Digital Champions poised to drive rural agricultural transformation in Zimbabwe

Harare – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development conducted a Digital Literacy Training of Trainers (ToT) in a bid to transform rural agriculture in Zimbabwe. The ToT which was held in Bulawayo brought together 27 agriculture extension officers from the two project ‘digital villages’ that is, Mhondoro-Ngezi and Bikita districts. These officers will champion rural digital transformation under the FAO’s Fostering Digital Villages Through Innovative Advisory and Profitable Market Services (FDiVi) project.

The training is part of the FDiVi project which aims to transform agrifood systems in rural Zimbabwe, using effective digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). The project will facilitate the delivery of innovative agricultural extension services for increased productivity, enhanced market access, and advance inclusive rural transformation. It will also support local farmers, extension officers, agro-dealers, and processors, particularly youth and women through advisory, market, financial services.

The four-day training covered many topics which included an Introduction to Digital Agriculture & Rural Digital Transformation; AI-Enabled Digital Agricultural Extension and Advisory Tools; Digital Production Tools and Innovation in Agriculture; Digital Services for Financial Inclusion; Digital Marketing and Market Services and Integrated Digital Services for Rural Development

“Digital literacy programmes are essential for our extension officers to enhance their ability to capitalize on the opportunities that technology brings. Most important is to cascade the training to grassroots levels, to our farmers for incorporation into their farming systems,” said Ability Mufunda, Acting Deputy Director Projects and Programmes in the Business Development, Markets and Trade Department in the MLAFWRD.

The project’s digital literacy strategy is hinged on a two-step approach which starts with the establishment of ‘digital champions’ and then cascading digital literacy to the wider rural community through these champions acting as local capacity builders and change agents within their communities. The training was meant to address weak adoption and knowledge of digital agriculture, limited understanding of opportunities and limitations of generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, notably because of their novelty and the widening rural-urban digital divide.

“There is need to attract and develop more beneficial agricultural services and solutions tailored for rural development of smallholder agriculture production in Zimbabwe. It is very important to attract the young generation to join this process and initiative. I have confidence that, with FAO support, use of local strategies and enhanced cyber security, our communities will benefit and develop more rapidly using the digital technologies availed through this Digital Villages Initiative,” said Bongani Makwena, Mashonaland West Province Agriculture Extension Officer at the end of the training workshop.

Going forward, digital champions will train lead farmers and farmer group members on digital transformation. They will organize and lead digital fairs which are conduits for digital awareness and onboarding. They will also work on registering farmers on the national farmer registry to ensure that farmers have a digital identity and access government input support. The digital champions will also act as brokers between private sector digital service providers and rural communities.