The use of and access to data allows enterprises to make better and faster decisions. Data can help reveal patterns and trends in human behaviour of relevance inside and outside the sectors enterprises operate in. It allows enterprises to get ahead of trends (such as climate change) that can either bring value to businesses or destroy them. Satellite data, mobile phones, field sensors, service providers and more are all data sources that can be combined to produce meaningful insights.  

"Digital solutions provide an opportunity for small enterprises like us to access markets the same as big corporations. Moreover, they provide tools to develop advanced solutions at a cheaper cost. For example, satellite imagery can provide us with an insight into remote farms without having to travel 100 km to see the field." - Rassarin Chinnachodteeranun, Founder & CEO of ListenField

The accelerating impacts of climate change on agriculture require farmers to become more efficient to contribute to food security. Data-driven agriculture allows farmers to mitigate the effect of climate change, become more efficient in the use of natural resources and improves their agri-food market chains. 

In Thailand, ListenField empowers farmers through their FarmAI platform. The application combines climate data, soil information, data on wide rice varieties and more than 100,000 observation points to provide recommendations to farmers so that they can reduce their losses caused by climate uncertainty. Farmers can also sell their products through the platform, and the data collected through the platform can then be shared with governments and consumers. Technologies such as FarmAI provide farmers with a decision support system. It helps predict what will happen, so farmers can minimise their risk and maximise their profits. Listenfield’s data-driven farming method can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 48-66% compared to traditional farming methods. This is through the more efficient use of natural resources.

We asked Rassarin why ListenField embraced digital innovation from the start, she said:

"ListenField has the slogan ‘Networking Nature by Innovation’. It is in our DNA to bridge digital innovation to agriculture fields. We think of how we can utilise digital technology to improve current farming practices. It is important to think about utilising digital technology to make our life better. Digital technology is a useful tool. We can survive without tools, but tools make our life more convenient. When we design our solutions, we look for digital tools that can make our services better for farmers or farming communities."

Rassarin also shared how digital solutions have helped ListenField scale up their impact:

"Digital innovations allow us to engage with farmers better. Farmers who are in remote areas are usually hard to reach. But with online channels, we can now get feedback from farmers as if we were physically visiting them. We can provide them with our FarmAI application on online stores, and farmers from everywhere can download and utilise it."

Learn more about digital innovations by our enterprises in other sectors here.