Global Farming Industries presented an interesting challenge from the very beginning. It was an ambitious project (to put it mildly) that neither I nor its founder, Gigi Manders, knew quite how to approach in the beginning.
How to create a digital presence for the non-profit project of developing Sustainable Agricultural Villages in Asia that would not only help the local economy by reversing the extreme damage done to the soil of the land by harsh pesticides and farming methods but also provide jobs after the training in new eco friendly farming methods while the first such village would be built around the farm, aspiring to become a worldwide blueprint.
To establish a digital presence for an ambitious non-profit endeavor aimed at fostering self-sustaining agricultural communities and combating poverty. How to navigate the intricacies of introducing the project to the digital world, generating enthusiasm, procuring financial support, and garnering loyal supporters.
A responsive website with a visually appealing interface -bright natural colors and earth/sky hues- that showcased the project's mission, goals, and impact. Engaging content such as blogs, educational videos on sustainable farming, and farmer success stories to demonstrate the project's value.
Shared updates, news, and inspiring stories and encouraged local people to share their experiences, desires and expectations of such a project via social media and website's blog.
Collaborated with influencers, thought leaders, and relevant organizations to amplify the project's message.
Created engaging online fundraising campaigns and a strong digital presence, generating buzz, securing funding, and garnering supporters with compelling content, active communication, and strategic partnerships.
To establish a digital presence for an ambitious non-profit endeavor aimed at fostering self-sustaining agricultural communities and combating poverty. How to navigate the intricacies of introducing the project to the digital world, generating enthusiasm, procuring financial support, and garnering loyal supporters.
To create a digital presence for the non-profit project, we started by developing a comprehensive website that showcased the project's mission, goals, and impact.
Utilized engaging content such as blogs, videos, and success stories to demonstrate the project's value.
Leveraged social media platforms to share updates, news, and inspiring stories, and encourage people to share their experiences through user-generated content campaigns.
Collaborated with influencers, thought leaders, and relevant organizations to amplify the project's message.
Implemented engaging online fundraising campaigns, offering tangible benefits to donors and showcasing the project's impact.
Actively engaged with supporters, responded to their questions/comments, and expressed gratitude for their contributions.
Building a strong digital presence, generating buzz, securing funding, and garnering supporters necessitates a multi-channel approach with compelling content, active communication, and strategic partnerships.
We started by focusing on the idea behind the creation of the agricultural villages, the first one being the most significant as it would become the blueprint for the rest.
The village will include housing units for all farm employees, personnel and their families; schools for their children and the children of the village and nearby (2) villages and continuing adult education options for the employees, personnel and their partners/spouses. A state-of-the-art hospital will be built on the grounds, the first one in over 5 decades, which will service not only the farm's personnel and their families but also the village and nearby villages that might need its services. Doctors and surgeons from Manilla will be on premises bi-weekly.
Numerous facilities will also be constructed as the project gets underway such as entertainment, recreational and sports facilities as well as an orphanage to provide a safe haven for all children in need in an area infamous for its high poverty, broken families and abandoned children living in horrific conditions. Our goal is to eradicate poverty and illiteracy, heal the soil with organic and sustainable ways to ensure harvests for generations to come and eventually have a self-sustained, trained, healthy and educated community.
It became clear early on that the user experience would be double sided: first and foremost, it would be created for the farmers and their families, helping them in training (best pesticides, list of crops, information (medical and other)) but it would also have to engage the public to not only get them involved (crop farming contests etc), keep them up to date, educate them on sustainable agriculture and be completely transparent about where their input, suggestions and help was needed.
All designs had to be clean, modern but with a bit of a throwback feel to them, informative without being preachy and easy to use & navigate and intuitive. The apps we are currently creating are meant to assist in a multitude of ways. We are creating soil check apps, (organic) spray apps for the crops as well as weather/maps/information apps; information and farming equipment apps and training videos on best practices plus apps for all ages to get involved-educational, informative and many games and contests. Education on humane farming techniques and best crops to flourish in particular climate It is our goal for the website and all its extensions to become a crucial part of this new community. The hospital will also be accessible online with information, q&a and the ability to make appointments online. All employees, personnel and family members will be given hand-held devices and will receive the proper training.
Due to Gigi's contacts in the Philippines we already knew who to contact and reach out to.
We had a website (with a CTA for donations that we promoted on our social media) and clearly laid out information about the project and the incredible challenges we were facing but also a strong belief that if this were to be successful-a sustainable farming community that would be self-sufficient due to its produce and biofuel production-it would become a worldwide blueprint for eradicating poverty and toxic farming.
Thanks to our site and presentations, the Philippine government enthusiastically vowed their support and donated 2 farm lands to the project that had been destroyed and abandoned for over a decade due to poor farming methods. That official seal of approval attracted the attention of the nation's finest architects, agriculturists, scientists, doctors and members of academia as well as their vow of involvement and assistance.
Even though clearing of the farm lands begun almost immediately, soil healing after years of mistreatment and toxic farming procedures had left the land barren. It took almost 3 years for the first encouraging sign. Nature does have a way of healing itself and we were witnessing it in real time as we prepared further sketches, wirefraames and prototypes for the new sites and apps we were working on.
Nearly 3 years ago with the outbreak of Covid-19 all work was halted. As lockdowns continued very aggressively in that country, the project was at a stand still for a long time. Though no work is being done on the land as of this writing, we hear encouraging news about the health of the soil. All is not lost. We strongly believe teams will re-assemble and work will resume and that this vision will become a reality. It is just a matter of time.
The Philippine government enthusiastically vowed their support and donated 2 farm lands (60 and 80 acres) to the project that had been destroyed and abandoned for over a decade due to poor farming methods. That official seal of approval attracted the attention of the nation's finest architects, agriculturists, scientists, doctors and members of academia as well as their vow of involvement and assistance plus the generous support of the public through our site/blog/social media, interacting with us and the various online contests we had as well donating to the project.
