Transforming Agrifood Systems in West and Central Africa Initiative (TAFS-WCA) @December 2023 MAPPING CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES LANDSCAPE: Case of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 2 Acknowledgements This work is part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA). The TAFS-WCA initiative is a collaborative effort of nine centers including six CGIAR centers, namely the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the International Center for Potato (CIP) and the WorldFish and three international centers namely the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research (CORAF), The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) and The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe). The initiative further collaborates with national partners in different countries. The Initiative’s leadership thanks all funders for supporting this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund, and in particular the Governments of the Belgium and the Netherlands for their financial support. Citation Ouedraogo, A.; Ouedraogo, M.; Jiménez Daniel; Kagabo, D.; Singh, M; and Laderach, P. (2023). Mapping climate and agronomic digital advisory services landscape under the Transforming Agrifood Systems in West and Central Africa Initiative (TAFS-WCA): A case of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 40p. © Copyright of this publication remains with the authors and the CGIAR. This publication is an output of the CGIAR Research Initiative on Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA). Any opinions expressed here belong to the author(s) and are not necessarily representative of or endorsed by the Center or CGIAR. https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/wca-food-systems-transformation/ https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/wca-food-systems-transformation/ https://www.cgiar.org/funders/ TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DRC is 2nd country in the world, after Brazil, having vast agricultural potential. Agriculture and allied activities are of utmost importance to the DRC economy and for nation’s food security. Increasing climatic variability in the region and having low adaptive capacity makes the agricultural sector, which is already rainfed, highly vulnerable. Extreme weather events (floods and heat waves) are expected in the future which may have direct consequences in terms of unstable yields, uncertain production, in a country already facing food insecurity and conflict. Digital climate and agronomic services play a key role in achieving food security in the developing countries. In order to do this, a thorough review of the existing situation was carried out. This review aims at (1) identifying the available digital services, their particularities, strengths and weaknesses, (2) analyzing the global environment in which these digital services evolve, to provide an appropriate response for the benefit of users and digital innovators, and (3) assessing the potential for Public Private partnerships. In total, DRC has about 31 digital services in the agricultural sector, of which only 13 platforms are related to climate and agronomy. Most of these platforms are developed by private individuals. They use SMS, IVRS, USSD, apps and websites as the service platforms. Unlike other service providers, E-Tumba and Fieldy provide bundled services, including the weather forecasts. In terms of impact, the users acknowledge that the current digital services have positively impacted their lives. Indeed, users recognized that their yield increased by the use of weather forecasts, and the digital tools for early detection of pests. Furthermore, the guidance provided by the climatic and agronomic digital services also strengthened their capacity of planning and decision-making related to the on-farm and off-farm activities. However, the user base of the technology is still very small. The main challenges in adoption of these services by the users include: (1) low internet access; (2) limited access to devices, especially to the women; (3) low awareness; (4) affordability; and (5) digital illiteracy. For digital innovators, the challenges include: (1) country’s poor digital infrastructure coverage; (2) low literacy coupled with resistance in selling digital services to the farming population; and (3) unattractive digital policy for massive investment in this market. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary ........................................................................................ 3 Table of Contents ........................................................................................... 4 List of figures ................................................................................................ 6 List of Tables ................................................................................................. 6 List of acronyms ............................................................................................ 7 1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 8 1.1 Study background .................................................................................. 8 1.2 Objectives ............................................................................................ 8 1.3 Expected results .................................................................................... 8 1.4 Agriculture sector background ................................................................. 9 1.4.1 Crops and cropping system ............................................................. 10 1.4.2 Country Programme toward climate change effect mitigation ............... 12 1.5 Climate and agronomic digital advisory services background in DRC .......... 14 1.5.1 General background ....................................................................... 14 1.5.2 Principal challenges in digital agriculture ........................................... 16 2. Existing climatic and agronomic digital advisory services in DRC ................ 20 2.1 Climate and agronomic digital advisory services for smallholders ............... 20 3. Challenges .......................................................................................... 22 3.1 Climate change related challenges ......................................................... 22 3.2 Digital literacy, gender gap ................................................................... 23 3.3 Policy landscape, the policy perspective .................................................. 24 3.4 Global marketplace .............................................................................. 24 3.5 Key barriers hindering the access of actors to climate and agronomic digital advisory services ....................................................................................... 24 3.6 What needs do you see to assure that these systems are more focused on user and decision maker’s needs? ............................................................... 25 4. Target users | User Research ................................................................ 26 4.1 Who are the users of climate and agronomic digital advisory services and what are their specific information needs with regard to climate? .................... 26 4.2 Do end-users know what a climate and agronomic digital advisory services is? how familiar are we with these kinds of systems? .......................................... 26 4.3 What is the motivation of actors to contribute to climate an agronomic digital advisory service? ...................................................................................... 27 TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 5 4.4 How climate agronomic digital advisory services are currently used in decision-making processes ......................................................................... 28 4.5 Are these climate and agronomic digital advisory services systems needed for decision making ? ...................................................................................... 29 5. Bundled digital products ....................................................................... 30 5.1 What service bundles and incentives do agricultural actors and farmers need to access for improved decision making ....................................................... 30 5.2 Do the local partners have the capacity within their own system to, analyse, understand and take advantage of the potential of such services to mitigate climate and environmental risk ................................................................... 30 5.3 Are there business models to financially sustain over time these climate and agronomic digital advisory services? ............................................................ 30 5.4 Leadership and governance of agriculture sector ..................................... 31 5.5 Strategy and investment. Where did the main DigAg services drive come from? Where is most funding/investment money coming from? ....................... 31 6. Gender and social inclusion perspective .................................................. 32 6.1 How can we assure that the benefits of increased information availability are distributed equally ..................................................................................... 32 6.2 What is the awareness about the link between climate and agronomic digital advisory services and gender and social inclusion .......................................... 32 6.3 The role of youth ................................................................................. 33 6.4 What is the potential of climate an agronomic digital advisory service to positively impact the life of beneficiaries ...................................................... 33 7. Data harmonization.............................................................................. 35 8. Potential avenues for Climate and agronomic digital advisory services ........ 36 References .................................................................................................. 38 TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. evolution of rainfall (mm) in 5 climatic zones of the DRC in 1990 (p1), 2050 (p2) and 2100 (p3) (PANA, 2006) .......................................................... 13 Figure 2. Digital headlines in DRC for February 2022 ........................................ 14 Figure 3. DRC’ s connectivity Index ................................................................ 16 Figure 4. Subscriptions to ICT services per 100 inhabitants ............................... 17 Figure 5. Internet users over time from January 2012 to January 2022 ............... 18 Figure 6. Cost of mobile broadband as a percentage of GNI per capita, Q1 2020 .. 18 Figure 7. Internet users over time from January 2012 to January 2022 ............... 19 Figure 8. Identified Digital Agriculture Innovations in the DR CONGO .................. 19 Figure 9. Maps showing spatial variation of the change in the number of hot days (>35°C) by 2040–2059 (left) and by 2080–2099 (right), relative to the 1986–2005 baseline under RCP 8.5 ................................................................................. 22 Figure 10. Risk of river flood (left)38; risk of wildfire (right) .............................. 23 Figure 11. E-tumba business model with farmers ............................................. 29 Figure 12. Overview of social media use ......................................................... 32 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Area, yield and production of key crops grown in DRC from 2017 to 2021. ................................................................................................................. 11 Table 2: laws related to digital business in DRC. .............................................. 15 Table 3: Top 10 Climate and agronomic digital advisory services ....................... 20 Table 4: Target users of the identified climatic and agronomic digital services in DRC ........................................................................................................... 26 Table 5: Number of users of the climatic and agronomic digital services in DRC ... 27 Table 6: Use of climatic and agronomic digital services by farmers in DRC .......... 28 Table 7: financial business models used by DRC climatic and agronomic digital services ...................................................................................................... 30 Table 8: Potential impacts of digital climate and agronomic services in DRC ........ 34 Table 9: Data harmonization in DRC ............................................................... 35 Table 10: Potential avenues for Climate and agronomic digital advisory services in DRC ........................................................................................................... 36 TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 7 LIST OF ACRONYMS Acronym Meaning 4G Fourth generation in mobile internet AfDB African Development Bank BMZ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development CIS Climate Information Services CSA Climate Smart Agriculture CTA Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale DAG Digital Agriculture DRC Democratic Republic of Congo FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GDP Gross Domestic Product GSMA Group of Special Mobile Association ICT Information and Communications Technology ITU International Telecommunication Union (ITU) MIS Market Information System NCCP National Climate Change Plan NGO Non-Governmental Organization PANA National Climate Change Adaptation Plan PNSD Plan National Stratégique de Développement PPP Public Private Partnership UEMOA Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine USD US Dollar USSD Unstructured Supplementary Service Data WMO World Meteorological Organization TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 8 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 STUDY BACKGROUND Accurate and reliable Information is vital to strengthen the food systems capacity to feed Africa in the context of climate variability. It is why the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is working to deliver research-based solutions to the food system stakeholders. To achieve this goal, the Alliance intends to leverage the potential given by the Digital era in Africa. Through its work package 2 “Informed Digital Agriculture for Climate Resilience – Managing Climate Risks and Accessing Services” under the Regional integrated initiative - Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA), the Alliance would like to matchmake digital services providers and users across the continent especially in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study seeks to answer the following questions including: what are the climate and agronomic Digital advisory Services available in DRC? What type of services are they delivering? Are these services leading to better decisions for the end-users? Who are the targeted customers? Is it a scalable business? What is the readiness of each Digital Service providers for Partnerships? 1.2 OBJECTIVES This study aims to: - Conduct a literature review and synthetize results on the digital solutions in agriculture with focus on climate and environmental risk management; - Produce a report on the existing climate and agronomic digital advisory services in the agri-food systems for Democratic Republic of Congo. 1.3 EXPECTED RESULTS The expected output of the review includes digital Climate Information Service, Agro-advisory and Risks. It focusses particularly on: TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 9 • The type of information these services generate, frequency, platforms used, analytical techniques used; • how are they financially sustained; • current and potential end-users; • demand (current and desirable); • how these services lead to better decisions regarding food system efficiency and resilience; • capacity within the institutions to administrate, analyse, understand and use these systems for decision in the agri-food systems; • Main challenges (e.g., costs, local capacity, languages, Digital literacy, lack of data harmonization, data privacy, etc.) • Digital services and value chains with greatest potential; • Whether benefits of the systems are distributed equitably; • Services with the greatest potential to scale; • Potential for Public Private partnerships (PPP). 1.4 AGRICULTURE SECTOR BACKGROUND First of all, it should be noted that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country with a potential of 80 million hectares of arable land with only 10% used. It is the second country after Brazil to have such an agricultural potential. If all the land in the DRC were developed, the country could feed nearly 2 billion people a year worldwide. Despite this potential, agriculture remains poorly modernized with the lowest yields on the continent. (Ministère Agriculture RDC, 2008). In terms of potential, the DRC has a hydroelectric potential of 100,000 Megawatts, which represents 23% of the world's potential, 37% of Africa's potential and 52% of Africa's reserves (Agence Nationale pour la Promotion des Investissements, 2023). According to the same source, DRC has a variety of ecosystems covering nearly 145 million hectares. Also, the country has more than 150 million ha of forest land, which is 47% of African tropical forests and 6% of the world's tropical reserves. There are more than 1000 forest tree species. The wood production potential is estimated at 10,000,000 m3 per year. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 10 According to FAO & ITU (2022), DRC has more than 95,894,118 inhabitants with 54.36% living in rural area. This rural population have 13.90% of total land as agriculture lands. The same source mentioned that DRC is one of the low-income countries, with 72% of the total population living in extreme poverty. However, the country has the largest forest in Africa covering roughly 55.6% of the total land (World bank, 2022). In 2021, the GDP of DRC was up to 53.96 billion USD with 5.7% annual growth (World bank, 2022). In DRC, only 13.9% of the total land area is suitable for agriculture. Cassava and maize are the main food crops. The main cash crops include coffee, cocoa, sugar and palm oil (FAO & ITU, 2022). Although agricultural land is only 13.9 % and internet penetration is 19% in 2020, the DRC is working to develop its infrastructure, human resources, policy and business environment for the proper use of Digital Agriculture Advisory Services in its economy (FAO & ITU, 2022). According to International Trade Administration (2023), DRC has 80 million hectares of arable land with 4 million hectares of irrigated land. DRC is also naturally endowed with many rivers1, fishery resources. The agricultural sector employs over 60% of the Congolese and contributes 19.7% to the GDP. The main cash crops include coffee, palm oil, rubber, cotton, sugar, tea, and cocoa. The staple crops also include cassava, plantains, maize, groundnuts and rice. Despite this potential, the country is struggling to eliminate food insecurity. To enhance the agricultural sector, many innovations are under development in DRC by both private and public bodies, however they are mainly forest oriented (Nsomwe- a-NFUNKWA, 2006). 1.4.1 CROPS AND CROPPING SYSTEM As indicated above in the background, DRC is producing staple crops and commercial crops. The table below presents the area occupied by each crop, the average yield and the production from 2017 to 2021. Although the annual rainfall received in the DRC ranges from 1000 to 1500mm, often reaching 2000mm per year, majority of the crops grown in the region is still rainfed. 1 The Congo is the second-longest river on the African continent, having an approximate length of 4,700 kilometres TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 11 TABLE 1: AREA, YIELD AND PRODUCTION OF KEY CROPS GROWN IN DRC FROM 2017- 2021. Crops and indicators Year 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Grand Total Cassava, fresh 14137235 14575171 15016559 16033691 17119842 15376500 Area (ha) 4630301 4770999 4918130 5250148 5604580 5034832 Yield (kg/ha) 81420 81478 81434 81463 81493 81458 Production (tonnes) 37699983 38873036 40050112 42769463 45673454 41013210 Cocoa beans 15377 21113 24181 28076 32107 24171 Area (ha) 27770 40278 45652 52912 60752 45473 Yield (kg/ha) 4861 4 587 4832 4978 5027 4857 Production (tonnes) 13500 18475 22058 26337 30542 22182 Coffee, green 48966 62059 63961 64357 65246 60918 Area (ha) 102625 130753 135023 135843 137721 128393 Yield (kg/ha) 3931 3938 3921 3924 3927 3928 Production (tonnes) 40342 51485 52940 53303 54089 50432 Groundnuts, excluding shelled 315782 316492 324762 329183 333352 323914 Area (ha) 495000 495000 510000 513 000 515000 505600 Yield (kg/ha) 8957 9000 8929 9 074 9239 9040 Production (tonnes) 443388 445476 455356 465474 475817 457102 Maize (corn) 1675501 1673607 1636711 1673628 1718263 1675542 Area (ha) 2832465 2827032 2763430 2827000 2903683 2830722 Yield (kg/ha) 7719 7733 7740 7733 7726 7730 Production (tonnes) 2186318 2186055 2138962 2186150 2243379 2188173 Mangoes, guavas and mangosteens 159976 160542 161494 160670 160902 160717 Area (ha) 17366 17624 17526 17506 17552 17515 Yield (kg/ha) 169025 167971 169639 168876 168827 168868 Production (tonnes) 293536 296030 297318 295628 296326 295768 Natural rubber in primary forms 24546 25163 27661 27928 23810 25822 Area (ha) 58169 59608 65613 66275 56235 61180 Yield (kg/ha) 2269 2282 2297 2296 2294 2288 Production (tonnes) 13200 13600 15073 15214 12900 13997 Oil palm fruit 743866 747511 797650 835416 836283 792145 Area (ha) 285823 286584 307194 322259 322708 304914 Yield (kg/ha) 65775 65949 65756 65732 65707 65784 Production (tonnes) 1880000 1890000 2020000 2118258 2120433 2005738 Oranges 111150 110918 111107 110936 110764 110975 Area (ha) 10950 10897 10942 10906 10869 10913 Yield (kg/ha) 153935 154022 153936 153977 154018 153978 Production (tonnes) 168564 167835 168443 167924 167406 168034 Plantains and cooking bananas 1987291 1990373 1999910 2004354 2011686 1998723 Area (ha) 1093634 1094650 1099070 1102105 1106744 1099241 Yield (kg/ha) 44111 44145 44187 44159 44131 44147 Production (tonnes) 4824128 4832323 4856474 4866798 884184 4852781 Rice 887549 904597 937322 935825 1011312 935321 Area (ha) 1441226 1417844 1423434 1320000 1442356 1408972 Yield (kg/ha) 8416 9076 9687 11184 10959 9864 Production (tonnes) 1213006 1286872 1378846 1476290 1580620 1387127 Sugar cane 849532 875902 884024 890435 896845 879348 Area (ha) 46457 46493 46 632 46862 47089 46707 Yield (kg/ha) 443190 456909 460061 461549 463036 456949 Production (tonnes) 2058948 2124304 2145380 2162895 2180410 2134388 Sweet potatoes 221868 222119 233727 239991 246434 232828 Area (ha) 102174 102370 108461 111550 114726 107856 Yield (kg/ha) 50228 50190 50035 50055 50076 50117 Production (tonnes) 513201 513796 542686 558367 574501 540510 Tea leaves 4704 12934 12991 13045 11938 11122 Area (ha) 12000 33063 33213 33356 30425 28411 Yield (kg/ha) 960 1333 1333 1333 1333 1258 Production (tonnes) 1152 4407 4427 4446 4055 3697 Grand Total 1260951 1291330 1322832 1388497 1460802 1344 882 Source: Calculation from FAOSTAT database, 2022 TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 12 The overall performance of the crops productivity remains low in DRC. The main causes of this low performance can be explained by the low adoption of improved seed and other technologies. Ndeko et al (2022) pointed out that maize seed adoption is low in the region because the available seeds does not possess farmers’ preferred attributes. In South-Kivu district for example, preferred attributes in a maize seed include, high yield potential, early maturity, taste, and pest/disease resistance. In terms of the quantity of chemical fertilizer used per hectare, DRC is ranked among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). According to Statistica (2023), smallholder farmers in DRC is applying around 1.43 kg/ha whereas, the Egypt (country with highest usage of chemical fertilizers in SSA), is applying 415.31 kg/ha. In a nutshell, DRC has organizational issues (than potential) to develop its agriculture because it has the biggest potential in term of the availability of land and water resources. 1.4.2 COUNTRY PROGRAMME TOWARD CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT MITIGATION Although climate change is not clearly visible in the DRC at the moment, the country through its Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development has developed a National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PANA) covering the period 2022-2026. The National Climate Change Adaptation Plan states that the DRC will be affected by rainfall variations and vulnerable crops. DRC will experience (1) shortening of the rainy seasons and their variability, (2) an increase in average soil temperature (which affects crop growth), (3) harvests will be unreliable, and (4) people who depend on rainfed agriculture, will be extremely vulnerable (Ministère de l’Environnement et Développement Durable , 2021). Figure 1 presents the rainfall trends for DRC from 1990 to 2100 in five climatic zones. From this figure, it evident that the DRC will receive less rainfall in climatic zones Matadi, and Lubumbashi, and increased rainfall in others. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 13 FIGURE 1. EVOLUTION OF RAINFALL (MM) IN 5 CLIMATIC ZONES OF THE DRC IN 1990 (P1), 2050 (P2) AND 2100 (P3) (PANA, 2006) Source : (Ministère de l’Environnement et Développement Durable , 2021) Similar trends have been presented by the world bank group in their DRC’s Climatic Risk Profiling report. Indeed, more intense rainfall and rising temperatures are likely to occur. If these events occur, they will significantly hamper development goals in agriculture, as they will likely impact crop productivity and necessitate significant changes to the current farming practices. The vulnerable crops in DRC include maize, cassava, plantains, sweet potato, beans, groundnuts (world bank Group, 2021). In order to reduce the impact of climate change in the agricultural sector in the DRC, the National Adaptation Plan provides for the following actions: - The selection of resilient varieties at the level of agricultural research centres and universities; - The establishment of a dynamic agricultural calendar for each crop with the involvement of agro-meteorologists and agronomists; - The formulation of technical sheets and the installation of school fields for the training of farmers and others; - The training of extension journalists in rural radio stations in the area of climate risks; - the use of agro-meteorology to prevent climate risks. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 14 1.5 CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES BACKGROUND IN DRC 1.5.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND According to FAO & ITU (2022), it is estimated that DRC has an appreciable coverage of 4G (34%) and mobile ownership (42.7 %) in 2019. However, the access to secure internet from servers remained very low (3.85 per 1 million people). In terms of connectivity, the Mobile-cellular subscription was around 45.5%, and the active mobile broadband subscriptions was 19.53% in 2020. According to Jellason et al (2021), Sub-Saharan Africa have to address the knowledge, skills, finance and infrastructure gaps if it intends to leverage digital agriculture potential. In DRC, the mobile phone connections were estimated at 43.9% and the use internet was less than 17% (DATAREPORTAL, 2022). The figure below presents the digital headlines for February 2022 in DRC. FIGURE 2. DIGITAL HEADLINES IN DRC FOR FEBRUARY 2022 (SOURCE: DATAREPORTAL, 2022) In the DRC, internet service providers include Microcom, Global Broadband solutions, OrionCom, DHI, Raganet, Afrinet, PIWI and Standard Telecom. Mobile phone providers include Airtel, Vodacom, Orange DRC, Africell and Standard Telecom. Fibre optic deployment is provided by SCPT, SNEL and Liquid Telecom (Présidence de la République Démocratique du Congo, 2019). In order to regulate the digital sector, TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 15 the DRC has passed a number of laws and decrees to facilitate business in the industry. The table below presents the key laws in DRC related to digital business. TABLE 2: LAWS RELATED TO DIGITAL BUSINESS IN DRC. Laws related to Digital business in DRC Content Framework law n°013/2002 of 16 October 2002 on telecommunications in the DRCongo « Loi-cadre n°013/2002 du 16 octobre 2002 sur les télécommunications en RDCongo » Organisation of operators’ schemes in : Public Operator’s Public Operator’s Network, Concessionary Networks (licences and authorisations) and Independent Networks (declarations), Law n°014/2002 of 16 October 2002 establishing the Postal Regulatory Authority of the Autorité de Régulation de la Poste and Telecommunications, ARPTC in acronym “Loi n°014/2002 du 16 octobre 2002 portant création de l’Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications, ARPTC en sigle” Competition promotion missions focused on consumer rights, management of scarce telecom resources (radio frequencies and numbering), examining applications for licences and authorisations and authorisations, drawing up specifications, definition of interconnection principles, regulation of voice and SMS services, advice on the evolution of ICT legislation Law n°18/019 of 9 July 2018 on Payment Systems and Payment and Securities Settlement Systems “Loi n°18/019 du 9 juillet 2018 relative aux Systèmes de paiement et Règlement-Titres” Regime relating to the operation of electronic payment systems and instruments (remote financial services and electronic money) and electronic money) Source : (Présidence de la République Démocratique du Congo, 2019) Aware of the potential offered by the digital technology, the DRC has adopted a digital development plan for 2025 (Présidence de la République Démocratique du Congo, 2019). This plan recognises that improvements are needed and should focus on the following areas: • Broadband infrastructure • Data centres and related equipment TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 16 • Incentives for access to the connected revolution • Human capital and leadership • Megadata (Big Data, Open Data) • e-Administration • Securing uses • Interregulation • Cybersecurity 1.5.2 PRINCIPAL CHALLENGES IN DIGITAL AGRICULTURE This review identified several challenges for the development, availability and adoption of digital climate and agronomic services in DRC. 1.5.2.1 DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE In central Africa, DRC is ranked at 15 (out of 16 countries) in terms of the digital infrastructure (Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa, 2022). For the Mobile Connectivity Index, DRC is scored globally at 30.5. The Digital Infrastructure, the affordability, the consumers readiness scores are presented in the figure 4. The direct consequence of this low endowment in digital infrastructure is that the deployment of climatic and agronomics digital advisory especially in rural area will suffer for a while. FIGURE 3. DRC’ S CONNECTIVITY INDEX (SOURCE: GSMA, 2023) In the National Plan related to Digital technology, DRC recognized that the country is low-endowed in infrastructure. The figure below highlighted this situation. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 17 FIGURE 4. SUBSCRIPTIONS TO ICT SERVICES PER 100 INHABITANTS (SOURCE : (PRESIDENCE DE LA REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO, 2019) 1.5.2.2 LITERACY According to FAO & ITU (2022), digital literacy in the country remains low. Indeed, it was estimated to be 2.8 in the index ranking 1-7. However, the digital literacy among the adults is above 77%. The youth’s digital literacy is even bigger than the adults one (84.99%). The number of digitally competent staff in the DRC is low and often misaligned with market demand. Also, there are almost no training programmes for digital literacy. Young people seem to have more digital skills but they are not active in the economy to reverse the trends (World Bank , 2020). It should be noted that the digital innovators2 themselves are trying to train the users of their services. For example, Schoolap and VODA EDUC are providing digital education to Congolese. 1.5.2.3 AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS TO INTERNET Although infrastructure is the major challenge in the DRC, internet access and penetration is appreciable. The figure below highlights this increasing trend in internet use in DRC. According to DATAREPORTAL (2022), DRC registered 16.5 million of internet users while they were only 815,000 users in 2012. 2 https://disrupt-africa.com/2018/10/01/drc-ed-tech-platform-schoolap-targets-20-market- share-by-2020/ https://disrupt-africa.com/2018/10/01/drc-ed-tech-platform-schoolap-targets-20-market-share-by-2020/ https://disrupt-africa.com/2018/10/01/drc-ed-tech-platform-schoolap-targets-20-market-share-by-2020/ TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 18 FIGURE 5. INTERNET USERS OVER TIME FROM JANUARY 2012 TO JANUARY 2022 (SOURCE: DATAREPORTAL, 2022) While internet access is increasing in the DRC, the cost of access remains high compared to Central African countries. So, internet cost is still very high compared to the neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania. This high cost of internet can impact the adoption of Climatic and agronomic digital advisory uptake. FIGURE 6. COST OF MOBILE BROADBAND AS A PERCENTAGE OF GNI PER CAPITA, Q1 2020 (SOURCE: WORLD BANK) 1.5.2.4 NETWORK CONNECTIVITY In February 2022, , more than 43 million were connected to the internet in DRC. This does not include Internet of Things (IoT). Globally, more than 46% of Congolese are connected to Internet. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 19 FIGURE 7. INTERNET USERS OVER TIME FROM JANUARY 2012 TO JANUARY 2022 (SOURCE: DATAREPORTAL, 2022) 1.5.2.5 DIGITAL AGRICULTURE SERVICE NEEDS In terms of digital agriculture in DRC, the number of innovations remains low compared to other countries in central Africa (Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa, 2022). Previous empirical research shows that agro-advisory innovations were dominant. No innovation in digital climatic had been identified (figure 8). Why Climatic digital services still missing? Maybe this is due to the fact that climate variability is not yet severe to generate a creditworthy demand. FIGURE 8. IDENTIFIED DIGITAL AGRICULTURE INNOVATIONS IN THE DR CONGO (SOURCE: (CENTRE FOR COORDINATION OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA, 2022) TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 20 Based on the fact that the innovations presented were certainly created on the basis of market research by the promoters, it can be concluded that the current demand includes more agronomic digital advisory, financial for electronic payments as presented in the figure above. 1.5.2.6 DIGITAL AGRICULTURE BARRIERS AND PROJECTED CHANGES IN CAPACITY In DRC, the key barriers that should be addressed to unlock the digital potential include: (1) incentives to increase access and secure data centres; (2) content (includes leveraging Big Data and open data, and stimulating local digital industry); (3) applications (include e-Government, norms and standards and a digital culture); (4) and governance on data protection, cybersecurity, and the legal and regulatory framework (Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa, 2022). The other barriers include the lack of mobile network coverage, the digital literacy, farmer uptake and use, and access to devices. 2. EXISTING CLIMATIC AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES IN DRC 2.1 CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES FOR SMALLHOLDERS This review has identified digital services related to climate and agronomy. The table below presents the innovations identified, their year of creation and a brief description of them. TABLE 3: TOP 10 CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES Innovation Affiliation Year of launc h Brief description of the innovation Olam Farmers Information Service NGO 2014 Agricultural information (prices, weather, technical advice, training), Profiling, Supply Chain, Management, Traceability, Digital payments FAMEWS FAO 2019 FAMEWS is a digital app provided by FAO to help in early detection of FAW (Pests management). This app should be used whenever the field is TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 21 surveyed and pheromone traps are checked for FAW GeoFarmer Private 2017 Geofarmer is a digital tool to complement extension services and foster active farmers participation and knowledge exchange Online seed verification system Private 2019 Online seed origin verification especially imported seed. With this tools, farmers can check the quality of the seed and get information on the origin as well. Viamo platform Private 2017 VIAMO is a platform dedicated to the world disconnected from the Internet. With this platform, extension and weather services can reach the most remote farmers. The farmer just needs a simple phone to benefit from agricultural services. AFROAGRIPRE NEURS NETWORK Private 2021 One of the Afroagriprenuers Network service is to help small-scale farmers organize into business groups, improving their knowledge, credit access, and negotiating power and train farmers how to improve the quality and yields of their crops and earn higher prices. Jaunecongo Private 2014 JauneCongo Promotes organic farming and products AgriCongo Private 2018 AgriCongo provides mainly agricultural advisory to smallholder farmers. AgriCongo is an open platform of support NGOs active in the agricultural sector in the DRC, which aims to build a shared vision and approaches and to unite means for the promotion of the peasant movement in the DRC. E-tumba Private 2015 E-tumba provides solutions for facilitating and optimising personalised agronomic support for all African farming areas where sustainable co- construction is being developed. E-tumba deliver customized technical itinerary, extension, weather Fieldy Private 2020 Fieldy provides essentially: weekly field level crop progress and Weather forecasts TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 22 3. CHALLENGES 3.1 CLIMATE CHANGE RELATED CHALLENGES Studying the climate risk country profile, the World Bank Group (2021) found that DRC will experience temperature change between +1.7°C to 4.5°C by the end of this century. DRC will then experience an increase in hots days ( ranging between 13% to 58%) and hot nights (ranging between 33% and 86%). The global change from 2005 to 2099 can be seen in the maps below (Figure 9). FIGURE 9. MAPS SHOWING SPATIAL VARIATION OF THE CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF HOT DAYS (>35°C) BY 2040–2059 (LEFT) AND BY 2080–2099 (RIGHT), RELATIVE TO THE 1986– 2005 BASELINE UNDER RCP 8.5 Source: (world bank Group, 2021) In terms of precipitation, there is no significant change in annual rainfall. However, DRC will experience variable rainfall, with likely increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. The variation is projected to reach 27%. Of course, these variations will have an impact on crops’ yields and performance, especially maize, cassava, groundnuts etc. Given that agriculture is sensitive to climate variability and given its high reliance on rainfall, the performance of agricultural production in DRC will suffer. As a reminder, agriculture is the main contributor to GDP (with 40% contribution) and employs over 70% of the population. The maps below presents the occurrence of flood and wildfire (Figure 10). TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 23 FIGURE 10. RISK OF RIVER FLOOD (LEFT)38; RISK OF WILDFIRE (RIGHT) (SOURCE: (WORLD BANK GROUP, 2021) 3.2 DIGITAL LITERACY, GENDER GAP The identified innovations above do not segment the users in terms of gender. The main focus is the issue farmers are facing. However, empirical studies have shown that the digital literacy level remains low in DRC. According to World Bank (2020), the formal digital skills training offered in DRC are limited and fragmented. Nascent informal training structures play an ever-important role and need to be further supported because there were few formal training opportunities in DRC. The same source highlights that there was a significant gap between the urban and rural areas in terms of basic infrastructure access, including access to electricity, high cost and coverage of internet, and access to digital devices. There is also a misalignment between available skills and market demand. There is then a real need to redefine training content and curriculum to meet the market demand. In its report on the Mobile Gender Gap Report, GSMA (2022) indicates that literacy is among the top three barriers for female and male. Lack of literacy and digital skills are the top barriers preventing both male and female mobile users, who are aware of mobile internet, from adopting it. According to DEVCO (2020), the gap between males and females is in terms of the access to formal education where females were TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 24 heavily excluded from the system. In addition to this gap, there is the inequitable access of financial and productive resources to the females. 3.3 POLICY LANDSCAPE, THE POLICY PERSPECTIVE Policy is one of the most important enablers to develop the economy. Indeed, it regulate and facilitate the business among suppliers and users in the country. Given that importance, DRC government decided to set up some policies and plans which are supposed to guide all the stakeholders in the digital industry. According to DEVCO (2020), the current policies and laws available in the DRC include the following: • Freedom of Information and Communication Law no. 8-2001 (2001) • Regulation of Electronic Communications Sector, Law no. 9- 2009 • Establishment of the Regulatory Agency of Postal and Electronic Communications, Law no. 11-2009 (2009) • Plan National Stratégique de Développement (PNSD, 2017-2021) • Plan National Numérique (Horizon 2025) 3.4 GLOBAL MARKETPLACE The digital marketplace in DRC includes farmers, digital innovators, NGOs, project and government as well (Présidence de la République Démocratique du Congo, 2019). The main role of the government is to set up the policy environment to enable a fair business between stakeholders. Also, government plays a key role in setting up some basic and sovereign infrastructures (energy, optical fibre). The digital innovators, on the other hand, focus on delivering services to the end-users. Given that many factors hinder the uptake of the digital innovations, projects and NGOs come in to educate and create awareness towards the digital innovation. 3.5 KEY BARRIERS HINDERING THE ACCESS OF ACTORS TO CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES First of all, it is important to note that in DRC, the supply of climatic and advisory digital advisory is still underdeveloped. This can be seen in the identified innovation TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 25 list. So, the topmost issue hindering the access to the digital agriculture service is the supply. Of course, we can assume that the lack of supply may mean lack of low demand of climatic and agronomic digital services in DRC. From empirical research perspective, the low supply of climatic and agronomic digital services is linked to the low supply of digital infrastructure (Digital Impact Alliance, 2020). Also, the fact that the DRC is well-watered is a factor that impacts the current climatic and agronomic demand as farmers are not yet experiencing significantly the negative impacts of climate variability. 3.6 WHAT NEEDS DO YOU SEE TO ASSURE THAT THESE SYSTEMS ARE MORE FOCUSED ON USER AND DECISION MAKER’S NEEDS? From the review coupled with the interviews, the need for farmers can be summarized as follow: - The evidence of climatic and agronomic digital services’ impacts on their income and well-being still needs to be demonstrated. Indeed, without a clear outcome from the use of these digital solutions, it may be challenging to convince the farmers to adopt widely and easily; - To introduce successfully the climatic digital service which is missing in DRC, the innovators can start with the extreme events forecasts. Given that DRC is known to experience extreme floods and wildfires, farmers and others value chain actors may need that information to mitigate the negative effects of climatic variability. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 26 4. TARGET USERS | USER RESEARCH 4.1 WHO ARE THE USERS OF CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES AND WHAT ARE THEIR SPECIFIC INFORMATION NEEDS WITH REGARD TO CLIMATE? Depending on the services provided by the innovators, the users are a bit different. Of course, the majority of farmers can use the digital services because most of them are growing several crops including maize, rice, cassava, cotton and tree crops (coffee, cocoa). TABLE 4: TARGET USERS OF THE IDENTIFIED CLIMATIC AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL SERVICES IN DRC Innovation Affiliati on Year of launc h Users (target) Olam Farmers Information Service NGO 2014 Coffee FAMEWS FAO 2019 Cereals including maize, rice, sorghum GeoFarmer Private 2017 All crops Online seed verification system Private 2019 All farmers purchasing seed Viamo platform Private 2017 All crops AFROAGRIPRENEURS NETWORK Private 2021 All crops Jaunecongo Private 2014 All crops AgriCongo Private 2018 All crops E-tumba Private 2015 Cacao, coffee, cotton, rice Fieldy Private 2020 All crops 4.2 DO END-USERS KNOW WHAT A CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES IS? HOW FAMILIAR ARE WE WITH THESE KINDS OF SYSTEMS? Considering the available statistics and reports, it becomes clear that the current users of climatic and agronomic digital services still requires awareness about it. Only “Olam Farmers Information Service” has 500,000 users which represents barely 0.96% of the rural population. The other innovations are far from having a significant figure (table 5). TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 27 TABLE 5: NUMBER OF USERS OF THE CLIMATIC AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL SERVICES IN DRC Innovation Affiliation Year of launch Number of users Olam Farmers Information Service NGO 2014 500 000 FAMEWS FAO 2019 10 000 GeoFarmer Private 2017 - Online seed verification system Private 2019 - Viamo platform Private 2017 2 600 AFROAGRIPRENEURS NETWORK Private 2021 - Jaunecongo Private 2014 2 500 AgriCongo Private 2018 1 300 E-tumba Private 2015 168 (22060 hectares coverred) Fieldy Private 2020 100 4.3 WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION OF ACTORS TO CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE AN AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICE? In the DRC, weather conditions appear to be stable for the time being. Therefore, digital service providers are focused on agronomic services and market access for agricultural products. The motivation of service providers' is primarily financial, as they believe that farmers need these services to manage pests, to improve access to seed, and fertilizer. From the State's point of view, access to climate and agronomic services is of paramount importance as it is a part of its digital development plan for 2025. As for projects and NGOs, they play an awareness-raising role with regard to climate risks and the vulnerability of rural populations' livelihoods TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 28 4.4 HOW CLIMATE AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES ARE CURRENTLY USED IN DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES TABLE 6: USE OF CLIMATIC AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL SERVICES BY FARMERS IN DRC Innovation Affili ation Use of the climatic and agronomic digital services by farmers Olam Farmers Information Service NGO Although Olam offers several services, the review revealed that agricultural advice and product marketing are the most requested by farmers. Weather forecasting remains in low demand by farmers. The agricultural advice they seek enables them to meet the production standards required by Olam when purchasing products FAMEWS FAO farmers use FAMEWS when they sense that pests are attacking crops. FAMEWS can be said to be a digital farm advisory as it allows them to detect pests and recommended treatments GeoFarmer Privat e Farmers use Geofarmer to exchange knowledge and experiences. By using this platform, farmers learn on through their pairs (positive or negative experiences). This way of learning help them to avoid mistakes and improve their production system than the classic learning and extension advisory Online seed verification system Privat e Farmers and extension service agents use this platform to check the origin of the seed they are buying. If there no information on the seed after checking, it means the quality of that seed is questionable. From the result of the verification, users can decide to use or to reject of the seed. Viamo platform Privat e Viamo is mainly used by innovator such as weather and extension service agents to share information and knowledge to farmers in remote areas. They conceive the message to be broadcast and use Viamo to share it. AFROAGRIPR ENEURS NETWORK Privat e Trainings on CSA and agronomics have been organized online for groups of farmers to improve their production processes. The ultimate goal to improve yield and products quality for processing units. Jaunecongo Privat e Farmers use our trainings and good agronomics practices in organic farming. AgriCongo Privat e Through AgriCongo’s vision pesant farmers are becoming aware of the importance of knowledge and the role they should play in the sector. E-tumba Privat e e-tumba assist farmers with weather forecasts and appropriate actions to be taken. Also, e-tumba helps farmers to keep record on all actions they have taken. Fieldy Privat e Through its services including weekly field level crop progress and Weather forecasts, farmers leverage them to make decisions TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 29 FIGURE 11. E-TUMBA BUSINESS MODEL WITH FARMERS Source: https://e-tumba.com/en/solutions-2/fieldsim/ 4.5 ARE THESE CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES SYSTEMS NEEDED FOR DECISION MAKING ? Although majority of farmers are not in a habit of accessing the weather forecast, however, those who use it seems more confident than the non-users. For agronomic advice, its usage has been made mandatory if the farmer wants to take advantage of the market promoted by digital innovators. In fact, farmers are required to follow a minimum process accepted by other parties in order for their products to be accepted in the market. https://e-tumba.com/en/solutions-2/fieldsim/ TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 30 5. BUNDLED DIGITAL PRODUCTS 5.1 WHAT SERVICE BUNDLES AND INCENTIVES DO AGRICULTURAL ACTORS AND FARMERS NEED TO ACCESS FOR IMPROVED DECISION MAKING According to some actors, bundling pest management, early detection tools, and Good Agronomic Practices are few of the options needed. Also, information related to inputs (prices, availability) and market (especially prices) are other bundling options. For the time being, it seems that the awareness on weather information utility remains very low. This can be understood by the fact that the country is well-watered. There is a need to work on farmers’ awareness on weather information. 5.2 DO THE LOCAL PARTNERS HAVE THE CAPACITY WITHIN THEIR OWN SYSTEM TO, ANALYSE, UNDERSTAND AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE POTENTIAL OF SUCH SERVICES TO MITIGATE CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK As it can be seen on the identified climatic and agronomic digital services list, the climate mitigation remains under-developed in DRC. However, some of innovators including fieldy, e-tumba, viamo have the capacity to improve and leverage on it. 5.3 ARE THERE BUSINESS MODELS TO FINANCIALLY SUSTAIN OVER TIME THESE CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES? The majority of the climatic and agronomic digital services suppliers have used their own capitals to set up the businesses. This way of financing is considered to be sustainable because the entrepreneur will do his best to get back his investment compared to those who rely on subsidy and grants. TABLE 7: FINANCIAL BUSINESS MODELS USED BY DRC CLIMATIC AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL SERVICES Innovation Affiliation Year of launch Financial MODEL Olam Farmers Information Service NGO 2014 Own capital FAMEWS FAO 2019 Grant GeoFarmer Private 2017 Grant Online seed verification system Private 2019 Grant & subsidy Viamo platform Private 2017 Own capital AFROAGRIPRENEURS NETWORK Private 2021 Own capital TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 31 Jaunecongo Private 2014 Own capital AgriCongo Private 2018 Grants, subsidy E-tumba Private 2015 Own capital Fieldy Private 2020 Own capital 5.4 LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR Based on the number of users, we can say that FAMEWS, Olam Farmers Information Service, Viamo are the market leaders in climate and agronomic services in DRC. Of course, the sector is governed by the National Regulation Authority of the Post and Telecommunications of DRC3. The National Regulation Authority mission include: - Legal regulation, i.e. ensuring the application of laws and accompanying regulations and helping to adapt them; - Technical regulation, through the allocation of scarce resources such as numbers and frequencies, and also the determination of interconnection mechanisms, which presuppose a knowledge of the functioning of telecommunications networks; - Economic regulation by analysing market situations, monitoring tariffs and assessing the cost of universal service; - Social regulation by taking into account the interests of consumers. 5.5 STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT. WHERE DID THE MAIN DIGAG SERVICES DRIVE COME FROM? WHERE IS MOST FUNDING/INVESTMENT MONEY COMING FROM? For the time being, it is difficult to conclude that innovators are able to sell massively given the number of users of these digital technologies. Given also that the majority are from the private sector (i.e. having used their own funds), we can deduce that the sector is mostly privately funded. Certainly, some infrastructures such as optical fibre are the responsibility of the State. 3 https://arptc.gouv.cd/presentation/ https://arptc.gouv.cd/presentation/ TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 32 6. GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION PERSPECTIVE 6.1 HOW CAN WE ASSURE THAT THE BENEFITS OF INCREASED INFORMATION AVAILABILITY ARE DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY To solve the issue of equal access to all potential clients of digital climate and agronomic services, it would first be necessary to solve the issue of equal access to productive resources and internet access terminals. Indeed, there is already an inequality between men and women. The figure below illustrates that fact with the case of social media use. FIGURE 12. OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE (SOURCE: DATAREPORTAL, 2022) 6.2 WHAT IS THE AWARENESS ABOUT THE LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES AND GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION For the time being, innovations are not well known to the majority of farmers. The few farmers who use these technologies do so with the support of NGOs and projects. With the support of "accessnow4", a humanitarian organisation, the Congolese people are being made aware of their digital access rights. Access to all without exclusion is one of the rights defended by this organisation. According to GSMA (2022), the digital awareness starts by awareness of internet. There were 16.50 million internet users in the DRC in January 2022 which represented 4 https://www.accessnow.org/democratic-republic-congo-orders-orange-cameroon-slow- internet-capacity/ https://www.accessnow.org/democratic-republic-congo-orders-orange-cameroon-slow-internet-capacity/ https://www.accessnow.org/democratic-republic-congo-orders-orange-cameroon-slow-internet-capacity/ TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 33 around 17.6% of the total population at the start of 2022. From this statistic, we can derive the number of non-users in DRC. So, more than 82% of the population remain offline (DATAREPORTAL, 2022). 6.3 THE ROLE OF YOUTH The youth play a huge role in digital economy because the uptake of the technology is high for this segment of consumer. In DRC, the youth (18 to 34 years) represent 26% of the population (DATAREPORTAL, 2022). The majority of them are connected to internet. However, they have less access to the productive resources needed in agriculture. In their study entitled "Understanding secondary school youth perceptions of agricultural careers in the Democratic Republic of Congo", Mulei et al (2020) concluded that 86% of the students attended agricultural courses and 54% identified agriculture as having a place in their future, but often not as their highest career ambition. Livestock, field cropping, small animal production, and horticulture were the most viable enterprises for the youngsters. Nearly half (46%) were averse to agriculture as a career path based their decision upon excessive labour requirements (30%), difficulties in securing land (25%), and low returns to effort (20%). It can therefore be said that the right entry point for the adoption of digital climate and agronomy services should not ignore young people in DRC. 6.4 WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL OF CLIMATE AN AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICE TO POSITIVELY IMPACT THE LIFE OF BENEFICIARIES TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 34 TABLE 8: POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF DIGITAL CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC SERVICES IN DRC Innovation Affiliatio n Potential Impacts of the climatic and agronomic digital services for farmers Olam Farmers Information Service NGO • Increase in yield • Access to market which lead to increase in income • Access to weather which can change the cropping pattern FAMEWS FAO FAMEWS saves farmers through rapid pest detection. This reduces the loss of production. Crops are produced with less caterpillar attack. GeoFarmer Private When farmers share their practices with each other, it increases their belief in their ability to achieve similar results to their peers. The visible impact is the adoption of good practices and technology because it comes from other farmers. In contrast, advice from extension agents is taken with caution as farmers see them as theorists and not practitioners. Online seed verification system Private Online seed verification allows farmers to seck the origin and the quality as well. It is scientifically proven that seed contribute up to 40% of yield. This is true if the quality of seed is guaranted. So, Online seed verification system is quality guarantee. Viamo platform Private Given that Viamo is able to share weather and knowledge without internet, the platform impacts offline farmers lives in remote areas where internet remain a challenge. AFROAGRIPR ENEURS NETWORK Private CSA is known to mitigate climate negative effects on yield. So, the users of AFROAGRIPRENEURS NETWORK have the opportunity to apply these knowledge and maintain at least their yield. AgriCongo Private AgriCongo assists Pesant farmers to play a role in the food system by increasing their awareness. Pesant farmers will impact the availability of food when they become aware that they have a mission to provide food to Congolese. The direct consequence is that they will earn more income. E-tumba Private e-tumba is a bundled CIS because it provides weather information and suggest the appropriate action given the forecasts. The bundle provided contributes to reduces production costs as the farmer would have to purchase each service separately with no guarantee of success. The farmer is expected to make more good decisions; therefore, he should get more utility (more yield, income and margin). Fieldy Private With Fieldy, the farmer can monitor his crops weekly progress and forecast is production. Field Again, from the weather information provided, he can decide for the relevant actions to take. TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 35 7. DATA HARMONIZATION TABLE 9: DATA HARMONIZATION IN DRC Key questions Answers Where is the data is published or stored? In the DRC, innovators store their data at their convenience. There is no common data storage platform at the moment. The majority of the innovations publish the information via play store, USSD, SMS and websites. Olam5 for example is publishing on play store and USSD depending to location. FAMEWS6 and Viamo also publish on google play. Geofarmer is using it own website7 (Geofarmer is supported by CIA as well). In the case the data is published, is metadata provided to facilitate the retrieval of information? Metadata cannot be seen from the different innovations. Are guidelines for data standards In DRC, digital agriculture is nascent. The country is yet to organize the initiatives through legal framework, policy incentives and investment plan. Do you know about local, regional or national data sets that are underutilized? Datareportal8; GSMA BASIS9 ITU10 STATISTICA Any language issues faced when collecting or exchanging data? e.g. challenges in terms of data interpretation across the sectors: e.g., same word meaning something different between the sectors or a lack of understanding of a concept? The majority of the identified innovations are using their own concepts and terminology. Due to marketing reasons, every innovation is trying to use specific word and terminology to get its audience attention. The Legal and regulatory framework in the country The legal and regulatory framework in DRC include the following: 5 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.olam.fsp.farmer&hl=fr&gl=US 6 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fao.famews&hl=fr&gl=US 7 https://home.geofarmer.org/ 8 https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-democratic-republic-of-the-congo 9 https://www.basis.cloud/ 10 https://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.olam.fsp.farmer&hl=fr&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fao.famews&hl=fr&gl=US https://home.geofarmer.org/ https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-democratic-republic-of-the-congo https://www.basis.cloud/ https://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 36 Key questions Answers 1) Framework law n°013/2002 of 16 October 2002 on telecommunications in the DR Congo 2) Law n°014/2002 of 16 October 2002 establishing the Postal Regulatory Authority. 3) Law n°18/019 of 9 July 2018 on Payment Systems and Payment and Securities Settlement Systems How data privacy is usually managed? By law, users’ privacy is preserved. All the identified innovations are trying to preserve users’ privacy. For example, Olam preserves all its clients data11. FAMEWS states that “Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.” Viamo12 complies with the privacy and data protection regulations of the countries covered. 8. POTENTIAL AVENUES FOR CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES The market for climatic and agronomic digital services in the DRC remains primary and will continue to grow at a low rate as the country still seems to be well watered in the minds of farmers. This is also reflected in the low sales of digital services according to the promoters interviewed. We therefore recommend: - that Alliance Bioversity and CIAT accompany the actors to review the general policy of digital in relation to agriculture; - Also, awareness-raising activities on climate events and available solutions should be promoted by innovators in collaboration with the DRC Ministry of Agriculture; - by facilitating a bundling, Alliance Bioversity and CIAT could help to solve the affordability issue 11 https://www.olamgroup.com/privacy.html 12 https://viamo.io/fr/legal/ https://www.olamgroup.com/privacy.html https://viamo.io/fr/legal/ TAFS-WCA REPORT DECEMBER 2023 37 TABLE 10: POTENTIAL AVENUES FOR CLIMATE AND AGRONOMIC DIGITAL ADVISORY SERVICES IN DRC Domains Answers Minimizing barriers Low awareness of farmers on digital agriculture solutions, digital literacy issue, low access to internet, cost for internet remain the key challenges in DRC. Also, climatic digital solutions are quite absent in the economy while climatic risks especially extreme events such floods are expected in the future. The country should focus on these areas by investing at least on digital infrastructure and digital education. Given the natural endowment of DRC in natural resources and lands, an attractive policy will enable investors to contribute in the digital economy Considering user research Without a deep assessment on users, especially a deep profiling, the digital innovations will struggle to sell their services in DRC. The majority of the current sales is supported by NGOs and the CGIAR. Also, the derivable benefits on the available innovations need to be well highlighted rather than promoting the features only. Indeed, farmers buy benefits not features. Gender end social perspective The rural area remains low endowed by digital infrastructure. Also, women and youth have limited access to productive resources in rural area. So, an inclusive policy combined with education on business opportunities will enhance the digital innovations uptake. Data harmonization As stated above, the climatic and agronomic digital services in DRC need a common guideline to harmonize some aspects. This harmonization can be easily organized by Postal Regulatory Authority. Potential for Public Private partnerships (PPP) The majority of the climatic and agronomic digital innovations have marketing issue. They literally struggle to sell their services and this can be seen on the number of users. Building Partnerships with market researchers and specialized business in sales will enhance the uptake in DRC. Bundled Climate and agronomic digital advisory services In the DRC, as elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, digital solutions for farmers are promoted separately. This business model is not sustainable because it costs the farmer more to buy several innovations with the risk that they will not work. 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