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Co-constructing principles for Digital Farmer Field School Enrekang Design in South Sulawesi - Indonesia

Considering the challenges on sustainable agriculture in the district, different institutions join hands to overcome these issues and respond to the felt need of working more integrative both in the agricultural sector and environmental knowledge system. Adding a sense of urgency due to COVID-19 into problem analysis, these institutions accelerated the ambition to develop a Digital Farmer Field School (DFFS). This paper elaborates on the co-construction of principles for the design of a Digital Farmer Field School (DFFS) by the local stakeholders in Enrekang district. The local design team design of the DFFS Enrekang is composed of a transdisciplinary team from relevant government institutions and research institutions. The design principles of DFFS are built around inclusive design principles, concepts of interface usability based on different type of access to digital technology models, responsible innovation criteria and learning principles of farmer field school (FFS). The DFFS Enrekang design principles serve as guiding principles and shared value among the collaborating institutions to combine ambition, inspiration, and accountability in the DFFS management and development processes. This tablet based digital learning platform aims to provide an alternative for farmers to access information on sustainable agricultural and environmental practices.

Cross-border climate vulnerabilities of the European Union to drought

European Union’s vulnerability to climate change stretches far beyond its borders because many of its economic sectors, such as meat and dairy, use raw materials sourced from far afield. Cross-border climate vulnerability is a relatively new subject in scientific literature, while of high societal and economic relevance. We quantify these climate vulnerabilities with a focus on drought risk and assessed them for 2030, 2050, 2085 and for RCP 2.6 and 6.0 climate scenarios. Here we find that more than 44% of the EU agricultural imports will become highly vulnerable to drought in future because of climate change. The drought severity in production locations of the agricultural imports in 2050 will increase by 35% compared to current levels of drought severity. This is particularly valid for imports that originate from Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Turkey. At the same time, imports from Russia, Nigeria, Peru, Ecuador, Uganda and Kenya will be less vulnerable in future. We also report that the climate vulnerabilities of meat and dairy, chocolate (cocoa), coffee, palm oil-based food and cosmetic sectors mainly lie outside the EU borders rather than inside.

Towards a sustainable agro-logistics in developing countries

More than just chocolate

Côte d’Ivoire produces about 42 percent of the world’s total Cocoa but processes only a very few amount of the production. A big part of the country depends on the commercial benefits of the Cocoa production and supply chain of it. For that reason, the World Bank asked the simulation group of the Amsterdam U. of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the Port of Amsterdam to develop a simulation model that allows the politicians assess the performance of the supply chain of the Cocoa in that region of the world. The simulation model gave light to the potential of improvement in the supply chain by identifying inefficiencies, bottlenecks and blockers that hinder the efficient transport of Cocoa in the chain with the consequence of low productivity. The most important results are presented in the article together with suggestions for improvement in order to increase the wellbeing of the farmers in that region of Africa.

On the logistics of cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire: Simulation-based analysis

Côte d’Ivoire produces about 42 percent of the world’s total Cocoa but processes only 30 percent of the total production. A large part of the country depends on the commercial benefits of the Cocoa production and supply chain of it. In this paper, we develop a simulation model that assess the performance of the logistics of the Cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire. The simulation model shed light on the potential of improvements in the logistics of the Cocoa supply chain by identifying inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and blockers that hinder the productivity and performance of the Cocoa supply chain. Results from simulations show that reduction of checkpoints alongthe roads will increase productivity by 30 percent, while the value of beans in the Port will increase 3 percent and of butter 5 percent. Investing in improving secondary and tertiary roads will increase the productivity by 9 percent and value by 1 percent while investing in improving road infrastructure and checkpoints will raise the productivity by 27 percent and the value by 3 percent. The results suggest that a combination of reducing the checkpoints with the investment in secondary and tertiary roads will increase productivity while at the same time the pollution will be reduced importantly. The results also suggest that the switching from only producing beans to butter should be accompanied with the increase in productivity otherwise the value at the market would not be sensitive. Other important results are also presented in this paper, together with suggestions for improvement in order to optimize the logistics of Cocoa supply chain, and increase the profitability of the Cocoa sector, and hence the living conditions and wellbeing of the farmers in the country.

More Than Just Chocolate: Supply Chain Model of Production of Cocoa Crops in Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire produces about 42 percent of the world’s total Cocoa but processes only a very few amount of the production. A big part of the country depends on the commercial benefits of the Cocoa production and supply chain of it. For that reason, the World Bank asked the simulation group of the Amsterdam U. of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the Port of Amsterdam to develop a simulation model that allows the politicians assess the performance of the supply chain of the Cocoa in that region of the world. The simulation model gave light to the potential of improvement in the supply chain by identifying inefficiencies, bottlenecks and blockers that hinder the efficient transport of Cocoa in the chain with the consequence of low productivity. The most important results are presented in the article together with suggestions for improvement in order to increase the wellbeing of the farmers in that region of Africa.