Dimitra SDGs – Today, agriculture accounts for more than 1 billion jobs globally. While this seems like a significant number, only about 500 million people working these jobs receive fair wages.

Farming is one of the most important industries in the world. It’s also one of the leading contributors to global and economic conflict, including climate change, unpaid labor, and human exploitation.

To create a better agricultural reality and achieve a better future for those who provide consumer goods around the world. We must ensure better working conditions. We must also advocate for economic growth across governments, both developed and in development.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a list of 17 major initiatives that the United Nations (UN) outlined as essential to achieving economic, environmental, and ethical development worldwide.

Much of the work we do at Dimitra aligns with these goals, especially in the sphere of agriculture. SDG #8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, is a reality we make possible for farmers around the world. And now, it’s more important than ever.

Decent Work and Economic Growth SDG

8 “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

In nearly every international news source, we hear the urgent call for higher levels of economic productivity. No industry remains untouched by the effects of the global pandemic. Such as rising inflation rates, policy uncertainties, labor market challenges, and supply chain disruptions.

At the same time, productivity for the means of profit is no longer the main goal. People matter most. Now more than ever, so do new and changing work ethics, company values, and environmental sustainability practices.

In response to this demand, employers, laborers, and industry leaders need to prioritize the needs of those who work so hard to provide essential resources to the population. Every sector needs new, quality, well-paying jobs — as well as resource efficiency in both consumption and production.

Farming, Agriculture, and the Need for Technology – Dimitra SDGs

At Dimitra Technology, we help farmers in all regions of the world adopt lasting solutions to support this Sustainable Development Goal #8.

The Dimitra Connected Farmer App helps farmers optimize their daily operations and long-term business goals. The app enables crop input tracking, financial trade support, freight insurance options, farm geofencing and maintenance features, satellite and weather insights, a government support desk, and more.

To support every actor in the agricultural supply chain, we provide certifications for compliant farmers through the Deforestation Compliance Module. With changing laws regarding deforestation in the UN, distributors now need proof that their products meet sustainability standards. The Deforestation Module ensures everything is recorded securely and with full transparency to the blockchain, protecting farmers and employees in every step of the process from seed to sale.

At Dimitra, we work with smallholder farms and government organizations to help agricultural workers achieve higher levels of sustainable productivity. By giving access to technology in remote locations, farmers get the education they need to make more informed decisions — and to make livable incomes.

Jon Trask, our CEO, says: “Every smallholder farmer, regardless of economic status, should be able to benefit from simple, beautiful, and useful technology.. because when farmers thrive, economies thrive.”

Dimitra Award – Dimitra’s CEO and founder Jon Trask is the winner of the 2023 Government Blockchain Association Annual Achievement Award in the social impact category. This award is an acknowledgment of what Dimitra is doing as a company, and what it has in store for the future.

At Dimitra, social impact is more than just an idea. It is one of the main goals that it works toward each and every day. The company is on a journey to bring widespread, life-changing results to farmers around the globe. By continuously working to improve the well-being of farmers. The Dimitra team believes that the results will spread to their communities, societies, and even the world at large.

The Dimitra team released the following message: “Thank you to those who voted, and those that continue to support the efforts we put forth at Dimitra. We also want to acknowledge Pradeep Goel from Solve.Care and Amy Westervelt from the Energy Web Foundation. Their efforts toward creating an impactful and lasting social impact on the world today are invaluable and exceptionally significant.”

Dimitra Award – “Last but not least, thank you to the Government Blockchain Association for facilitating this event. They are playing a vital role in raising awareness of social impact. And creating more opportunities to bring real and lasting social impact to the world.”

The Dimitra team released the following message: “Thank you to those who voted, and those that continue to support the efforts we put forth at Dimitra. We also want to acknowledge Pradeep Goel from Solve.Care and Amy Westervelt from the Energy Web Foundation. Their efforts toward creating an impactful and lasting social impact on the world today are invaluable and exceptionally significant.”

“Last but not least, thank you to the Government Blockchain Association for facilitating this event. They are playing a vital role in raising awareness of social impact. And creating more opportunities to bring real and lasting social impact to the world.”

Last week our CEO, Jon Trask sat down with the QQ糖 community on Discord to talk through all things Dimitra! Here is the recap of the questions that were asked:

Could you please tell us a little bit about Dimitra Technology and yourself?

Hello everyone, thank you for having me here today. My name is Jon Trask and I am the CEO and Founder of Dimitra Incorporated. I’ve been working in blockchain since 2017 and I have had an extensive career building and developing enterprise software solutions focused on supply chain, identity, traceability, and I’ve held several C-level positions with some multinational corporations.

Dimitra is a blockchain based agricultural technology company and we provide elegant and useful technology to farmers around the world at a low cost. Think of Dimitra as the operating system for Ag-tech, and that the Dimitra token (DMTR — https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dimitra) is what drives our ecosystem. We have a data driven approach at Dimitra to help: increase crop outputs, reduce expenses for farmers, and to help mitigate their risks.

I think I have to ask one of the most talked about topics nowadays, which is how you feel about the recent buzz about the meme hype. And as the CEO and founder of a real technology company that’s helping people all around the world, how do you view this amount of undeserved attention to meme coins?

Meme coins are a novel new area within the crypto industry and the interesting thing about crypto is that people are creating new use cases and value within crypto each day which is driving new innovation. At Dimitra, we are focussed on utility and solving real-world problems within agriculture for small farmers and providing utility with our technology stack and within our ecosystem which is powered by our utility token the DMTR.

What are you most excited about in 2023, and how has this year been so far for you and the Dimitra team?

In 2023 Dimitra is laser focused on expanding our capabilities at detecting and reporting on deforestation. The Dimitra Deforestation module uses satellite imagery to differentiate between trees, crops, forested areas, and clear-cut sections to do precisely that. Machine learning models analyze this data to understand what’s happening on the ground without ever touching the soil. To intelligently identify the deforested areas in a sea of green, the module uses AI to determine texture, color, reflectivity, and much more. This allows both farmers and traders to offer full transparency in their supply chain. Additionally, it allows them to prove with data-backed insights their compliance with deforestation regulations.

So far, three nations have already started using and testing the Dimitra Deforestation module and we’ve been training our Machine Learning with 500,000 square kilometers of forested land. Over time, we expect this to grow exponentially and to become many regions of many countries across the globe as it is a global problem and a global initiative that 141 nations have signed up via legislation to solve.
We’ve written the Dimitra Deforestation Certificate to the Polygon blockchain to ensure the lowest possible gas fees which also ensures the deforestation certificate is time stamped and dated which ensures immutability. If you’d like to read about the legislation here is a link for it:
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/615721825/eu-deforestation-regulation-and-compliance

141 nations have signed a pact at COP to eliminate deforestation by 2030. The EU has mandated that goal that seven crops (coffee, timber, rubber, soy, palm oil and cocoa) are deforested free by 2030. Imagine all the companies that will require a certificate to be compliant and they could potentially be using our system. It’s a massive opportunity for us.

We are also expanding our capabilities to combine drone imagery analysis with our satellite analysis. Recently we ran a project in Papua New Guinea collecting drone data on corn being affected by Fall Armyworm (FAW). We have determined that we can detect early and minimize pesticide costs and losses for those that use our techniques. FAW decimates billions of dollars of crops annually, and we have a viable way to significantly reduce those losses all driven by AI and drones.

We have a major AI-based project in Brazil to mitigate fruit losses, particularly — citrus and mango. This will be applied globally to reduce disease-related losses which can wipe out citrus groves.

We are continuously building out the DMTR marketplace, and increasing awareness of the DMTR token across the world. In addition, we are adding projects to our Farmer Sponsorship Program, with the goal of getting more people to support the Dimitra Farmer Sponsorship Program (https://dimitra.io/dimitra-sponsorship-program-for-individuals/).
And, in time, add more key exchange partners.

Dimitra is also focused on both scaling and improving our five platforms, and adding more farmers, cooperatives, and nations to our list of customers (we have sixteen nations under contract). We’ve got a bright future ahead coupled and now its about execution in 2023–2024 and also growing our customer base and having people purchase our platforms with the DMTR token.

What are the key features about Dimitra that you would like to share with our community?

Great question! Dimitra’s platforms are built on blockchain technology and incorporate mobile technology, machine learning, IoT devices, satellite and drone imagery, genomics, and advanced farming research. We want to help farmers across the world improve their productivity with the power of information.

We know that the ecosystem token $DMTR can be traded on Kucoin, Gate, Bitmart, Bittrex International, and Uniswap. What is the role $DMTR playing in the whole ecosystem?

The token drives our ecosystem. DMTR is a utility token, and our hope is that it creates real-world value or utility for the farmers and all the facets within our ecosystem. That value is not just relegated to digital exchanges, and much of the value is wrapped up in the success of a related project.

Farmers can do things like pay for their licenses (Connected Farmer, Livestock Guru, Deforestation, Connected Coffee) with $DMTR tokens, and when our marketplace goes live, they’ll be able to buy things like sensors, coffee, and crops, and pay for their transactions with $DMTR tokens.

For example, one of our Cooperatives in Indonesia is called Solok Radjo, the cooperative leaders used tokens to purchase their Dimitra Connected Coffee licenses. Over time, they will continue to pay for their licenses using the DMTR token and if they want buy advanced features like additional AI machine learning reports they will have to pay with DMTR. Once our marketplace goes live they will also be able to transact in DMTR within the marketplace.

Dimitra’s market opportunity is massive as we are operating in one of the world’s largest untapped technology markets. I can’t think of many crypto projects that have real-world utility and have contracts with 16 nations as we do already.

What is the long-term sustainable value driver for the $DMTR token?

Sustainability is core to everything we do at Dimitra. When farmers receive notifications and advice from our platform during the growing seasons, it always has sustainability in mind. Therefore, when our customers purchase their licenses with the DMTR token sustainability is at the core. When farmers purchase deforestation certifications they prove that their farm complies with regulations. We are very focused on making the world a better place one farm at a time.

Can you please share a little bit more about the Dimitra team?

Absolutely and thank you for the question. The Dimitra team is so important and we wouldn’t be where we are without everyone and what they bring to the table. Dimitra is operating in over 70 countries and we have 140 team members. Our team is made up of the following: leadership, country sales partners, tech, operations, finance, and marketing.

Thank you so much for having me here today. We appreciate everyone coming for today’s AMA and asking so many great questions.

Dimitra Interview – Digital inequality reinforces existing social disparities, demanding considerable efforts to acknowledge and address this pressing issue. In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, policymakers, think tanks and experts on this topic to share their insights and stories about “How Companies and Policymakers Are Taking Action and Can Further Contribute to Closing the Digital Divide.” As part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Jon Trask.

Jon Trask is the CEO and Founder of Dimitra Incorporated, a global agriculture technology company that utilizes Blockchain, AI, and IoT technologies. Jon is a globally recognized blockchain expert with a background in enterprise software development and designing complex supply chains for multinational corporations. They are passionate about using the power of information to deliver agricultural technology (Agtech) to small farm holders who, while playing a vital role in keeping our world fed, often struggle to feed their own families.

Dimitra Interview – Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

Igrew up in Nova Scotia, Canada. I spent a lot of my childhood playing with computers, coding or spending time on my family’s farm. I enjoyed a few sports (martial arts and track and field), but loved to be on the computer or reading. My father was in the RCMP (Canada’s national police force) and my mother was a Christian minister. I also had a younger brother who was more interested in bikes and skateboards.

Last subheading I need – Dimitra Interview

Looking back on my childhood, that time I spent on the farm was so magical. There was so much land, I was surrounded by animals, I enjoyed horseback riding and fresh crops. As kids, we ate my grandmother’s blueberry pie made from blueberries picked on the farm. Every time I eat blueberries now, it sparks memories of the farm. All of these are memories I will cherish forever.

Fast forward to today and I am married to my best friend, Jackie. We have four children and live in British Columbia during the summers and spend our winters in sunny Florida.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

John Elkington’s “Cannibals with Forks” played a big role in shaping my views about the evolution of sustainable business. He illustrated how leaders must transition businesses to a triple bottom line of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social justice.

I read it first twenty years ago and picked it up again about eight years ago, right as I was thinking more about the intersection of agriculture and technology. When I started in blockchain, it was impossible to envision where we’d be today, with Web3 taking shape and the relevance of this technology pulling these two sectors closer than ever.

That’s where I see my mission. Farmers are increasing their connectivity with the global push of mobile technology and becoming more reliant on the successful integration of IoT, Satellite and other technologies.

I’m fascinated by the ways all of this can align. Take agri-food, which is one of the largest businesses in the world. Its cycles are driven by nature and happen over time. Technology happens at a totally different pace, with industries like crypto operating at lightning speed. Could these two align? It’s an idea I handle every day, because I think leveraging the power of technology to benefit smallholder farmers is how we are going to change the world.

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Dimitra Interview – Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

I have two life lesson quotes. The first is by Confucius, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

The second quote is by Jane Goodal, she says “What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

I have spent a great deal of my adult life using technology to simplify complex supply chains and that has been gratifying. All of those early efforts were focused primarily on Fortune 500 corporations.

As I have aged, I have reflected more on the difference I am making.

Those reflections led me to Dimitra.

Small farmers represent such a large part of the world population but often struggle to make ends meet. As a group, they have substantial impact on poverty, global warming, clean water, clean soil and the economic prosperity of many nations. I saw a way to apply technology to global agriculture problems and knew that focusing on small farms would make a considerable impact on all of these social and environmental issues.

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Ok, thank you. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. How would you define the Digital Divide? Can you explain or give an example?

The digital divide is the difference between those with access to technology and those without access. An example of this is the large-scale industrial farms in G20 nations. These farmers have access to technology that helps them operate their farms as commercial enterprises, exceeding their family’s needs and allowing them to supply food to hundreds of people.

In the world’s developing nations, farmers need agricultural technology the most. However, due to its expense, its availability is limited, meaning these farmers do not have access to resources that will help improve their farms and produce.

Dimitra is bringing useful, affordable technology to those who need it most. We are working to close the digital divide because we believe that every farmer, regardless of their economic status, should have access to agriculture technologies.

Subheading in the top – Dimitra Interview

Dimitra Interview – Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to close the digital divide? Can you share a story with us?

Smallholder farmers in many areas of the world struggle to make ends meet. These farmers can play a huge role in solving the world food shortage, improving food safety, and addressing food security issues. Putting simple, effective technology in their hands is our core goal. We want to help them improve their productivity with the power of information.

Dimitra has been working with over seventy nations since we started on this journey.

We now have contracts with 18 nations in different regions of the world.

Each contract and project has a different agricultural focus, objective, and pain point that we are addressing and solving.

Dimitra works alongside the governments of those nations we contract with, the NGOs in that country, and usually their farming cooperatives.

A great example is Indonesia. We are working with Solok Radjo Cooperative to improve their coffee output, provide traceability, digitize document management, and help them get their coffee to expanded international markets.

In addition, we have partnered with one of their Universities to help bring our technology to the farmers and train them on the Connected Coffee application.

There are so many aspects of spanning the digital divide, and we work with as many players in as many sectors as possible to advance progress.

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This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important to create change in this area?

Giving farmers advanced technology provides them with actionable data. In a data-driven approach, farmers can make informed decisions, leading to an increase in their yield and a reduction in their expenses.

Dimitra Interview – What specific actions has your company or organization taken to address the digital divide, and how do you ensure that your efforts are making a positive impact in the communities you serve?

Dimitra is mission-driven to address the digital divide.

We are here to make agriculture software affordable. We work closely with governments, NGOs, and non-governmental organizations to make our technology available to smallholder farmers in developing nations.

Our efforts positively impact the communities we serve in a multitude of ways, and we are committed to being an engaged, useful partner for the long run.

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What are some of the challenges that individuals or communities face when trying to bridge the digital divide?

There are endless challenges to bridging the digital divide, especially in developing countries. These include everything from the cost and accessibility of technology to regional language barriers and rural locations.

Another challenge is tackling the rate of adoption. We have to quickly win trust and equip users, because the quicker farmers have access to technology that can improve their farming practices, the quicker the divide will close.

What role do you see technology companies playing in closing the digital divide, and what steps can they take to ensure that their products and services are accessible to all?

Technology companies like ours play a central role in bridging the digital divide. Dimitra has created five applications for different farming use cases. Everything from working with crops like coffee and quinoa, to helping with livestock breeding, animal health, and improving genetics.

Technology companies will make accessibility a problem of yesterday by ensuring that a company’s product or service is available in rural areas, as well as being easy to use. Having a commitment from all parties — the supplier and the user — is necessary in order to close the digital divide.

Another Subheading

Because of investment coming from the federal government, we have funding for great access to infrastructure and digital skills training. In your view, what other policy changes are needed to address the digital divide? How can companies and policymakers work together to implement these changes?

The digital competency of smallholder farmers varies greatly from highly competent to few skills with mobile phones and applications. Application developers need to develop training programs which allow for an initial training session and then repetition with a coach.

Policymakers should remember how imperative it is to have some amount of structured training which combines basic mobile skills and agricultural training.

We are already in Web3.0. What should we be doing as leaders to ensure the next iteration(s) of the Web are green, accessible and beneficial to as many people as possible?

At Dimitra, we’ve incorporated sustainability into our DNA as a company. We want to leave the world in better shape than we found it. We want every farmer to implement more sustainable practices, which will translate into increased productivity, less pesticides and reduced expenses. When farming communities thrive, societies will thrive. We are dedicated to reducing poverty and social inequality in a tangible way.

Subheading – Dimitra Interview

This is the signature question we ask in most of our interviews. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

1 . Great people are the key to business success. Finding motivated people with demonstrated critical thinking skills and creativity is important. Align with people who support your mission and are loyal to the company and team. People who are in conflict with the team cause chaos. Cultural fit and teamwork are important.

2 . Keep the team on mission and remember that technology is a great distractor. In the agriculture world, there is a need for many great technologies and the rate of adoption is accelerating. We can’t build it all. Keep your designers and developers on mission. Finish your modules, test them and deploy and then listen to your customers and adapt. Don’t let the shiny new object in the market sway you to deviate from your plan, unless your plan is just wrong.

3 . Be action oriented. Figure out your goal and the steps needed to get there, then prioritize action. Driving action has been a key to accomplishing my goals but also getting recognized for success early in my career. Don’t get distracted, because it will slow you down. There is a process and time for innovation and roadmap planning, but move forward in productivity as soon as possible.

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4 . Listen more, talk less. When I was younger I loved to share my knowledge (I still do, in fact), but listening is a skill that must be developed. It took me years to evolve my listening ability and it will take me a lifetime to master it.

5 . Learn, learn, learn. This is the key to innovation. I’ve taken so much time to learn what farmers need, how farmers impact the environment, how farmers impact the global economy, and how they impact world hunger. It is amazing that all of these social challenges are on the backs of almost 600 million farmers and their families. The tech industry needs continuous innovation and the only way for us to do this is through continuous learning.

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What role can individuals play in closing the digital divide, and what steps can they take to support these efforts?

You can sponsor a smallholder farmer with a Dimitra software license. Dimitra has launched an individual sponsorship program. When DMTR token holders stake tokens, they can also sponsor individual farms and projects with which Dimitra works.

How can our readers follow you online?

Your readers can follow me on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-trask-59423632/

They can also visit www.dimitra.io to learn more and view all of our social platforms there.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

Dimitra SDG Life on Land – Over 10 million hectares of land are destroyed by deforestation every year. Globally, it is an estimation that 90% of this land undergoes deforestation due to the expansion of cropland and livestock grazing areas.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a list of 17 priority objectives that promote worldwide sustainability. There is a critical demand to protect and restore terrestrial life. This effort focuses on limiting and reversing deforestation and ecosystem degradation.

Above all, SDG #15, Life on Land, is more important than ever before.

At Dimitra, we’re helping farmers, operators, and global trade companies advocate for sustainable land usage and crop management.

Life on Land SDG

15 “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”

For instance, people are making continuous efforts toward ensuring sustainable forests and more responsible natural resource management.

However, even with these efforts, many of the commitments and instruments designed to protect and restore forests — as well as the biodiversity they contain — must still be implemented properly.

This call is urgent if we are to ensure healthy and resilient societies that sustainably use forested land.

Deforestation Risks to Life on Land

Agriculture, deforestation, and biodiversity loss are inseparable issues that impact sustainable development. For example, in 2022, the Amazon rainforest experienced deforestation at a record high. As one of the most biodiverse places in the world, the Amazon continues to face serious risks of species extinction and rainforest destruction — mainly due to agribusiness operations.

Equally important, through other land threats such as desertification, pollution, and increasing construction in rural areas, it is an estimation that 40,000 species are at risk of extinction in future decades. Although the data and warnings are imminent. Millions of hectares of land continue to be the victim of destruction every year.

Sustainable Forest Management Solutions – Dimitra SDG Life on Land

If the world is to experience the progress it needs, agriculture and land-resource industries must activate sustainable land management.

However, critical biodiversity areas throughout the world need to be properly established and safeguarded. Area-based conservation is essential for SDGs 14 (pertaining to marine ecosystems) and 15 (pertaining to terrestrial ecosystems).

In other words, countries need to commit to setting these safeguards for sensitive areas. In addition, they must be setting voluntary targets for achieving land degradation neutrality. The recent EU law banning commodities linked to crops grown on deforested land exemplifies this proactive effort.

New Farming Technology: Protect Forested Land and Life

At Dimitra, we have a commitment to helping farmers and global trade companies comply with new and upcoming laws similar to the EU deforestation ban. With the Dimitra Deforestation Module, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, farmers, and importers can obtain certifications that comply with new trade laws.

In fact, using satellite analysis, geofencing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and mobile technology, operators can detect deforested areas. Farmers who operate on non-deforested land can prove their compliance in an effort to protect biodiversity. More importantly, farms that operate fraudulently — utilizing deforested land or furthering deforestation — can be easily detected and penalized.

Farmers and agricultural companies around the world can now use the Dimitra Deforestation Module to mark their geographical location at times of harvest. Furthermore, they can then automatically generate maps of the area to certify changes in deforestation or reforestation over time.

With this innovative solution, farmers gain access to risk assessment, farm mapping, certification, and the DMTR token. In addition, a record of all farming activity is securely on the blockchain for immutability.

Dimitra SDG – You may think that water is the most important resource for all life on earth. But it’s clean water that is absolutely essential, and this particular resource is at risk.

Today, 771 million people lack access to clean, sanitary water — about 1 in 10 people all over the world. Because all rely on water for drinking, bathing, farming, and hygiene, water scarcity is considered a top threat to human health.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations list clean water as #6 on the priority list. At Dimitra, our work alongside farmers, families, and communities supports this mission toward clean, sustainable water supplies.

Clean Water and Sanitation SDG

6 “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”

Access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene is essential to a hopeful future. However, it’s estimated that over 85% of the planet’s natural wetlands have been lost over the past 300 years. 3 billion people lack quality monitoring of their local water resources, resulting in the depletion of hygiene and increased scarcity.

An ongoing lack of sanitary water can result in waterborne illnesses and death. It can also result in reduced productivity, barriers to education, and chronic hunger. Moreover, unless leading nations work to deliver SDG #6 by 2030, sustainable development remains in jeopardy — especially in critical industries such as agriculture.

Clean Water Access and Resource Management

Water management and land management coincide strongly when it comes to ensuring more sustainable farm practices.

As noted in SDG section 6.5, the goal is to “implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate by 2030.” Water resource management is critical for farmers globally, from smallholder farms with limited technology to large-scale agriculture enterprises.

The solution? Invest in water sanitation projects and improve clean water infrastructure, primarily in underserved regions around the world. Educate families, employees, and farmers about adequate sanitation protocols for their location, and work with local governments to promote water solutions for consumption and agriculture.

Sanitation and Water Solutions for Farmers – Dimitra SDG

At Dimitra, we’re helping increase water efficiency for farms of all sizes, making agricultural technology more accessible than ever before. Dimitra provides actionable insights that inform farmers: when they need to water crops, where to source clean groundwater, and how to ensure sanitary, sustainable practices in everyday operations.

Equally important, overwatering crops is a common and wasteful reality in farming. With IoT sensors, satellites, and other remote monitoring technologies, farmers gain access to water predictions and watering schedules for every crop.

With powerful farming technology, smallholder farms no longer need to play the archaic guessing game of where or when to water. Through the Dimitra Connected Farmer app, farmers use sensors and data to view intricate reports on soil, moisture levels, fertilizers, and pests. With this live data, farmers know when and exactly where to water their crops. This saves a significant amount of their most precious resource.

Dimitra’s mission to empower and educate farmers on sustainable practices strengthens water-scarce communities. Furthermore, as we expand international cooperation with farms and government partners, we hope to make water quality and availability a reality for all.

Dimitra x IMFI DAO Community AMA – On April 24th our CEO, Jon Trask sat down with Discord community IMFI DAO for an AMA! Here is the summary and key talking points.

Q1: Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and Dimitra Technology?

A1: Hello everyone, thank you for having me here today. My name is Jon Trask and I am the CEO and Founder of Dimitra Incorporated. I’ve been working in blockchain since 2017 and I have had an extensive career building. And developing enterprise software solutions focussed on supply chain, identity, traceability. And I’ve held several C-level positions with some multinational corporations. Dimitra is a blockchain based agricultural technology company. And we provide elegant and useful technology to farmers around the world at a low cost. Think of Dimitra as the operating system for Ag-tech, and that the Dimitra token is what drives our ecosystem. We have a data driven approach at Dimitra to help: increase crop outputs, reduce expenses for farmers, and to help mitigate their risks.

Q2: We know that Dimitra is utilizing AI and ML to help farmers and the agricultural industry worldwide, can you please tell us more about how AI blends into Dimitra’s technology?

A2: Great question and I’d be happy to provide insights as to how Dimitra uses AI. The Dimitra Connected Farmer platform has a ton of AI embedded in it. And it uses On-the-ground data that is essential to making real improvements in crop performance. Satellite-based spectral and radar imagery analysis pairs with soil, weather, planting, and other agricultural data. To deliver farmers AI-based recommendations that can have a significant impact on crop yields and overall productivity. By combining all these elements and then applying AI we provide farmers with powerful insights and suggestions. For example, In Bolivia which is one of our customers, farmers use our AI to analyze data from all kinds of sources efficiently such as:

• Crop Inputs
• Satellite imagery
• Value chain partners
• Internet of things (IoT) devices

Our Connected Farmer Platform provides insights and recommendations for their farmers that results in improved crop yields and, in turn, overall profits. Moreover, it connects national agricultural data to help the government generate reports and organize local agricultural value chains. Therefore, Dimitra is helping individual farming families, their villages, communities, regions, and countries (like Bolivia).

Dimitra also helps by improving traceability that is within our systems. Which is useful data that helps to develop better public policies. I also want to point out that customers can pay for their Connected Farmer licenses with DMTR tokens.

A second example of our AI capabilities at Dimitra, would be to improve animal productivity. When we talk about leveraging AI and ML to improve livestock performance. It directly translates to giving these farmers a data-driven advantage in their everyday decision-making. Dimitra’s Livestock Guru puts those practical AI-based tools right into their hands.

Many environmental, management, and hereditary factors affect the performance of cattle. Moreover, having a comprehensive vantage point based on ML. And statistical analysis results in better predictions, performance, and productivity across many different areas:

• Cost optimization
• Pasture management
• Genetic selection
• Farm performance

Nutrition, weather, water, disease, temperature, etc., all affect the lifecycle of the animals.

By categorizing livestock into groups using these conditions, Livestock Guru helps farmers make better-informed decisions based on data-driven predictions. This influences areas like farm management, animal management, and breeding.

The result? More efficient livestock practices for those who need them most and higher quality products and the customers can pay for their Livestock Guru licenses with DMTR tokens.

Lastly, another example of our AI capabilities would be Dimitra’s Deforestation Compliance Module. The module uses satellite imagery to differentiate between trees, crops, forested areas, and clear-cut sections to do precisely that.

Machine learning models leverage this data to understand what’s happening on the ground without ever touching the soil. To intelligently identify the deforested areas in a sea of green, the module uses AI to determine texture, color, reflectivity, and much more. This allows both farmers and traders to offer full transparency in their supply chain. Additionally, it allows them to prove with data-backed insights their compliance with deforestation regulations.

Three nations have already started using and testing the Dimitra Deforestation module. And we’ve been training our Machine Learning with 100 kilometer areas of forested land. Over time, we expect this to grow exponentially and to become many regions of many countries across the globe as it is a global problem and a global initiative that 141 nations have signed up via legislation to solve.

So far, we’ve written the Dimitra Deforestation Certificate to the Polygon blockchain to ensure the lowest possible gas fees which also ensures the deforestation certificate is time stamped and dated which ensures immutability. If you’d like to read about the legislation here is a link for it:

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/615721825/eu-deforestation-regulation-and-compliance

Dimitra x IMFI DAO Community AMA

Q3: Congratulations on all the awards and recognitions Dimitra is getting from all over the world. Any of the awards or recognitions you’d specifically like to share with the audience?

A3: Thank you for your kind words and I’d be happy to. I was selected as one of the finalists for the Government Blockchain Association for their “Social Impact Award,” which is a great honor. Dimitra also won the W3B & Blockchain World 2022 Entrepreneurship Award in the Industry Solutions Category. Plus, we were featured in the Blockchain for Europe article last week for our work in Climate action and Sustainability in this Blockchain for Europe article: https://www.blockchain4europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/An-Overview-of-Blockchain-for-Climate-Action-and-Sustainability-BC4EU-IOTA-April-2023.pdf

Q4: We know Dimitra’s mission and vision are to help farmers everywhere to achieve sustainability, including these small-scale farmers in developing countries, yet they are usually the least informed and educated about the latest technology. How would Dimitra approach these farmers?

A4: You are 100% correct that many of the small farmers have not used new agricultural tech or blockchain. How we are accomplishing this is by having a true partnership with local Universities, cooperatives and governments. If we didn’t have buy in from everyone we could not attain mass adoption of our technology. For example, in Indonesia where we are doing a coffee focused project, we are collaborating with Andalas University and Solok Radjo Cooperative to develop an integrated Carbon Soil Assessment Program and also to improve their coffee crop output and help with their supply chain and traceability to international markets. The students and lecturers go out to Solok Radjo Cooperative and work with the farmers by reviewing the current soil health. And monitoring the ongoing regenerative practices with our Connected Coffee platform. The coolest part is that Solok Radjo bought their licenses with DMTR tokens.

Q5: For those of us who just learnt about the Dimitra token, could you help us understand what drives the value of $DMTR with special emphasis on the Dimitra Token and what guarantees that the value will keep rising?

A5: First, there are no guarantees in life, are there? I also can’t say that our price will rise. However, the DMTR token is a utility token and our hope is that it creates real-world value or utility for the farmers, and all the facets within our ecosystem. And much of the value is wrapped up in the success of a related project. Take Solok Radjo, for example, the cooperative leaders used tokens to buy their licensing. Over time, they will give tokens to the farmers in their cooperative, who can then use those to buy advanced features in the platform. Dimitra’s market opportunity is massive as we are operating in one of the world’s largest untapped technology markets. I can’t think of many crypto projects that have real world utility and have contracts with 16 nations like we do already.

Q6: What are the future plans and goals for the Dimitra ecosystem? Any specific countries or regions Dimitra is going to focus this year? – Dimitra x IMFI DAO Community AMA

A6: Great question! Dimitra has many future plans but I will name a few as its a long list: we will add more machine learning capabilities and reports to all our platforms so we continue to add value for our customers, to keep testing and

In 2023 we are focused on expanding our capabilities at detecting and reporting on deforestation, we have had great success working with farming cooperatives and multinational food companies in assessing their impacts on reducing deforestation in their supply chains.

141 nations have signed a pact at COP to eliminate deforestation by 2030. The EU has mandated that 7 crops will be deforestation free by 2024 (coffee, timber, rubber, soy, palm oil and cocoa). In less than a year companies will need to evaluate their shipments for compliance. We have built a system that we are using in Brazil and we are training our artificial intelligence to support these features around the world.

2. We are also expanding our capabilities to combine drone imagery analysis with our satellite analysis. Recently we ran a project in Papua New Guinea collecting drone data on corn being affected by fall armyworm (FAW). We have determined that we can detect early and minimize pesticides costs and losses for those that use our techniques. FAW decimates billions of dollars of crops annually and we have a viable way to significantly reduce those losses all driven by AI and drones.

3. We have a major AI based project in Brazil to mitigate fruit losses, particularly — citrus and mango. This will be applied globally to reduce disease related losses which can wipe out citrus groves.

We have many more projects this year, but those are a few interesting ones. We are also focused on scaling / improving our platforms, to add more farmers, cooperatives and nations to our list of customers, to build out the DMTR marketplace, and increase awareness of the DMTR token across the world, continue to add projects to our farmer sponsorship program and hopefully get more people to support the Dimitra Farmer Sponsorship Program (https://dimitra.io/dimitra-sponsorship-program-for-individuals/) , and in time add more key exchange partners. We’ve got a bright future ahead coupled with a lot of hard work and execution in 2023–2024.

Q7: How big is the market opportunity for Dimitra Technology? What is the market share Dimitra currently has compared to competitors, if there is any.

A7: The market opportunity for Dimitra and for technology in agriculture is enormous as it is one of the largest market segments in the world. Dimitra’s original goal when we launched was to help 100 million farms. And we’ve contracted for about 20 million farms to date so there is a lot more to do. We’re also committed to helping save the forests around the world and so Dimitra’s Deforestation Module opportunity is also massive.

There are many application developers in the agrifood space. But it is a very large market employing billions globally and generating trillions in revenue. We are keenly aware of other leaders in the space and are assessing their progress. There are very few competitors using blockchain as a tool which gives us an advantage in many use cases. – Dimitra x IMFI DAO Community AMA

Dimitra Mother Earth Day – When the UN named April 22nd International Mother Earth Day in 2009, it demonstrated how far the environmental justice movement had come. With roots tracing back to the 1970s — before the widespread awareness of the importance of environmental protection — Mother Earth Day reminds us of the power of advocacy and action.

Today, we at Dimitra are celebrating the achievements of the activists that came before us while also acknowledging the immense amount of work still to be done.

This day is about spreading awareness of the interconnectedness of humans and nature, and about fostering a sense of interdependence that will inspire our society to protect the earth and all the species that inhabit it.

The Accelerating Threat to Our Planet

There is a long list contributing to the climate crisis that is continuing to destroy our planet.

Man-made changes to nature and crimes that disrupt biodiversity make it increasingly difficult to reverse the damages done.

Deforestation, in particular, is a destructive practice that results in widespread habitat loss at a level that our planet cannot sustain. Last month, we acknowledged the International Day of Forests and discussed how Dimitra’s technology was designed to minimize the harmful impacts of deforestation.

Other factors contributing to the climate crises include land-use changes, the illegal wildlife trade, and intensified agriculture.

Healthy environments not only provide us with bountiful natural resources, but they also benefit public health by preventing the spread of disease. This is because biological diversity limits the ability of pathogens to spread.

“Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet — and its people. “ — UN Official Website

By abusing natural resources, we slowly decrease their availability to us. The UN estimates that approximately one million different species are presently facing extinction.

Every single one of us possesses a powerful tool to aid in the fight against the climate crisis: a voice. On Mother Earth Day, talk to your friends and family about climate change. Take some time to consider your role on this planet. Not as a person or professional, but as a part of the ecosystem.

Make a Difference and Sponsor a Farmer

Moreover, another way to help make an impact is with Dimitra’s Sponsorship Program. Improve food security and sustainability and make a real and tangible difference in the lives of farmers who need our technology but can’t afford it.

When DMTR token holders stake tokens, they can also sponsor individual farms and projects with which Dimitra works.

How Dimitra is Working to Protect the Planet

Dimitra has an established history of working to defend Mother Earth. Our Deforestation Compliance Module helps support every stage of the supply chain that is impacted by the EU’s new deforestation law.

Our technology provides farmers with data-driven, sustainable, and actionable solutions that help them combat the impacts of intensified agriculture. Plus, we encourage sustainable agriculture by creating opportunities for farmers of all sizes and income levels.

Dimitra KEPM Projects — Dimitra Incorporated, a global Agtech company on a mission to make its technology available to farmers globally, is working with KEPM Projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to fill the gap between local farmers, associations, and Emirate authorities.

Equally important, Dimitra and KEPM Projects will help to strengthen the UAE’s agriculture and food security efforts. Furthermore, this collaboration will help drive sustainable agriculture practices. Additionally, it will pave the way for a prosperous future for farmers and communities in the region.

To illustrate, KEPM Projects brings years of project management, delivery experience, and consulting in the agri-industrial business sector. In addition, their expertise in agtech and agribusiness complements Dimitra’s innovative solutions and services. What’s more, this enables both companies to provide even better support to farmers in the UAE.

Leaders at the Forefront of Innovation

Moreover, Dimitra and KEPM Projects will accelerate the adoption rate of technology in the Emirates agricultural sector, allowing the UAE to lead at the forefront of agricultural innovation. Furthermore, their main objectives to achieve this is the following:

• Improve food security and sustainability in the region
• Improve farmers’ access to innovative technology
• Support digital the transformation in the UAE’s agriculture industry with innovative solutions and services
• Accelerate the adoption of sustainable farming practices
• Enhance crop yields and quality for farmers

The MENA Regional Director, Eng. Maged Elmontaser, states, ”Dimitra and KEPM Projects have a strategic partnership committed to the promise of faster and smarter decision-making. We’ll explore how to unlock the next wave of future value for farmers, corporations, associations, and governments in the Emirates. With Dimitra’s and KEPM Projects combined innovative technologies and knowledge, we will provide agribusiness with the most innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions.“

Dimitra Sales Partner for the UAE, Eng. Mohamed Alawad, says, ”We believe this partnership will enable us to leverage our respective strengths and expertise to create even more value for our customers and partners. Working together, we can drive innovation and progress in the AgriTech industry and help farmers thrive in a changing world.”

Eng. Mulhim Eltayeb, CEO of KEPM Projects, says, “Our partnership with Dimitra represents a significant milestone in our mission to bring comprehensive and sustainable cutting-edge AgTech solutions to farmers in the UAE. Together, we can leverage our expertise to help drive innovation and growth in the agribusiness sector both locally and regionally.”