Agriculture and food systems
NIRAS has extensive experience using digital solutions throughout the agricultural value-chain. Tailored to the needs of farmers, we are experienced in deploying technologies that help to modernise farming practices, unlock financing and cashflow issues and link farmers with markets and input suppliers.
What digitalisation can achieve
Digitalising agriculture offers huge opportunities across the agricultural value-chain, with the potential for transformational impact on food security, climate resilience, and poverty reduction for rural people. Farmer productivity can be significantly improved through smart-farming solutions, such as precision agriculture, sensors, and tailored information services to farmers (e.g. extension and weather information services). Digitalising agricultural value chains can also significantly improve farmer market access and financial inclusion (e.g. through e-commerce trading platforms and digital financial services respectively). And governments can use digital systems to enhance public services and support provided to farmers and rural citizens.
The successful implementation of digital approaches in the agricultural sector however requires a full understanding of the local context and strategies to address the wider enabling environment: from the status of digital infrastructure access, to farmer digital behaviours and skills, along with details of the business and regulatory environment.
Services we offer
- Agricultural extension services and training through digital advisory platforms and mobile messaging
- Smart-farming solutions (precision agriculture, sensors, automation, and internet-of-things);
- Geospatial-technologies used for agricultural information services (weather, climate, and pest spatial data);
- Enhancing supply-chain linkages using mobile-phone based web applications and blockchain;
- Enhancing agricultural regional trade and market cohesion using digital platforms and solutions (e-commerce procurement platforms, market prices);
- Digital financial services and instruments tailored to smallholder farmers (mobile money, loans, and banking);
- Enhancing the enabling environment for digital technology uptake in agriculture and transformational impact (including optimisation of policy, regulatory and institutional drivers);
- Developing digital economy business models within digital agriculture ecosystems (technology hubs);
- Strategies for addressing the digital divide in rural agricultural contexts tailored for youth and women (digital connectivity at national and local levels, digital skills training); and
- E-government systems: state agrarian registries, national statistical systems and food stock monitoring systems.
Examples from our work
Programme of Support to Agriculture -Technical Assistance Facility (Agri-TAF)
NIRAS supported the Rwanda Ministry of Agricultural and Animal Resources to develop a fully automated satellite crop monitoring application to support management and decision-making through the nearly real-time monitoring of crop production, land use, and other biophysical data.
Technical Assistance to the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP II)
NIRAS supported the development and implementation of the Kenya Agricultural Commodities Surplus Stocks Application in our Technical Assistance to phase two of ASDSP. The application was developed to collect data on staple foods for decision-making at the county level, with data shared at country and national levels. Data was collected from farmers, traders, aggregators, the country extension system, and agricultural food operators to manage priority value chains in each county and receive and communicate information from project stakeholders.
Commercial Agriculture For Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) Programme
NIRAS has been working with local companies in Nepal and Uganda to develop digital tools and applications to improve efficiency and provide reliable data needed for decision making in the agriculture sector. The services vary from providing digital databases and financial management to virtual marketplaces and weather analytics and crop health monitoring.
Digial Agriculture Ecosystem Assessments
As part of a wider, multi country assessment, NIRAS reviewed the current state of Tajikistan and Uganda’s digital agriculture ecosystems and made recommendations for future programming opportunities for USAID interventions to unlock the potential for enhanced agricultural productivity and efficiency through greater usage of digital products and services.
EU4SmallFarms in Ukraine project
In the EU-funded and NIRAS-managed Institutional Policy Reform for Smallholder Agriculture project, NIRAS supported digitalisation of the State Agrarian Registry in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine. The registry enables agricultural producers to apply for non-refundable assistance.
Kristina Mastroianni
Agriculture Sector Lead EKM@niras.com
Alex Ingleson
Agriculture Lead AING@niras.com
Forests, people and biodiversity
NIRAS has the capability to use a wide range of digital solutions – like forest information systems, earth observation technologies and artificial intelligence – to support improved governance and inclusive decision-making of natural resources.
What digitalisation can achieve
Digital technologies are playing a key role in addressing global threats to forest and biodiversity conservation. Digital technologies like remote sensing and cloud-based information management systems offer vital opportunities in the monitoring of highly dynamic environmental changes, informing decision making and adaptive management. Cost-effective monitoring of difficult-to-measure social and environmental metrics at the local, landscape and global levels is also possible. When integrated into existing institutional processes, digital solutions can strengthen the governance of natural resources. To succeed, digital technologies need to be carefully tailored to the needs of the community end-users and combined with in-depth understanding of the local socioecological context.
Services we offer
- Automating real-time monitoring of biodiversity and forest-related metrics, including land use and socioeconomic metrics, using wide range of technologies (e.g. remote sensing, geographical information systems, drones, ground-based sensors);
- Digital solutions for forest-based value chain development of timber and non-timber forest products;
- Enhancement of forest institution building through e-governance, including support to the formulation of national forest plans, EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan (FLEGT), and forest reform processes;
- Application of frontier technologies for automating processes and decision making (e.g. artificial intelligence, block-chain, sensors and internet-of-things);
- Forest and biodiversity information systems, development of bespoke systems supporting real-time decision making using cloud-based technologies for data storage and sharing;
- Advanced data science analysis skills to automate the processing and analysis of new large environmental and social data sources;
- Mapping and optimising conservation planning for terrestrial and aquatic environments using GIS and optimisation algorithms respectively;
- Digital solutions for enhancing environmental education, training, capacity building and awareness raising; and
- Platforms to strengthen business models for conservation, linking buyers and sellers (e.g. payment for ecosystem services, REDD+).
Examples from our work
Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Vietnam (FORMIS)
By establishing a management information system for Vietnam's forestry sector, NIRAS facilitated effective decision-making around forest management and supported the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) as well as forest law enforcement, governance, and trade (FLEGT) activities. The system integrated all forest-related Earth observation and attributed data previously scattered in various organisations in a centralised platform through cloud technology and service - oriented architecture, including agro-forestry and conversion from forest due to agricultural activities.
The Satellite Monitoring for Forest Management (SMFM) project
This project supported selected countries in developing their EO capacity through testing new or improved methods to process and analyse new satellite EO datasets. SMFM developed methods and open access tools for monitoring of dry forests with EO data, including data pre-processing and compositing, biomass and biomass change mapping, time series analysis, and mapping drivers of deforestation.
If you are specifically interested in EO and GIS, check out our brochure
Adrian Schuhbeck
Sector Lead Forestry ADS@niras.de
William Apted
Senior Consultant WIAP@niras.com
Climate resilience and disaster risk management
NIRAS has extensive experience using digitalisation to improve the speed and effectiveness of climate resilience and disaster risk management, from planning to response.
What digitalisation can achieve
Digital technologies offer huge opportunities to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities to the impacts of climate change, including the establishment of early warning systems. Geospatial and earth observation technologies like satellite-based data and ground-based sensors offer unique opportunities to automate the monitoring of climate risks and risk plans. Software and cloud-based technologies such as web-based applications and platforms allow decision-makers to better interact with information in real-time and respond faster. Mobile-phone messaging and tailored applications improve two-way communication between authorities and end-user communities. Digital technologies are also playing a key role in improving the transparency and accountability in climate finance processes and impact, increasing investor confidence.
Services we offer
- Support to governments in the integration of digital technologies and solutions to improve real-time disaster detection and response (e.g. automation of early warning systems, mobile-phone alerts messaging);
- Resilient urban development planning and capacity building using digitalisation (use of new climate, socioeconomic, infrastructure digital data sources) and information-sharing platforms with citizens;
- Use of digital data and technologies to map and assess vulnerability and hazard risks in real-time through automation;
- Advisory and technical services to improve the transparency and impact of climate finance processes through a full range of digital technologies (e.g. data disclosure on climate impacts of investments, platforms for Voluntary Carbon Credit market, digital insurance products, data flow automation);
- Use of digital technologies to map and optimise ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions for conservation / restoration plans and monitor activities in real-time;
- Cloud-based decision-support systems and simulation models using software automation and artificial intelligence for integrated water resource management and climate-adapted water infrastructures; and
- Use of cutting-edge digital technologies in coastal zone management to design solutions and monitor environmental coastal conditions (e.g. MIKE-software, CFD-models, 3D-CAD software, GIS in our work).
Examples from our work
Mapping coastal erosion as part of a larger coastal protection project in Gambia and Malawi
The NIRAS Earth Observation (EO) team has extensive experience using drones for supporting climate resilience and improved natural resource management. Drone technology was used in Malawi as part of an integrated flood risk management project in 13 districts affected by the 2015 floods. In Gambia, NIRAS performed landform mapping in two areas along the Atlantic coastline, where data from drone surveys in combination with differential GPS and sonar-sounding measurements mapped the sandy beaches. The mapping supported the design of a resurrection plan for the coastal sections most affected by erosion and encroachment of the beaches. The coastal land area and the underwater area were mapped in a 5 cm resolution 2D elevation map and a 3D terrain model.
Strengthening Rural Resilience in East Paraguay
NIRAS developed a user-friendly digital knowledge and exchange platform, which supported the improvement of multidimensional (economic, environmental and social) resilience of the vulnerable rural populations across two districts in East Paraguay. The platform and knowledge products were tailored for vulnerable target groups (subsistence farmers, indigenous communities and women as heads of households).
Shire River Basin Institutional Planning and Decision Support System project
This project aimed to assist the Government of Malawi in developing an integrated multi-sectoral Shire River Basin Plan based on extensive analytical and stakeholder inputs. NIRAS established a comprehensive digital knowledge base of the climate, hydrology, and natural resources as well as existing and proposed investment options in the Basin, including for water storage, hydropower, irrigation, rainfed agriculture and watershed management, water supply, environmental services, and flood and drought risk. As part of the work, a multi-year simulation model was developed based on the selected parameters (population growth, precipitations, land use changes, infrastructures) to prioritise interventions in the Basin such as reforestation measures, rehabilitation of irrigation schemes, and construction of multi-purpose dams.
Development and Implementation of a climate resilient ICZM plan for the North Coast of Egypt
Our ongoing work (2020-2023) includes technical assistance for the project Development and Implementation of a climate resilient ICZM plan for the North Coast of Egypt, addressing the complex challenge from a combination of projected sea level rise and more frequent, intense, and extreme storm events affecting the Nile river delta and the overall coastal area. The technical assistance provides a detailed climate resilient plan for the entire north coast through an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) approach, including the required underlying institutional and regulatory frameworks and information systems for implementation. To meet this objective, an associated ocean and coastal observation system will be established to monitor trends in oceanic and coastal conditions under a changing climate, as well as the impact of the different shore protection scenarios on the coastal erosion and shoreline stability. The project will further validate and disseminate the developed models and document lessons learnt and good practices.
Martin Becher
Head of Natural Resources Management and Climate Change mabe@niras.de
Land tenure and governance
NIRAS has extensive experience using digitalisation to strengthen land administration systems, tailored to a wide range of country contexts across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
What digitalisation can achieve
With over 70% of land rights in developing countries currently undocumented, digitalisation offers crucial opportunities to provide affordable and fit-for-purpose digital methods to record land tenure and manage and use the data. NIRAS has developed official digital legal land registries (i.e. cadasters) for several countries by using geospatial technologies (satellite images, remote sensing, drones) combined with field participation, social inclusion and legal verification processes. Often we have linked or merged these legal cadasters with land information systems and developed applications for other sectors. For example, we have developed processes for banks to use the land as collateral for loans, efficient crop insurance services, and better land use planning. We also know how to design digitalisation around stakeholders' needs and capabilities and according to the political, social and legal environment.
Services we offer
- Digital legal cadastre systems that manage land registration and all transaction processes (inheritance, sale, exchange, expropriation etc.) and planning and management of processes to use digital technologies to conduct large-scale land registrations and/or transform from manual land registries to digital registries;
- Land information systems that combine all cadastre information with other land information (current land use, mortgages, taxation, soil data etc.);
- Mapping and data collection capabilities using frontier digital technologies (remote sensing, GPS, drones, internet-of-things);
- Training and capacity building for land administration professionals and other key stakeholders:
- Development of integrated and cost-effective digital transformation strategies suited to context-specific needs (social, legal and political) across the land tenure continuum;
- Participatory approaches that include mapping the rights-holders of the land;
- Advisory services for developing enabling environments for digital transformation (technical, political, financial, social and legal factors);
- Developing policies, laws and institutional frameworks for enabling inclusive digitalisation of land administration systems;
- Data protection and privacy considerations, reducing risks for misuse of information for social control and exclusion; and
- Integration of digital land administration systems into national e-government developments.
Examples from our work
Responsible and Innovative Land Administration Project (REILA I and II 2011- 2023)
NIRAS has been the lead company for over a decade in both phases of this Finnish-funded project. In 2014, REILA developed an IT strategy that laid the foundation for the nationwide National Rural Land Administration Information System (NRLAIS); between 2015 and 2018, REILA developed the NRLAIS. After launching the system, REILA managed the maintenance of the system and developed new functionalities. Over the years, data from all other cadastre systems have been migrated to NRLAIS, and by the end of 2022, NRLAIS managed the land of over 4 million households (18 million parcels) in nearly 300 districts. It handles systematic land registration and 17 different transaction processes (inheritance, expropriation etc.). The NRLAIS database is accessible at different administrative levels, from district to federal land offices. Furthermore, other sectors, such as financing and taxation, are increasingly using NRLAIS data. To facilitate this, NIRAS has, for example, developed an application for banks to view NRLAIS data and block land parcels when using them as collateral for a loan.
Sustainable Management of Land and Environment (SMOLE)
In the second phase of the SMOLE project NIRAS developed the Zanzibar Land Information System (ZALIS) with adequate land registration and cadastre functions as well as data security. The ZALIS embraces several functional areas: 1) front office - supporting client interactions, 2) land use - supporting the update and sharing of land use data, 3) legal - storing and managing cadastre maps and land ownership information, and 4) background - registering, managing deed registers, supporting land registration procedures.
Implementation and Enforcement of Rural Spatial Planning
In Kosovo, NIRAS developed an IT system to map and process all non-permitted buildings to lay sound bases for a formal system. Within six months, more than half a million non-permitted buildings were mapped. The process included training 30 municipalities for the work. After visualisation, an online public map viewer was presented with a media campaign, and citizens were able to view the unpermitted constructions Kosovo-wide and submit applications for legalisation. The process also included processing applications, public display and an appeal period.
Tommi Tenno
Land Governance Sector Lead tommi.tenno@niras.fi
Anni Valkonen
Land Governance Senior expert anni.valkonen@niras.fi
