Open Fields is part of GODAN's open data web series that meets individuals around the world who are on the front line of how technology and data are reshaping agriculture to combat food insecurity and improve global nutrition. 

In the second episode of the series, OPEN FIELDS, viewers meet Eunice, a successful smallholder farmer who lives outside of Mombasa, Kenya.

In Kenya, around 80 per cent of people have access to some form of farmable land. Although the soil is rich and fertile for farming, many plots of land stand empty or with failed crops. 

In the Mombasa region, Haller Foundation (a GODAN partner) have been working with local farmers for 50 years to design organic methods to improve crop production and also provide a solid economic stream for rural families. 

Eunice has found success in maximizing her crop yield by using the open-source mobile phone app from the Haller Foundation. 

With an estimated 83% of Kenya now online, largely through mobile phones, Haller Farmers App has been developed to digitize and release local knowledge on a global scale, to anyone, anywhere. 

The application is free to use for anyone with a smartphone and internet access. They have also worked with Free Basics and Airtel Kenya to improve rural access for low income families, providing free data to download and use the app. 

The first episode in this series was launched at the high-level GODAN Summit 2016 on September 15-16, 2016 in New York. At the Summit, world leaders, researchers, farmers, students and public, private and non-profit organisations convened to showcase the impact of open data around the world. Watch episode 1 here. 

The Global Forum is strengthening agricultural information systems through advocating and building capacities for opening access and effectively using data, information and knowledge through the Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development platform (CIARD) and Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) platforms. GFAR is a partner in the GODAN initiative and a member of the GODAN Secretariat.