DT4CMI

Inspiration

Population growth, land degradation, climate change and food security are all interrelated problems that must be addressed in order for agriculture to be sustainable. This is imperative in developing countries, like those in Africa, which are more exposed to risks.

By enabling proactive actions based on monitoring and risk predictions, digital technologies and tools could help improve sustainability and resilience among certain African populations, and help establish stable and secure food provision systems to move closer to achieving the goal of zero hunger (SDG2, Sustainable Development Goals 2).

Innovation

The DT4CMI project, supported by the ESA’s Kick-Start funding under the “Connected Agriculture” call, aims to support sustainable and resilient agriculture by using emerging technologies and developing innovative digital services. DT4CMI will leverage Earth Observation and Satellite communications to develop a Digital Twin tool as a service. The aim of this tool is to provide comprehensive agricultural information and timely predictions to farmers (about diseases, plant pests, irrigation needs, etc.) to support them in improving their practices and increasing their yield.

To ensure that the DT tool is accurate, in-situ data generated by sensors and IoT devices deployed in farming fields is considered a crucial data stream due to its high-temporal resolution, which provides comprehensive environmental monitoring features in real-time. In-situ data generated by IoT devices can mitigate the drawbacks of EO effectively, such as the satellite’s low sampling frequency (every 7-10 days), noisy pixels caused by unpredictable weather conditions (e.g. cloudiness) and limitations on imagery data collection during the night.

Several technical challenges must be overcome for the DT tool and related services to be developed, including data integration and data interoperability. Data integration can be particularly complex when combining in-situ IoT and EO data, since they have different features in terms of data format, data size, and spatial and temporal resolution.

Sub-Saharan countries, which are the focus of our project,    currently have limited cellular network coverage, resulting in unstable connectivity that impedes the adoption of digital solutions. To tackle this issue and extend connectivity, DT4CMI proposes the adoption and integration of IoT and satellite networks. LIST will investigate how to overcome the technical challenges for the actual development of the DT and its related services, in order to meet the needs of cocoa farmers in Africa.

Impact

By facilitating proactive measures through monitoring and risk prediction, DT4CMI will contribute to enhancing the sustainability and resilience of African populations. This could contribute to establishing stable food production and secure food provision systems, ultimately supporting the achievement of zero hunger (SDG2). DT4CMI focuses on cocoa production as a case study. However, the DT tool and proposed approach are not limited to this use case and can be used in other types of farming in other African countries. Therefore, future projects may focus on broader commercialization and expansion into other food production markets in Africa.

To develop a DT tool that can create real impact, the project is collecting feedback from local   stakeholders and cocoa farmers   in Côte d'Ivoire  and Togo. As such, the DT tool is expected to meet the needs   of both the end-users (farmers) and stakeholders (farmers’ associations, and large entities managing the cocoa market). Finally, besides its technical feasibility, the project provides insights into the economic viability of the tool, fundamental for ensuring its adoption in the market.