Mercy corps and ATA partner with Cropin to enable smarter agronomic advisory
In a strategic collaboration aimed at improving farming practices across Ethiopia, Mercy Corps and the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) joined hands with Cropin to implement a scalable digital advisory solution. Focused on delivering real-time, actionable insights, this initiative supported smallholder farmers through data-backed decisions for higher yields and improved climate resilience.
Client background
Mercy Corps, a global development organization, works to build secure, productive, and just communities, while ATA is an Ethiopian government body focused on transforming agriculture through technology and innovation.
The partnership aimed to bridge information gaps, build farmer capacity, and support climate-smart agriculture through a technology-driven extension system.
The challenge
The program aimed to overcome persistent challenges in Ethiopia’s agricultural value chain:
- Inefficient traditional extension services with limited reach
- Low digital engagement and access to timely agronomic guidance
- Fragmented and unreliable on-ground crop monitoring
- Difficulty in scaling advisory services to thousands of smallholders
- Lack of real-time, localized data for actionable insights
A centralized and adaptive platform was needed to equip field officers and farmers with the tools to make smarter farming decisions.
The solution
Cropin deployed its AI-powered platform to digitize advisory delivery and farm monitoring at scale:
- Remote sensing and satellite imagery to monitor crops across regions
- Localized weather and crop advisories delivered in native languages
- Tools for field agents to collect and analyze real-time farm-level data
- Integration of climate-smart practices and pest alerts
- Configurable dashboards for project stakeholders to track progress and outcomes
The solution enabled seamless farmer engagement even in areas with low connectivity.
Impact
- Supported thousands of farmers through scalable, data-backed advisory
- Strengthened climate resilience with timely, customized insights
- Reduced dependency on manual extension efforts
- Improved visibility into farm activities and crop performance
- Fostered a digitally inclusive ecosystem for rural agriculture
The success of this pilot highlights the potential for tech-enabled transformation across government and development-led agriculture programs.
