E-VILLAGE

In recent years, there have been a number of projects in Azerbaijan to ensure the digital transformation of the agricultural production and expand the access of rural communities to online services. The implementation of these projects has been further boosted following the start of restoration process in the liberated economic regions of Garabagh and East Zangezur.

The importance of digital transformation of the rural periphery was highlighted at the forum Support for the Development of Business Information System in Rural Areas recently held in Baku.

Smart solutions

The United Nations has identified the full development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a critical component of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The coverage of universal digitalisation should go beyond megacities and urban areas of the developed world. On the contrary, the most important task at this stage is the introduction of IT technologies in all spheres of public, social and business life in developing countries, especially in farming regions. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) believes that the expansion of high-speed Internet infrastructure in the agricultural periphery, the availability of e-government mechanisms and various social and business digital services for rural residents have enormous potential for the implementation of SDGs.

According to FAO experts, digitalization of farming regions will result in the manifold increase of productivity in the sector, provide information and organisational support to small farmers by improving their access to markets. In turn, available digital resources will boost the development of ‘smart villages’ and automated agricultural complexes, thereby contributing to the development of sustainable rural communities. Ultimately, this will lead to faster economic growth, creation of decent jobs for rural people and reduction of rural-urban disparities.

The objectives of digitalization of rural communities identified in SDGs are also relevant for Azerbaijan, which has been increasingly developing IT infrastructure and electronic services in farming regions for several years. About 18 years ago the government of Azerbaijan launched the state program Electronic Azerbaijan to follow the trend towards global information society. It has been ten years since the interactive information system e-gov—single portal for e-government—has become the driver of development of state management system and social innovations. This mechanism makes it possible to provide non-contact information and public services to citizens, businesses and branches of government. Today, more than 700 electronic services of all the ministries and most government agencies of Azerbaijan are integrated under the unified portal of e-government (www.e-gov.az). Various e-services in the public utilities sector, housing privatisation, business, fiscal accounting, subsidies and lending are available to entrepreneurs and citizens in rural areas through mobile e-government applications. At the same time, e-government portal services can also be accessed offline at 25 ASAN Xidmət centres.

These opportunities will be further expanded in 2022-2026 through additional ASAN Xidmət centres and seven DOST centre branches in the liberated territories. Moreover, the concepts of Smart City and Smart Village have been identified as a basic principle for the restoration of Garabagh and Eastern Zangezur, including digital solutions in public transport, communications, urban management systems and security. There are also plans to create a digital database of the population and labour force.

Attracting investment

Other elements of digital services for businesses have been developed in the districts of Azerbaijan as well. One of them is a joint project with the EU to create a business information system for the farming sector of Azerbaijan (KYBIS). “Development of business information system for farming regions of Azerbaijan is fully completed thanks to the technical support of the European Union. The objective is to develop the agriculture through the creation of electronic systems and a database for the agriculture market, which would provide investors with the necessary information," Firdovsi Fikretzade, Director of the Center for Agrarian Research under the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, said at a recent forum in Baku.

Victor Genar, Cooperation Attaché at the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, said that this system would help farmers to connect to the electronic database and other digital services, as well as improve transparency in business-state relations, as part of Azerbaijan’s e-gov policy. According to Genar, this project will increase investments in agriculture. At the same time, the collected data is extremely important in the development and evaluation of the state rural development policy.

The key outcome of the project is the development of an information portal in Azerbaijani and English, rbis.az. There are also plans to expand the electronic potential of KYBIS and integrate it with other relevant information systems.

This convergence will be possible as part of the Electronic Farming Information System (EKTIS), a project that the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan has been running for several years to develop an automated information system. The system's electronic database (BigData) provides a clear picture of the volume and structure of crops and forecasts, providing farmers with necessary information about the current demand and supply, helping them to choose the most promising and profitable crops for a particular season. EKTIS has also played an unprecedented role in putting the subsidy scheme in order for more than 450,000 farmers, enhancing control and transparency of the process. In addition to providing easier access to subsidy programmes, including the purchase of fertilisers and fuel, farmers can now obtain yield forecasts for their plot. Thanks to EKTIS, large farming industries can convert unused land into agricultural production by optimising its fertility. The transparent and informative EKTIS database is also used as a basis for preferential lending mechanism for farmers, as well as an agricultural insurance system, which helps to solve the problem of bank collateral for farmers.

First results

There have been other works implemented as part of Azerbaijan's digitalisation programme for the farming industry. For example, thanks to the installation of GPS sensors on Agroleasing's harvesting equipment, it is now possible to optimise and accelerate agro-technical activities. Several pilot projects for the automation of artesian wells, economical irrigation systems using IoT systems (Internet of Things) and telemetry, etc. have been launched in a number of farming parks. Since 2021, the electronic identification of farm animals was launched in Absheron and Sumgayit to ensure control over their health, food quality, etc.            

Digitalisation of agriculture with the use of green technologies and computer systems of control and management of agricultural processes will be the cornerstone of the development of the farming sector in Garabagh and East Zangezur. This includes the smart villages of Aghaly and Dovletjarly restored in the Zangilan and Fuzuli districts of Garabagh, respectively. The project includes the introduction of solar panels, development of other renewable energy (RES) infrastructure, DATA and analytical centres, smart irrigation and crop area management systems, as well as the use of drones for crop control and land pollination. In addition, there are automated farms and processing plants, including digital systems for aquaculture and poultry development.

Another ‘smart’ project is the Dost Azerbaijani-Turkish agriculture park, which was put into operation in October 2022 in Zangilan. The initial stage of the project included the creation of conditions for keeping 3,500 cattle, and a fodder base.

Azerbaijan is also introducing the most advanced technologies and software solutions. It is actively cooperating with specialists from Turkey, Israel and European countries to develop agricultural information systems and "smart villages". Thanks to the accelerated process of digitalisation in the farming sector, Azerbaijan is now one of the leaders in the post-Soviet space. FAO experts have identified Azerbaijan's experience as the best in e-agriculture and digital transformation of the agro-industrial complex.

Next stage

Electronic databases and other mechanisms under KYBIS and EKTIS indirectly help overcome barriers to funding farms, develop land and collateral markets, improve agri-insurance mechanisms, and attract quality agronomic and other advisory services. The purpose of digital tools is to overcome difficulties in documenting food safety, improve market access for smallholder farmers, and increase the issuance of electronic licenses, including through ASAN Xidmət and SME Houses, which will facilitate access to this service for people living in agrarian regions.          

Another significant issue that has a major impact on the digitalisation of regions is the poor penetration of broadband services in peripheral areas. By the end of last year, about 70% of households (mostly in the regions) were connected to the Internet using the outdated ADSL technology, with only a fifth of users accessing it via fibre-optic cable. In rural areas, the Internet connection is provided mostly over copper cable from telephone exchanges, with an average speed of 2-4 Mbps, which is quite low given contemporary demand. 

To overcome this lag, the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan is implementing several projects. One of them involves the development of the necessary infrastructure for digital transformation, including the high-speed fibre-optic Internet network supposed to cover all the regions of Azerbaijan by the end of 2024.

The outcome of all these activities should increase investment in the farming sector, which will undoubtedly influence the volume of final products. This is the main objective of the government to ensure the country's food security in such a difficult time of endless global crises.