LiteFarm
litefarm.org
The CSFS, in collaboration with farmers and cluster members, are working on a free, open-source web app to advance sustainability science and help farmers improve their financial and environmental management.
Project Leads
Kevin Cussen, Product Lead
Hannah Wittman, CSFS Associate and Professor at the Institute for Resources Environment and Sustainability and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Zia Mehrabi, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder
Funding
Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), USI Sustainability Scholars Program, VPRI Research Excellence Cluster (Diversified Agroecosystems), Weston Seeding Innovation Fund, InterAmerican Foundation (USA), and Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.
About the Project
LiteFarm was developed by a team of scientists, farmers, designers, developers, CSFS staff, and undergraduate students to help improve sustainable farming through the democratization of agricultural technology. LiteFarm is built to both help individual farmers with their day-to-day operations, and to help the wider farming community through identification of solutions for better farm management practices and outcomes.
The key feature that separates LiteFarm from the many farm data management tools currently available to farmers is that it is a completely community-driven, not-for-profit, solution which joins scientists and farmers together to try and solve the problems of climate change, sustainable farming, biodiversity decline, and the production of healthy and nutritious food. LiteFarm has been created as a public good. The platform is built to tackle the many socio-ecological dimensions of farming and has engagement across a wide spectrum of partners with a long-term interest in making the world a better place.
LiteFarm will be ready for a beta release in 2020, and it will continue to be developed, with farmers and researchers working together to create new modules and features into the future. The app currently has drummed up interest for early testing in Canada, the USA, and Latin America.
If you’re a farmer or researcher and would like to learn more about LiteFarm or participate in the project please contact litefarm.team@ubc.ca.
External Links and Publications
“International cooperation project starts construction of Agroecology indicators in Latin America” (Portuguese original: “Projeto de cooperação internacional inicia construção de indicadores da Agroecologia na América Latina”), Cepagro – Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo, January 22, 2021.
“Agroecology in Latin America: building paths” (Portuguese original: “Agroecologia na América Latina: construindo caminhos”). Cepagro – Centro de Estudos e Promoção da Agricultura de Grupo.
“New Digital Farm Tool Launches for Farmers” LFS ReachOut Magazine
“There are Apps for Everything . . . But Do They Really Help Farmers?” The Canadian Organic Grower
PI Mehrabi leads Baselines working group for the CGIAR Community of Practice on Data Driven Agronomy