Extreme Citizen Science in Agriculture – EcsAgri Project

USE OF COMMUNICATION AND MAPPING STRATEGY FOR PROMOTING CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA: THE eCSAGRI PILOT PROJECT.

The eCSAgri initiative, a six-month pilot project launched from January to June 2021, aimed to foster collaborative and participatory Climate-smart Agriculture (CSA) among three smallholder farming communities situated across different agro-ecological zones in South West Nigeria. Approximately 15 farmers from each community, along with 5 agricultural extension officers, participated in the project. These officers serve as vital intermediaries between farmers and governmental or research institutions, supporting agricultural practices.

Within each community, about 4 farmers possessed smartphones; however, smartphones were not provided; only data bundles and a solar power bank per community were supplied where necessary. The Environmental and Economic Resource Centre (EERC) in Nigeria led the project in partnership with Mapping for Change, University College of London (UCL), and ExCiteS, with funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and European Research Council.

eCSAgri represents an intersection of Citizen Science and CSA, emphasizing an integrated approach to enhance productivity, promote ecosystem-friendly practices, build resilience to climate change, and foster inclusivity within farming systems.

Situating the eCSAgri project and describing Citizen Science in this project.

The project focused on two main objectives:

1. Implementing co-designed ‘working’ prototypes to explore how digital tools can assist smallholder farmers in reporting and mapping farming issues, and in receiving timely advice from extension officers and peers.

• Developing strategies to convert land use data and knowledge exchanged among farmers and extension officers into actionable information for evidence-based decision-making.

To address identified technological gaps early in the project, we investigated the use of Sapelli and Community Maps in two distinct approaches aimed at enhancing these collaborations. Details of the process and technology employed are illustrated below and further elaborated in the subsequent sections.

This diagram outlines the sequence of activities (highlighted in yellow) and the corresponding technologies. Initially, Sapelli Designer was employed to create the Sapelli project, which was integrated into Sapelli Collector and a Sapelli PWA mapping pro.

During the engagement and Free Prior and Informed Consent process, we collaboratively designed the Sapelli project (featuring visual interfaces with Yoruba captions), incorporating feedback from farmers, extension officers, and the extensive agricultural expertise of EERC staff, focusing initially on identifying reporting and mapping priorities, and subsequently on integrating GPS-based farm location and satellite imagery for demarcation to enhance mapping capabilities

The two mapping methods utilize icons for GNSS and satellite imagery-based mapping. While tablets are ideal for demonstrations and initial interactions due to their ability to be viewed by multiple people simultaneously, the apps are optimized to functions on low-spec smartphones with minimal storage capacity and offline capability.

Contributing to a map involves two primary steps: creating a geometric shape and describing it. The geometric shapes are generated either using GPS on-site or by drawing a point, line, or polygon on-site or off-site using satellite imagery. These shapes can then be described using text, emojis, or the co-designed pictorial interface (Sapelli).

The image below illustrates the socio-technical approach of the knowledge-sharing phase, featuring a screenshot of the Sapelli Nigeria WhatsApp group. This platform allows farmers to send mapped reports of farming issues and receive timely advice from extension officers and fellow farmers facing similar challenges. Maps can be created and added to WhatsApp (or other messaging apps) offline, and they are automatically sent once online. Alternatively, maps can be shared via SMS

It’s crucial to note that some extension officers are tasked with supporting numerous farmers, highlighting the potential of digital tools to streamline this process.

A screenshot from the Sapelli Nigeria WhatsApp group displays audio recordings related to a reported farming issue, including details such as the location, farm size, and a description.

The interactive community map resulting from the mapping and sharing phases is created from data shared via Sapelli, either privately through GeoKey or WhatsApp, or as open data. The images below illustrate two technological methods for visualizing and analyzing this data: on the left, Mapping for Change’s Community Maps utilizing GeoKey for data storage, and on the right, a Sapelli Progressive Web App (PWA) mapping prototype displaying contributions shared in the WhatsApp group, automatically integrated into the community map on each device when the URL is accessed in the WhatsApp conversation. Alternatively, within the temporarily password-protected PWA prototype, users can share their contributions as open data (Carto database) for public viewing, commenting, or deletion. However, the open-for-all approach and functionality were not fully implemented or utilized due to the need for further discussions on user-generated land use data and time constraints.

Screenshot of the community maps displays clusters of points and polygons. On the left is Mapping for Change’s Community Maps, while on the right is the Sapelli Progressive Web App mapping prototype.

As the project neared completion, we swiftly developed a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) using the ArcGIS Operations Dashboard to examine how data generated by farmers and land users could be aggregated to provide validated information for decision-makers. The data processing and validation are depicted by the ‘transparent box’ shown in the second image of this post. Below is a screenshot of the SDSS displaying climatic data and synthesized, aggregated data on the total hectares affected by crop type and farming issues across the three local governments. However, progress on this front was limited, with only a few farmers reporting farming issues since the mapping phase began in mid-April.

A screenshot of the SDSS prototype highlighting on the map the  three local governments area in Southwest Nigeria where the project was implemented and providing information (not-real) about crops and issues in the widgets on the left, and climatic data on the right.

In the final month of the project, we collaborated with one of the involved extension officers in  organizing a meeting with approximately 40 extension officers from Odeda local government to present the pilot project and gather feedback. A few days later, a stakeholders’ meeting convened, bringing together 14 farmers and community leaders (4-5 per community), 5 extension officers, representatives from the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the State Ministry of Environment, the Ogun State Agricultural Development Program Office (OGADEP), and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the project’s progress and plan future steps

A cross-section of participants at the eCSAgric Stakeholders’ Meeting held on the 10th of June, 2021, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Six months have passed quickly. While overall feedback on the methods and technology used was positive, challenges such as technical issues with the apps experienced by farmers, uneven participation in the WhatsApp group, occasional spatial inaccuracies when using satellite imagery, and numerous socio-technical hurdles underscore the need for long-term action research funding and robust technological support to develop and scale digital innovations in rural Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) following human-centred design principles.

Regarding mapping, this pilot project suggests that in this and similar contexts, immediate messaging (text, images, audio, video, etc.) for soliciting and providing farming advice is more critical than mapping in the short term. However, empowering land users to map their own land remains important. If land users do not engage in mapping, sensors and machines will increasingly perform this task, contributing to national and global environmental management systems that may lack local knowledge (thus being incomplete) and could neglect the needs of land users. Hence, our approach aimed to adapt mapping to messaging, rather than the reverse.

We extend our gratitude to everyone involved in the project, including James Michael, Motole Okonkwo, Osilewe Mukaila, Loveth Opeyemi, Favour Nwankwo, Helen Onileimo, Adedoyin Adeleke, Bukola Osuntade, Luke Okojie, Maria Alonso, Hannah Stockwell, Louise Francis, Francisco Sanz, Judy Barrett, Muki Haklay, Claire Ellul, Jerome Lewis, all the farmers, extension officers, and stakeholders from Osiele, J4, Saki, Abeokuta, and other locations in Ogun and Oyo states. Special thanks also go to the ExCiteS team, Natural Aptitude, other open-source software developers, UKRI, ERC, Carto, Planet, ESA, and ESRI.