Assessing impact of digital innovation in rural agriculture: A case study on TaniGroup

Abstraksi

Rural livelihood source of income is generally characterised as farming and non-farming activities. In Indonesia, farming activities has the largest contribution to the rural economy and, considering the persisting lower rate of rural income with respect to the urban area, it is of pressing matter to address the problems faced in agricultural industry that may cause the rural-urban income inequality. TaniGroup, consisting of TaniHub and TaniFund, is a start-up focusing on the agriculture sector. Using technological innovation, its mission is to ameliorate two most prominent obstacles faced by farmers: access to finance and market. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether TaniGroup’s business model is proven effective in improving rural agriculture. Empirical evidence is gathered through impact assessment framework with participatory approach to collect qualitative data from partner farmers of TaniGroup. Focus group discussions and interviews are conducted to collect information on several indicators. Initial findings showed that TaniGroup’s business model has improved the practice of agriculture in the rural areas. Though the field research showed that TaniGroup’s business model does improve the practice of rural agriculture, the next concern is the question of sustainability and scalability. Infrastructure support is essential in ensuring that the business model of TaniGroup can be scaled-up to be applicable nationally. In the complex and complicated agriculture industry, collaboration is the success key, may it be with central and local governments, national and international organizations and other agritech start-ups. Further research is also essential to provide enriched recommendation in the future.