The role of rural connectivity in solving food insecurity

Mark Schwartz is the Senior Vice President of Construction Enterprise Solutions at Triple.

By 2050, the Earth’s population is projected to increase by approx 9.7 billiondemanding an increase in food production by 60% to 70% while the use of even less land and water as resources continues to be affected by climate change.

Precision farming, which is the science of improving performance through sensors and analytics tools, is already being used to help address this challenge. However, it requires farmers to have the right specialized equipment, software and connectivity to work because real-time data must be collected in the field and transmitted to the farmer to make informed decisions about crop and soil management. .

With real-time data at their fingertips, farmers can better maximize their yields, helping them save money by using less water and fertilizer, while also releasing fewer pesticides into the environment. But none of this can happen if farmers don’t have connectivity.

In the US, it is estimated that about a quarter of farmers do not have reliable access to fixed or mobile broadband. Denser urban areas have been prioritized as broadband is expensive and time-consuming to build. The return on investment also tends to be more immediate in residential areas.

The lack of rural connectivity is even more pronounced developing countries such as Brazil, which surpassed the US as the world’s largest soybean exporter in 2012–13 and now exports 43% of the world’s soybeans, up from 12% 30 years ago. Brazil is also projected to become the second largest corn exporter after the U.S. However, despite its growing agricultural dominance, not more than one third of Brazilian territory is connected to terrestrial Wi-Fi.

While the US has spent billions of dollars and more than a decade working to increase rural connectivity, many developing countries are just beginning to understand the economic importance of improved broadband. And while much of the US’s success comes from government funding and oversight, it tends to be less, if not entirely absent, in many developing countries.

Fortunately, there are other tactics available to boost rural connectivity around the world, with Brazil showing how things like supporting trade groups can fill the gaps when government funding is lacking. Regardless of the tactics used, it is important that countries highlight the issue of rural connectivity because if successfully developed around the world, it could help make food insecurity a thing of the past, not the future.

Lessons learned from connecting farmers across the US

While rural connectivity is far from perfect in the US, it is significantly better than in many countries, largely due to government intervention. The brunt of this effort began in 2011 with the Connect America Fund (CAF), which was created by the FCC to ensure that rural communities had comparable access to affordable, stable broadband connections. For over 10 years, CAF has provided $1.49 billion for broadband expansion at more than 700,000 locations in 45 states.

His release followed 9.2 billion dollars through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) in 2019. The RDOF was another product of the FCC, created to bring broadband to millions of underserved rural locations through grants and subsidies awarded to ISP providers.

In 2021, one more $42.45 billion was funneled into the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The BEAD program provides grants to states to fund broadband deployment, adoption, and other broadband-related programs in underserved areas.

In addition to providing significant funding, the US government has also developed initiatives to oversee and guide how the money is spent. This includes the FCC Ag Precision Connectivity Task Forcewhich is responsible for ensuring that the $50 billion-plus earmarked for rural broadband goes to underserved areas that need it most.

The task force is also responsible for determining connectivity could be strengthened, which it does by asking people to provide their personal feedback on how strong connectivity is (or isn’t) where they live and work. Over time, carriers will patch their networks based on this input.

Addressing the challenges of rural connectivity

While the US government has spent north of $50 billion to expand agricultural connectivity, the Brazilian government, for example, has spent significantly less, forcing farmers to rely on a different set of tactics. One of them is industrial trade group support.

ConectarAGRO is an association of companies that have partnered to bring connectivity to remote areas of Brazil and includes companies such as Amazon Web Services, Nokia and Trimble, which is the company I work for. Together, we are trying to bring LTE 4G 700 MHz to the countryside so that the same devices and equipment (smartphones, tablets, etc.) used in the city can work in rural communities.

This technology is based on an open cellular standard, allowing farmers’ equipment to be connected and extending connectivity to local communities, including schools, thus providing wider social and economic benefits.

Another tactic is to get rural farmers comfortable with using technology, as many lack basic digital skills. According to Brazil’s Small and Small Business Support Services, only 46% Brazilian farmers use their mobile phones to access the internet. Providing affordable digital devices that connect to the internet, along with training on how to use these tools, could help farmers more easily adopt the technology.

In Zimbabwe, for example, a mobile application called “Kurima Mari” is used by farmers because it is accessible offline and provides them with the information they need to improve and increase their farm production. The app has since been adopted by the federal government and is being scaled up nationally.

Implementing more efficient, productive and sustainable agricultural practices will be at the heart of the solution to feeding more people using fewer resources. Regardless of the approach taken, the importance of rural connectivity should not be underestimated as it could help feed the world’s growing population while at the same time mitigating agriculture’s impact on the environment.

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