Kacific and Farmer Charlie team up to grow agricultural output and support sustainable development across Pacific

15 February 2022

Kacific Broadband Satellites and Farmer Charlie will bring affordable satellite-powered agricultural information and expertise to farmers in remote and isolated places across South East Asia and the Pacific.

The companies have signed an MoU supporting sustainable development and agriculture in small holdings across the region.

Kacific and Farmer Charlie will work together to deliver agricultural advice, localised weather information, and agribusiness information – including data from in-field sensors -- to smallholder farmers and agribusinesses, helping them improve land management and food production using smart digital tools. It will also help them reduce post-harvest loss, better manage the risk of drought, floods, and other extreme weather events and address the impacts of climate change.

The companies share a common vision of helping farming and rural communities achieve meaningful economic, social, and environmental outcomes and impacts in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The agreement will extend Farmer Charlie’s reach into remote communities in the South East Asian and Pacific region, and enhance Kacific’s overall offerings to include Farmer Charlie’s expertise and solutions. It will bring fast, affordable broadband directly to the field, where connected weather and in-field sensors, together with other low-cost IoT devices, will be able to deliver agribusiness information at a cost that small holdings and remote communities can afford.

Farmer Charlie’s expertise in the provision of low-cost, smart, localised information and applications to farmers and Kacific’s high-speed and reliable satellite broadband will enable farmers to operate more sustainably.

“In a world where large scale agribusiness is dominating global good production, reducing biodiversity and adversely affecting smaller communities, this initiative represents a practical way of reversing the trend. It takes a much-needed step towards revitalising local agricultural practices and empowering local farmers,” said Christian Patouraux, Kacific’s Chief Executive Officer. “The combination of Famer Charlie's expertise and our connectivity capabilities has tremendous transformational potential for thousands of small communities.”

Kacific will provide accessible VSAT terminals that connect to beams drawing bandwidth from its powerful Ka-band satellite, Kacific1. Farmer Charlie will develop targeted systems for rural communities in those markets covered by Kacific, based on the knowledge and expertise it has acquired over the past five years and the solutions it has developed for small and emerging agricultural operations.

“This MOU is a huge milestone for Farmer Charlie’s deployment in the Asia Pacific region. It is an opportunity to optimize the synergy between Kacific and Farmer Charlie, especially as we both aim to support those remote communities with an affordable solution through the provision of smart localised tailored agribusiness information”. said Betty Bonnardel, Farmer Charlie’s Chief Executive Officer. “Together, we will be creating a real impact for the communities we will serve.”

Kacific and Farmer Charlie will also work together to develop and implement systems to facilitate disaster recovery and emergency assistance for connected farms and businesses across the region.

Innovate UK and British High Commission were present at the MOU signing ceremony to support this exciting partnership between Kacific and Farmer Charlie. Dr. Hanbin Zheng, the Head of S&I, British High Commission, said, “I’m delighted to see that UK Science and Innovation Network (Singapore) support for 2022 Innovate UK Space Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP) to Singapore has resulted in a practical collaboration between Farmer Charlie and Kacific.”

“This collaboration demonstrates how UK and Singapore technological expertise can be leveraged to positively impact the lives of farming communities in the Pacific islands, and promote sustainability. It also illustrates how space technology and applications can effectively intersect across sectors and geographies to benefit mankind.”

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