Helping Farmers Navigate Climate Change? There’s an App for That

On a farm in Sololá, Guatemala, Miguel carefully plants two pea seeds in each of his pockets. “I learned to grow peas from my father,” Miguel said. Among the many skills his father taught him, Miguel learned to plant and harvest crops based on the timing of rainy days and humid mornings. When he was 25, Miguel’s father told him he was ready to go it alone. Now Miguel and his wife rent farmland to grow their crops. They joined a local farmers’ association, sharing knowledge and resources as they faced rising seed and fertilizer costs and excessive heat from climate change.

Over the past few years, Miguel and his wife realized that climate change had affected the planting and harvesting schedules for their peas. They couldn’t rely on the same predictable weather patterns. “We make the most of the rainy season because that’s the only time we can plant and harvest,” Miguel said. “Then the drought hits us because we don’t have any income. We rely on what we’ve saved during the harvest season. Sometimes that’s enough, sometimes it’s not.”

Farmers wanted to learn more about climate-resilient techniques for their crops and signed up for workshops with Mercy Corps, which has been supporting farmers in the region since 2020. Farmers’ association members attended training sessions to discuss growing drought-resistant crops, such as beans and peas, that can thrive in difficult conditions. To offset the cost of these new materials and resources, each farmer received 250 pounds of seed and 330 pounds of fertilizer for their land through the program.

Increasing yields with innovative climate technology

Small farming communities around the world are the least responsible for climate change, but they often feel the brunt of the climate crisis. Globally, more than 70% of farmers say climate change has negatively impacted their crops, and their incomes have fallen by more than 15% due to climate change. Guatemala is experiencing rapidly worsening El Niño patterns that have caused erratic rainfall and reduced precipitation levels. Studies have shown that Guatemalan farmers lose an average of 55% of their crops during drought years. Without the resources and knowledge to adapt to longer and more extreme droughts, farmers could lose their entire crops and their ability to earn a living.

Miguel and the farmers’ association told Mercy Corps that, faced with uncertain weather patterns, they wanted to learn more about using technology to farm more efficiently. During the training sessions, the DECIDE Platform was introduced. Developed by a climate scientist using data from the International Climate Research Institute (IRI) and the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) in Guatemala, the app uses forecasting to provide up-to-date, accurate climate forecasts and precipitation predictions. After applying what he learned in the Mercy Corps training program and using the DECIDE Platform, Miguel tripled his crops and increased his income. The program has supported more than 2,000 small farmers nationwide and more than 9,000 people in their communities.

More than 100 miles north of where Miguel farms in Sololá, Zoila is a teacher and farmer in Cobán. Zoila has worked in agriculture her entire life and grows green beans on her farm with her husband. Like other farmers struggling with higher temperatures and less rain, Zoila has noticed how the weather is affecting her farm. Even with green beans, which thrive in the heat, she worries about whether each crop will survive as well as the last. Zoila also belongs to a farmers’ association supported by Mercy Corps, which has received seeds and financial assistance to buy fertilizer and has learned how to use the Plataforma DECIDE app. Zoila meets with many of the other farmers in the association each week to discuss weather patterns and share updates. In the first year Zoila received support from Mercy Corps, her green bean yield improved by more than 33%, from 900 pounds to 1,200 pounds.

The group of farmers Zoila joined is also part of an initiative to increase women’s access to agricultural markets. Some women have been limited to opportunities for production or post-harvest work, such as cleaning crops after they’re harvested. The program mentors female producers as they connect with buyers and meet food safety and quality standards. Their increased yields throughout the year make farmers more competitive. By managing their own land, women can support their households, learn more about agricultural markets and support their communities as they grow.

In the face of uncertainty about climate change, farmers want to do more on behalf of their communities. As yields increase, farmers want to manage more aspects of the production cycle themselves. Current practice is that after the crop is harvested and cleaned at a processing center, most of the produce is exported to markets in the United States, Canada and Europe. If a farmers’ association can independently access markets for its crops, it can manage its own processing center and create more jobs.

“We can only imagine what the future will bring”

In Sololá, many of Miguel’s neighbors have left the country to earn more money for their families. Miguel worries about who will farm if there aren’t enough farmers to help with the harvest. “We can only imagine what the future holds,” he said. Miguel and his wife are now co-presidents of a pea farmers’ association. They support their friends and neighbors and use Plataforma DECIDE to share more information about the climate.

Miguel remains hopeful. He wants to stay on his land and make a living from it. “We were born here; we know the culture; the language. We started our family here, we made friends here,” Miguel said. Just as Miguel’s family taught him farming, he wants to pass on his knowledge to his community—the farming methods his father taught him and the techniques he recently learned through the Plataforma DECIDE app and the farmers’ association. Miguel wants to do everything he can to help his community thrive, because he wants his children to live in the same beautiful place he loves.