Designing an Ag-Tech Data System for Smallholder Farmers in Haiti and Private Sector Buyers

The Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) applies a social enterprise model to feed and reforest a renewed Haiti by establishing farmer cooperatives, building agricultural export markets, and contributing to community development. Timberland is an outdoor clothing retailer. These two very different organizations have formed a partnership around a shared interest to reintroduce sustainable cotton to the Haitian economy. The SFA plans to grow organic cotton for global buyers with its network of 3,000+ smallholder farms, and Timberland has committed to sourcing up to one-third of its annual global cotton purchases from the SFA.

As part of this partnership, the SFA and Timberland are developing a unified data collection and management system to track and measure the impact of specific crops on farmer income, food security, climate change, and women’s empowerment. The SFA-Timberland-SIPA Capstone Project laid the groundwork for this system by developing a new app with three main functions: 1) collect and visualize data from farmers; 2) use QR code technology to ensure supply chain traceability between farmers and Timberland products; and 3) integrate farmer identification and e-wallets through printed AgroCards.

The project deliverables included: 1) recommendation of an app developer; 2) design of app content and functionality; 3) technical specifications for supply chain traceability and a sample landing page; and 4) printed AgroCards to be used by farmers for identification and transactions. The project harnesses the power of technology to improve the livelihoods of Haitian farmers while creating a sustainable, market-driven, win-win relationship between the SFA and Timberland.