Lab 1: Reaching Farmers at Scale

Voice, Messaging & Human Connection

How do we design farmer engagement that people actually respond to—and trust?

Reaching farmers at scale is not just a technical challenge; it is a question of voice, messaging, and human connection. This lab explores how engagement channels such as IVR, CATI, and WhatsApp shape who is reached, who is left out, and how farmers experience being contacted.

Participants will examine where engagement succeeds or breaks down—how consent and agency are established, where fatigue or mistrust enters, and what makes communication usable rather than extractive. The discussion will also look at how these design choices affect the reliability of self-reported information and whether engagement produces insights that hold up in real-world conditions.

Grounded in practical experience, the lab focuses on designing farmer engagement approaches that are inclusive, trusted, and capable of supporting decisions at scale.