QuantiFarm

The implementation of the QuantiFarm project commenced on July 2022 with GAIA EPICHEIREIN leading a powerful European consortium of 32 important partners, 12 of which are representatives of producers and agricultural advisors.

The QuantiFarm project focusses on supporting the further deployment of digital technologies in agriculture (DATs) as key enablers for enhancing the sustainability (economic, environmental, social) performance and competitiveness of the agricultural sector. It will achieve this by establishing a framework for assessing the impact and effectiveness of DATs in agriculture and developing innovative tools, services and recommendations for farmers, advisors and policy makers. Following a multi-actor approach, QuantiFarm will build the project activities around 30 Test Cases (TCs) which span over 20 countries in 10 (of the 11) Biogeographical regions across Europe, capturing multiple geo-political and financial settings. All 30 TCs take place in commercial farms of different types, sizes, ownership and operating conditions from 7 agricultural sectors. Different aspects of these TCs will be examined in the context of different work packages (WPs). The TCs’ actors will be engaged in participatory observation activities to offer valuable input and actively support the behavioural analysis, the establishment of the Assessment Framework, and the co-design of an innovative Toolkit for farmers, advisors and policy makers. The lean multi-actor approach will be used in the testing activities to evaluate the QuantiFarm Toolkit and validate the Assessment Framework by testing the various DATs in real life conditions, across 3 iterations/growing seasons. The outcomes will be transformed into policy recommendations and will feed the QuantiFarm Digital Innovation Academy (DIA) that will help build the capacities of farmers’ advisors in DATs. Finally, a WP on dissemination, ecosystem building and exploitation, will guarantee the wider dissemination and knowledge transfer in a multi-actor context of the outputs of the project.

GAIA as coordinator of the project, contributes across all WPs to make sure that results support properly both farmers and advisors. In that framework GAIA leads the respective WP Project Management which is dedicated to the activities that deal with the management, coordination and monitoring of the project and enable the efficient progress of its work, meeting the contractual obligations and the quality expectancies of the consortium.

GAIA will also lead QuantiFarm DIA (Digital Innovation Academy) which will be established as the vehicle that will strengthen the capacities of advisors in the field of DATs and help them provide a set of Innovative Advisory Services to farmers. Through training events that follow the approach of the “Train-the-Trainer” the DIA will train advisors in the types of DATs available and their potential benefits, costs and sustainability impacts, as well as on how to use the QuantiFarm Toolkit to support the farmers in selecting the best DATs to satisfy their needs. It will provide recommendations about the conditions under which DATs deliver the best results for a farmer and about the most appropriate business models. Building in its training and support, advisors will support farmers in selecting DATs and applying them in real production conditions.