Women plant doctors 2 . 0 Empowering female farmers in Tunisia - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Women plant doctors 2 . 0 Empowering female farmers in Tunisia - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jul 13, 2023 108 likes •285 views

Women plant doctors 2 . 0 Empowering female farmers in Tunisia through a smartphone app ( Plantix ) ? ! 1 1 The Context - Tunisia 28.02.2018 2 15 30 % of annual harvest is lost in Tunisia due to plant diseases and pests

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„Women plant doctors 2.0“


Empowering female farmers in Tunisia through a smartphone app (Plantix) ?!


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2 28.02.2018

The Context - Tunisia


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15 – 30 % of annual harvest is lost in Tunisia due to plant diseases and pests Negative impact on Food and nutrition security Income and employment Environment, natural resources Health High unemployment rates of (educated) rural youth

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The Tunisian agriculture is female!

Over 60 % of the labor force in Tunisian agriculture are women

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Challenges

No access to information and expert know-how

Weak, public extension service No private advisors or too expensive Almost no women or farmer based

  • rganisations

(no exchange) Difficult access to land, inputs, etc. Weak technical/ vocational skills Last

  • ption:

pesticide traders Weak digital literacy Low literacy rates Remote areas Cultural factors (men dominated)

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The App - Plantix 2

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Plantix – the digital expert in your pocket. How does it work?

Select a crop Take a picture Immediate answer: List of possible diseases/pests Information about the disease

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Plantix – an information and decision making tool for (female) farmers and technicians.

International exchange forum …symptoms, causes and recommendations for treatment (organic and conventional) Recommendations for preventive measures in the future

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The Project: PPP + Women Plant Doctors

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Objective and setting-up of the partnership

Setting up: PPP between 2 GIZ projects + 2 startups (PEAT from Germany and RGT from Tunisia) Objective: Adapt Plantix to the Tunisian context and make it available to small-scale farmers (men and women) allowing them to rapidly identify, treat and prevent plant diseases and pests and to access advise/recommendations and good agricultural practices free of charge. GIZ Gender-Award 2017 : Adapt Plantix to the specific needs of female smallholder farmers and establish the “Women Plant Doctors” Network

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Who are the women plant doctors and what are they doing?

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Status Quo + Lessons Learnt4

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  • Achievements:
  • Plantix comprises many Tunisian cultures including those cultivated by

smallholder women (tomatoes, red pepper, fruit trees, potatoes)

  • App content is translated into Tunisian dialect
  • Women Plant Doctors are identified, trained, coached, …
  • Tangible empowerment
  • Some start working as service providers
  • Network “PlantMed” of young male and female plant doctors has

recently been established (women plant doctors are well presented in steering committee)

  • First user tests conducted (in order to adapt the user interface of the

app to the needs of female smallholders

However…

Status Quo – The glass is … ??? … half-full !!!

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  • Failures and complications:
  • Reduced number of beneficiaries (plant doctors)

due to complicated selection process and early drop outs (100 planned vs. 39 achieved)

  • No adaptation of Plantix’ user interface for

(illiterate) female smallholder farmers so far (e.g. no text to speech function)

  • Delayed project implementation (internal GIZ

procedures, seasonality, limited partner contributions, etc. )

  • Wrong assumptions at the beginning (e.g. effect
  • f digital illiteracy was underestimated, need for

support for plant doctors much higher than expected)

Status Quo – The glass is … ??? … half-empty !!!

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  • Plantix (or any other smartphone app) is most likely not an appropriate

tool to directly empower female smallholders (who are digital illiterate).

  • Technology itself is not enough. It does not empower women.

Emphasize on soft skills development (including digital literacy) and changing role models.

  • Work with female leaders, champions, change agents, etc. They can

close the gap.

  • Make user tests at an early stage (direct beneficiaries + change agents).
  • Digital technologies in agriculture attract the rural youth and generate

great interest on all levels.

  • P.s. Don’t buy cheap smartphones!

Preliminary lessons learnt

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Thank you !