Supplychain
laysabeton
connectivitywith
theintegrated
farmers
tospread
knowledgeand
makeeveryday
farmlifeeasier
connected
More
thanever
I
nteraction with the electronic world is no longer a novelty for
agriculture, and small-scale farmers are no exception. At an
ever more dynamic evolution, the producers are inserted into
the digital context and find tools that make their daily life on
the farm easier. The technologies also provide for better quali-
ty of life for the families and encourage the young to stay in the rural
setting. Companies and entities linked to the tobacco supply chain
also pay heed to these trends and invest in connectivity mecha-
nisms for the farmers.
Data collected in a recent survey conducted by the Federal Uni-
versity of RioGrande do Sul (UFTGS), through the Center for Studies
on Administrative Research (Cepa), attest to this evolution. The So-
cioeconomic Profile of the Tobacco Farmers in South Brazil shows
that 49% of the tobacco growing families have a personal comput-
er, while 47% have access to the internet. Cell phones are present
in 94%of the farms. The survey, requested by the Interstate Tobac-
co Industry Union (SindiTabaco), comprised 94.3% of the tobacco
growing micro-regions in the South of the Country.
Within the technological context, with the aim to facilitate the
acquisition of computers by the integrated growers, back in 2009
one of the companies of the sector created the Project Knowledge.
The initiative, which extended through 2014, subsidized the pur-
chase of more than 11 thousand computers, contributing towards
digital inclusion, whilst transforming the growers into transforma-
tion agents. The results paved the way for the company to invest in
one more communication channel with the farmers before the end
of 2013, with the creation of the Grower’s Portal.
Since 2015, besides the computers and notebooks, the tool can be accessed by smartphones and
tablets. From the launch of the site until July 2016, upwards of 217 thousand accesses were regis-
tered, 70 thousand of them from several countries and more than 1.4 million pages were visualized.
Besides being a means of communication between the company and its integrated farmers, they
bring positive results to farm management, as the contents are carefully devised to drive the busi-
nesses.
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