Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery oriented on the upcoming MetKasekor Mobile Application

The objective of the orientation was to introduce and provide details on the upcoming MetKasekor App to PDAFF officials who serve as MetKasekor field agents and oversee data collection on the ground. The orientation consisted of a step-by-step walkthrough of the beta version of the App along with a review of the questionnaire and the various sections in the mobile application.

The MetKasekor App aims to address the challenge of data collection and analysis with regards to the increasing uptake of conservation agriculture practices in Cambodia. The App is innovative in its approach, as the collected data will be primarily used by the PDAFF/DEAFF and its stakeholders to analyze the trends and record the systemic change and transition of practice from conventional agricultural practices to Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification (CASI) and Regenerative Agriculture all over Cambodia. Therefore, it is envisioned that the App will be a living database under the ownership of the PDAFF and DEAFF. Since this App will be owned by DEAFF, all farmers related data will be handled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). This entails that that the private sector collaborates and coordinates with the public sector to access farmers information. This collaboration modality also ensures public-private partnership which is an important component of the MetKasekor Model.

MetKasekor (Farmer’s Friend in Khmer) is a sustainable climate smart extension service model of the Department of Extension, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DEAFF), General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) and the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) which focuses on opening the market for private sector investments on CASI by disseminating and promoting the practices via government agents and the private sector to smallholder farmers in Cambodia. The model is a government resource for the future with the intention to improve the public agricultural extension service system in Cambodia.

The MetKasekor App and Platform development is supported by the Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (ISA) project of Swisscontact, and the Agroecology and Safe Food System Transitions in Southeast Asia (ASSET) project funded by AFD and EU.  Swisscontact through the Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture (ISA) project is working with Bronx Technology to de bug the beta version of the App. Further updates to the features based on feedback from PDAFF officers and other development partners will also be added to ensure the app is user-friendly and functions as an effective data collection and data storage tool for MetKasekor. The App is expected to be rolled out at the end of June 2022.

The Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture project is financed by the Happel Foundation, the Symphasis Foundation, and the Leopold Bachmann Foundation among other donors. As part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, it is co-financed by SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA).