BOI research will release soon the first research report that is using HARA data. This is a period report currently centered around the production of rice in Indonesia, but will also include other crops in the future. Let’s learn how BOI Research is combining local insights with statistics to create valuable research reports for the industry.

The data provided on the HARA Data Exchange is used by BOI Research as a supplement to the data they collect through their own fieldwork. This fieldwork is at times very challenging. For example, the team must deal with a lot of language barriers due to the plentiful local dialects that are spoken in Indonesia.

BOI Research is currently working on a systematic sampling survey — a probability sampling method — with farmers from Java and Sumatra who cover 70% of the rice production in Indonesia.

Taking the island of Java as an example, Ingmar splits up the island in a raster of different areas. One of the methods they employ is to reach out to farmers, cooperatives, and traders in each of the designated areas. On the phone, the researchers at BOI research try to figure out how much these field-players know on commodities being produced locally.

“If you got this big puzzle of Java, with all these blocks where this cooperative works or this farmer works, we try to figure out how it is produced there based on what they can tell us.” — Ingmar van den Brink, co-founder of BOI Research

By interviewing these local resources, BOI Research is able to keep a record on what is happening on the ground. This way they can easily find out if there is a production problem because of a drought, too much rain, or any other complications that might be relevant for the report.

Combining statistics with local insights and the help of HARA will give a more clear picture of the actual production of rice and the conditions of the farmers. A lot of effort is already being made to help make Indonesian farmers produce better. However, there is little insight into what the lagging areas are. The reports will help single out what areas need more help, and in which areas things are already looking good.