Myanmar’s agriculture sector is undergoing a tremendous change thanks to the adoption of technology in a big way. Adrian Myint, CEO, Village Link tells Kalpana Singhal how this transformation has been brought about..

Myanmar’s agriculture sector has been plagued by a multitude of problems starting from sowing, harvesting, storage and supply chain as well as marketing. How has the pandemic complicated the already complex scenario?

The farmers in Myanmar have been facing the said challenges even before the onset of the pandemic. But one of the biggest issues is access to financial instruments or the capital they need to invest in farming. The pandemic has only made things worse. In addition, there are border-related issues such as China not allowing movement to and fro Myanmar on account of the pandemic. This has put the farmers under stress because they cannot export any more. A lot of them depend on the external market for their livelihood. However, fortunately the domestic demand is increasing and that is keeping the farmers afloat.

What role can technology play in addressing these challenges in agriculture?

Since the pandemic restricts the visits of extension workers to visit the farms and help the farmers resolve various problems, technology has come to the rescue with online interaction. Farmers now take a photograph of the problem they need to address and send it to the team of agronomists who provide the solutions.

Has mobile phone technology been of help? And what is the current business model?

Many farming communities in Myanmar have access to the internet as well as smart phones. That is because they have leapfrogged to adopting new technologies. We have now established a Village Link programme that connects farmers with agriculture professionals so that solutions can be shared without wasting time. This in turn has added value to the agriculture sector because farmers can now sell their products through the right channels and be communicated with the markets at all times.

What prompted the setting up of Village Link?

Even earlier farmers used to connect with each other and their buyers and sellers through various social media platforms but we thought a dedicated channel would be of greater use and more focused. It started off as an information sharing platform but the app is evolving into a more holistic farming service where alongside information you will find details about farmers’ products, availability of financial services, etc.

How did you get into providing financial services?

We are not a financial service company per se but have tied up with financial institutions to deliver services required by the farmers. Through our sister company we have been exploring many digital financial services using technology. In this way we can also reach out to smaller farmers who usually have no access to such services.

How do you create awareness about the app?

We rely on two main ways of creating awareness for farmers. One is of course through the social media which is the easiest way to reach them. The other is through encouraging farmers to download the app and teach them how to use it. There is still a very big barrier in terms of adoption for people that we onboard through social media. We also collaborate with our partners and companies engaged in the agriculture sector to reach out to the farmers. We also work with government agencies because they have the largest extension service team in the country. We use their network to reach out to thousands of farmers.

Is Village Link helping farmers get better revenue for their produce?

Earlier, farmers followed a lunar calendar for their cropping patterns and would most often miss opportunities since the weather would suddenly change from year to year. Now we have satellite-based models that look at historical weather patterns as well as predict weather conditions not just for the weekly weather forecast but also in terms of seasonal outlooks. This helps farmers sow the crops in a timely manner and maximise their output. This in turn generates more revenue.

Could you highlight your company’s achievements in terms of how you have been able to change the lives of farmers and the rural community?

Towards the end of 2020 we have actually exceeded 7,00,000 users on our platform. We have been awarded by Microsoft for using technology to help the rural community. We are, especially, connecting with the marginalised farmers who earlier had no source for obtaining information or financial services. We have won awards in Korea and other countries in Asia for our pioneering attempts to change the fortunes of the farmers.

What are going to be your top technology focus areas over the next couple of years?

Using satellite-driven services is going to be our priority because we would like to take it to the next level. Weather predictions shared with farmers have turned their life around because they have been able to cut down their losses to a huge extent. We are also going to focus on Village Link to make it a very user-friendly and dependable channel for products and services.

What is your outlook about the agriculture technology market? And what are your expansion plans?

The agriculture industry of Myanmar has still a lot of room to grow and it certainly will since we are now using digital agriculture to succeed. With 70% of the population engaged in the agriculture sector, the adoption of technology will certainly change their future and the economy of the country. We also want to expand out of Myanmar and are looking at appropriate joint ventures or partnerships.