call as we hope to achieve the followship: We hope to expand on our team's goals, it's evident that we aimed to establish a comprehensive strategy to elevate our novel solution within the industry landscape. 

Solve will provide us with networking platform with research communities and policymakers. This suggests a proactive approach to gaining exposure and embedding our innovation within relevant conversations and potentially influencing future policies or research directions. This indicates a desire not just for recognition but also for contributing to the broader discourse and shaping the industry's trajectory.

We hope to build integrations with relevant innovations. This underscores our team's commitment to staying abreast of cutting-edge developments and fostering synergies with complementary solutions. By forging these connections, we shall enhance the value proposition of our offering and position SOFADRICLIMATE within a collaborative ecosystem where collective progress drives mutual success.

We seek mentorship from experts and partners, highlighting a recognition of the importance of guidance and insights from seasoned individuals or organizations. Leveraging their experience and perspectives can provide invaluable direction, helping them navigate challenges, refine strategies, and capitalize on opportunities effectively.

We are also interested in funding opportunities to support our scale-up activities. This underscores a practical recognition of the financial resources required to realize our ambitions. Securing funding not only fuels our immediate growth but also facilitates long-term sustainability and scalability, enabling you to actualize your vision and maximize impact.

In summary, our team's multifaceted approach encompasses seeking visibility and recognition and actively engaging with key stakeholders, fostering collaborations, leveraging mentorship, and securing the necessary resources to drive meaningful progress and scale your innovation effectively.

In Nigeria, the conventional approach to supporting farmers in addressing climate change has been rooted in historical farm experience and peer pressure within farming communities. However, this traditional method has shown limitations, as it often overlooks the integration of scientific techniques and data-driven solutions to mitigate climate risks effectively. Over-reliance on historical farm experience and peer influence has contributed to significant crop failures in recent years, exacerbated by climate variability. Moreover, when such losses occur, farmers typically lack access to accessible and affordable micro-insurance options to mitigate the financial impacts of climate-related risks.

In contrast, SOFADRICLIMATE emerges as a pioneering solution, disrupting the status quo by advancing climate information accessibility and integration into farm-level planning annually. Departing from the prevalent week-level climate information available in existing solutions, SOFADRICLIMATE provides farmers with personalized, data-driven climate insights tailored to their specific crops and locations. This forward-looking approach empowers farmers to proactively plan for inputs and resources based on reliable climate data, enhancing their resilience to climate-related challenges.

Central to the innovativeness of SOFADRICLIMATE is its fully digitalized platform, which streamlines processes and enhances accessibility for farmers. By leveraging digital technology, the solution significantly reduces costs associated with training and information dissemination. While traditional community-based training methods may require an estimated $20 per farmer, SOFADRICLIMATE offers the same training and information at a fraction of the cost, approximately less than $3 per farmer.

Furthermore, SOFADRICLIMATE introduces a bundled approach, integrating data-driven climate information with affordable weather index micro insurance. This novel combination empowers farmers to make informed decisions based on climate forecasts and safeguard their livelihoods against climate-related losses through accessible insurance coverage. This holistic climate service offering represents a significant departure from conventional approaches, underscoring SOFADRICLIMATE's commitment to providing comprehensive solutions to mitigate climate risks for farmers.

In essence, SOFADRICLIMATE's innovative approach, characterized by its integration of data-driven climate information, digitalization, and bundled climate services, marks a paradigm shift in supporting farmers to effectively navigate and mitigate the impacts of climate change on agricultural livelihoods.

Inputs:

• Development of the SOFADRICLIMATE app: Resources, expertise, and technology are invested in creating a user-friendly platform that integrates data-driven climate information and weather index micro-insurance.
• Partnership with insurance providers: Collaboration is established with insurance partners to ensure the availability and accessibility of weather index micro-insurance for crop producers.

• Engagement with stakeholders: Farmers, agricultural extension workers, and relevant organizations are involved in the design, testing, and implementation of the app to ensure its relevance and effectiveness.    

• Activities:
•  Development and Launch: The SOFADRICLIMATE app is developed, incorporating user-friendly interfaces for accessing climate information and insurance services.
• Training and Capacity Building: Farmers and stakeholders are trained on how to use the app effectively, understand climate data, and navigate the insurance options available.
• Promotion and Awareness: Awareness campaigns are conducted to promote the benefits of the app and encourage uptake among target users.

• Continuous Improvement: Feedback mechanisms are established to gather insights from users, which are used to refine and enhance the app over time.

• Outputs

• Availability of SOFADRICLIMATE app: The app is accessible to crop producers, providing them with data-driven climate information and easy access to weather index micro-insurance.
• Increased Knowledge and Awareness: Farmers and stakeholders gain knowledge and awareness about climate risks and insurance options, empowering them to make informed decisions.
• Uptake of Services: Farmers utilize the app to access climate information for smart seasonal planning and make informed decisions about weather index micro-insurance coverage.

 Outcomes:

• Improved Resilience: Crop producers are better equipped to anticipate and mitigate climate risks, leading to improved resilience against adverse weather events and crop losses.
• Financial Protection: Farmers who opt for weather index micro-insurance coverage are financially protected against losses caused by adverse weather conditions, reducing their vulnerability to income shocks.
• Enhanced Agricultural Productivity: With access to timely and accurate climate information, farmers can optimize their farming practices, leading to increased agricultural productivity and income.

   Impact:

• Sustainable Livelihoods: By improving resilience, financial protection, and productivity, the SOFADRICLIMATE app contributes to the overall well-being and sustainability of crop producers and their communities.

• Climate Resilience at Scale: The widespread adoption of the app and its bundled services leads to enhanced climate resilience at scale, contributing to broader efforts to address climate change impacts in agriculture.

Our goal is to help farmers build resilience to climate risks while engaging digital options. With the bundled climate services to farmers in Nigeria. Our effort has reduced climate induced crop failures in Nigeria. By increasing crop yield/agricultural productivity via reduction in climate induced crop failures, the app will lead to reduction in hunger/food insecurity, reduction in poverty and will be a major contributor to climate action agenda of the global goals. 

The solution relies on a combination of web-based application and SMS application.  

Full-Time team: 15

part-Time: 4

Contract Based: 7

We have been working on this solution for about four years now.

Our team comprises 15 full-time members with diverse expertise spanning agricultural economics, development economics, policy, agricultural extension, insurance, business development, human capital, data science, and technology. This interdisciplinary approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted challenges we address.

A noteworthy aspect is that 98% of our team members reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) or the countries where our solution is deployed. This localized presence fosters deeper insights into the unique needs and contexts of the communities we serve. Furthermore, we actively strive to enhance gender balance within our team, recognizing the importance of diverse perspectives in driving innovation and inclusivity.

In our commitment to co-creation and partnership, we have dedicated over 80,000 hours to collaborating with farmer organizations, extension workers, and other stakeholders in the field. This collaborative approach ensures that our solutions are technically robust and culturally and contextually relevant, ultimately maximizing their impact and effectiveness on the ground.

Presently, our funding is sourced from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and foundations like the Roddenberry Foundation, USA, and JPAL. These funds enable us to offer our services to farmers at no cost. Looking ahead, the project's financial sustainability will be secured through a subscription-based model for accessing the climate advisory section of the app. Additionally, our insurance partner will compensate us with commissions for each farmer enrolled in weather index insurance through our platform, as outlined in the mutually agreed-upon service-level agreement. This revenue-generating approach will bolster our efforts to scale up and ensure the ongoing success of our innovative solution. 

Apart from our identified revenue streams from subscriptions and commissions, we shall:

1. Enhance the scalability of the SOFADRICLIMATE app by aligning it with emerging digital trends. This strategic move will broaden access to tech-driven donors and position us to pursue other funded requests for proposals (RFPs) on Resilience Food Systems and Nutrition/Climate Resilience in Africa, expanding our reach and impact.
2. Strengthen our organizational capacity by establishing an in-house resource mobilization unit and expanding our monitoring and evaluation team. This initiative will enable us to identify potential donors, foster meaningful relationships with them, and enhance our impact reporting capabilities, thus ensuring transparency and accountability in our operations.

 3. Diversify our funding sources by securing multi-year, catalytic grants from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and foundations operating in our area of innovation. These grants will provide sustainable financial support, enabling us to innovate and scale our initiatives effectively.

4.    Establish strategic partnerships with leading development organizations such as the United Nations WFP, AfDP, and FAO to generate revenue through contract-based work. By leveraging our expertise and capabilities, we aim to secure at least 20% of our revenue from such collaborations, fostering mutual growth and impact in the food systems and climate action.

5.    Create a pathway for securing research-based funding by establishing research projects on the evolution and evaluation of the SOFADRICLIMATE app. This innovative approach enables researchers and other stakeholders to access and utilize synthesized information to foster learning, knowledge, and policy.