A Sustainable Farm System for Peri-urban Sydney SMEs
Ana Hol
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney,
Locked Bag 1797, 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW, Australia
Keywords: Farmers, SMEs, Sustainable Farm, Scenario based Transformation, Business Models, Digital Ecosystem.
Abstract: Past studies indicate that Small to Medium farmers in peri-urban Sydney, Australia region are forced to
operate in a very linear fashion and therefore are strongly dependent on a single system actor, known as the
‘Agent’ to sell their produce. This study aims to identify if and under which circumstances, Sydney farmers
could have resources that would allow them to no longer have to depend upon any single system (ie. The
Agent). This research identifies that in order to remove single actor dependency, the Sustainable Peri-urban
Farm system, would need to allow farmers to receive inputs and feedback from both natural and manmade
systems and vice versa. The well integrated, Sustainable Farm system, would create a base where farmers
could receive resource and coordination instructions from the Environmental and Biological Systems while
systems like Communication, Health, Market, Transport, Education and Agri-tourism Systems would help
farmers support and nurture new collaborative business ventures and opportunities.
1 INTRODUCTION
In New South Wales, Australia 70% of businesses are
classified as Small to Medium (SMEs) (Griffith and
Wilkinson, 2012). Out of those 70%, 8.7 % contribute
to the field of Agricure (Connolly et al., 2012). In
peri-urban Sydney, capital of New South Wales State,
(SME) farmers are experiencing difficulties and are
often unable to sell their produce directly to the
markets, so instead rely on the ‘Agents’ to sell the
yield. One of the main reasons for this, is that in
Australia two large supermarket chains, Coles and
Woolworths, hold a duopoly and require certain
quantity of produce before they can accept sales
(Keith, 2012). Studies conducted in 2014 by Hol
indicate that farmers not only have to meet quantity
requirements but are also forced to wait for four to
five weeks before they can find out how much they
could earn (Hol, 2014). During these studies it was
also identified that farmers often know that they are
taken the advantage of, however are unable to make
any changes. To assist them an online application that
allows farmers to monitor selling prices in terms of
minimum and maximum sale values was developed.
Based on the imputed data the system computes most
optimal payments for each produce. It was identified
however, that the application like this will only allow
farmers to document and confirm current farmer
worries and that unless any other actions are taken,
will not be able to change the crop selling process. It
seems that for this to change farmers will need to look
into market diversifications and the abilities to
approach markets through other channels (Hol et al.,
2014).
Therefore, this study begins by identifying that
currently only one factor stands between farmer and
the customer, ‘the Agent’, who dictates the yield price
and sales. For this model to change, farms need to
become a part of more self-sustainable existence.
In nature as well as in engineering, self-
sustainable are the systems that are able to self-
organise, adapt and when required change. When
applying this concept to agriculture it can be seen that
sustainable agriculture is a system that can evolve by
taking care of resources, environment its users and
beneficiaries (Hatwood, 1990).
To place this into perspective, researcher
reviewed two systems, one natural and one manmade.
In nature it can be seen that circulation of water is a
system where rain and snow fall, snow melts the
water passes through drains, flaws into oceans, rivers
and lakes and is then utilised by living beings and
organisms, it also evaporates and continues to
circulate and self-organise.
This change within the systems is easily seen
when for example new cities are formed, buildings
257
Hol A..
Sustainable Farm System for Peri-urban Sydney SMEs.
DOI: 10.5220/0005535902570262
In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on e-Business (ICE-B-2015), pages 257-262
ISBN: 978-989-758-113-7
Copyright
c
2015 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
and shopping malls built, new roads developed and
large areas concreted. Water system continues to
flow; in turn it may create craters or even landslides,
new rivers and lagoons however the water system per
se stays unchanged.
Traffic on the other hand is a good example of
manmade self-organising system where roads are
built, cross roads implemented, viaducts constructed
and they all in harmony allow for the movement of
people and goods. In the cases of accidents for
example, or at times when roads are closed due to
events, disasters or any other activities, traffic is not
put into a stand still. Alternatives are in place such as
different roads or even different modes of transports
that can be utilised for people or goods to be
transported.
In both of the above described systems, it can be
seen that there is no single point of failure. Natural
disasters can strike, humans’ concrete land, but water
will continue to circulate. Similarly roads may close,
accidents may happen but traffic will still continue to
flow.
Therefore, this supports the notion that within the
ecosystems (systems that exists together with other
systems) no single system should depend on any
single instance or single actor (Nachiara et al., 2007).
Therefore, farmer dependence on ‘Agents’ alone
needs to be further investigated.
This in turn means that if in fact farming can
become a part of the sustainable system, it will need
to be able to receive inputs from the systems it is
surrounded by, it would need to be capable to
complete essential and supporting farming processes
and would in turn need to provide outputs that would
feed into other systems and their processes.
Moreover, if SME farming is to become
sustainable, the model under which it is to operate,
should be scalable, self-organising and should have
the ability to evolve through a feedback loop (Nachira
et al., 2007).
Consequently, sustainable SME farmer system in
peri-urban Sydney for example, if effectively
implemented, may be able to learn from the other
systems. The system could learn from the farmers in
the other locations and from the actors of the other
surrounding and supporting systems. In turn this
structure could create a sustainable knowledge
ecosystem (Nachira et al., 2007). Such system would
allow when required, the Sustainable Farm system to
change its properties based on the stimuli it receives
from the environment and the system itself.
Therefore, the system would become self-adaptive
and would be able to change based on the
environmental requirements.
So, to identify parameters that would allow for
such Sustainable SME Farming system to be
developed, five farmer scenarios with the aim to
answer the following were collected:
- Which natural and manmade systems surround and
affect farmers and which systemic reactions farmers
may need to counter act?
-How could system notion (input-process-output)
help link and support positive systemic Sustainable
Farm System reactions?
2 STUDY DESIGN
To answer the above questions and point out how
farmers perceive systemic interactions it was
identified that five carefully selected farmers from
within the region will be interviewed. All selected
farmers reside within peri-urban Sydney region, have
English as their first language, are at least second
generation farmers and are all growers of the stone
fruit. Selected farmers all know about each other’s
farms but do not in any way work together nor
collaborate.
Questions asked in the interviews were open
ended. Firstly, general data about the farms was
collated identifying current situation, nature of work
and technology used. Open ended interviews and
qualitative studies were applied as it has previously
been identified, that they are a good way to study
behavioural traits of users in regional areas (Toyama,
2010, Dhir et al., 2012).
After interviews, collated data was transcribed
and then analysed utilizing the Scenario Based
Analysis (Rosson and Carrol, 2002).
Scenario based analysis takes into the account that
for each problem faced by a particular user group
there may be a variety of the problems experienced or
a variety of actions taken. Following the analysis all
data was carefully categorised into systems farmers
interacted with and systems that could be enhanced
(natural and manmade) to further help assist farmers.
In addition, systems used were categorised into
natural systems and manmade.
3 TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE
FARM SYSTEM
Based on the scenario analysis it can be identfied that
if a Sustainable Farm is to operate as a Sustainable
System it would need to allow for its activities to self-
organise, evolve over time and differentiate when
ICE-B2015-InternationalConferenceone-Business
258
needed. Thrfore, to construct this model the following
was identified:
-Natural Systems farmers depend on
-Manmade Systems important for farmers
Each System has been identified via scenartio
analysis process. SME Farm Sustainability System
Topology is presented in Figure 1. It is important to
note that topology identifies systems and their sub-
system elements or components. Each component
within the map has been labeled with the symbols.
-No entry- red cicle with the white horisontal line
signals activities farmers depend on but have no or
have a very limited control of;
-Green tick- signals activities which have already
been implemented by one or more of the scenario
farmers;
-Light bulb- represents activities that have been
implemented by SME businessess, however not by
the case scenario farmers;
Therfore, to answer which natural and man-made
systems surround and affect farmers and which
systemic reactions farmers may need to counter act it
was identified that Environmental and Biological
systems influence farmers signifficantly and that
farmers have limited or only partial active control
over it. However, it was also identified that farmes
have reactive and preventative controle over these. To
explain this in more detail, it can be seen that farmers
have no control over weather, consequently they
continuously they have to monitor weather
applications and channels to work productivelly.
They have no influence over natural soil dryness or
high temperatures however, if there is no sufficient
water farmers water the plans in addition to the water
received via general precipitation. Furthermore, if
farmers monitor soil quality they may be able to add
feertilisers to assure plans can effectively grow.
Biological systems place continuous constraints on
farmers and their produce. For example, farmers
regulaly need to control and save crops from bugs,
pests, animals and weed. Farmers have no influence
dirrectly but indirectly they can spray plants and
protect them to assure successfully yield.
Other Systems, mapped in Firure 1 are manmade
systems and they are: Communication, Health,
Figure 1: SME Farm Sustainability System Topology.
SustainableFarmSystemforPeri-urbanSydneySMEs
259
Transportation, Market, Education and Agri-Tourism
Systems.
All scenario farmers identfy that successful
communication is absolutely paramount for the
suscessfuful and Sustainable SME Farms. Some
farmers are already exploring how blogs and social
media, like Facebook could encourage and enhance
message exchanges.
Farmers also identify that websites, apps and
videos could further enhance farmer education and
could also provide channels through which farmers
could educate wider community.
Furthermore, by allowing data within the
agricultural websites to be aggregated (ie. Which
fertiliser to use; what to plant where; current pricing
models, regulation) farmers could make quicker and
more reliable decisions. This would in turn allow for
the context and time specific decisions to be made in
a given time and place.
The agregated system could then open doors to
new markets and business models (eBusiness –
farmers selling online; eAustions – agents
compeeting for farmers).
In the future, farms could also become integral
cathalysts of Tourism system (farm stays, fruit
picking and local markets, tasting). For example,
many Sydney attractions such as iFly, Wet and Wild,
the Blue Mountines are located in Peri-urban region
(Destination, 2015). It is therefore expected that the
regional proximity could assist in establishing links
between tourist agencies and farms.
In more recent times, healthy lifestiles are beeing
marketed and supported. Farmers have crucial
knowledge and resources in the area. From one of the
scenarios it can seen that farmers are organising
healthy lunches and bringing people within the region
together. They are also engaging kids in farming
activities (ie. planting, picking fruit/vegetables).
Based on scenario analysis, it can be seen that
many farms are already well connected with
Transport, Education and health systems which has
the potential opens many new opportunities.
4 SUSTAINABLE FARM SYSTEM
A Sustainable SME farm system in peri-urban
Sydney region could become a part of a much larger
systems. Farmer’s earning in such case, would no
longer depend upon the ‘Agents’ and their offering
prices (‘Agent’ system would instead become a part
of the Market subsystem).
In the new model, a Sustainable Farm system
would be interlinked to a number of other systems
where for example low agent prices would just simply
shift sales and farmers’ focus into alternative funding
sources. Systems would exist in harmony and be a
part of the larger ecosystem. They would influence
one another but would each in their own right be able
to adapt, self-organise and sustain.
When applied to the farming case, this would
mean that the farmer would be able to identify based
on geo coordinates and season, which crops to grow
in the specific conditions (Walisadeera et al., 2013)
and which pesticides to use.
Table 1: Systems Providing Inputs to Sustainable Farm
System.
Systems Providing Inputs to Sustainable Farm
System
Biological
Systems
Information about pests, weeds,
animals and protection (pesticides,
fertilizers).
Environ-
mental
Systems
Information about water, weather,
soil, warnings, disasters, fire and
precautions
Commun-
ication
Systems
Learning how social media is affecting
and influencing consumers. Learning
how consumers are becoming integral
providers of information.
Health
System
Current issues – ie. Obesity, heart
disease, non-healthy eating, quick and
easy meals, importance of organic
produce.
Market
System
Other SMEs sell via aggregated and
auction sites and eBusiness. Farmers
could also explore these opportunities.
Transpo-
rtation
System
Farmers utilize transport systems.
A number of tourist companies
consume utilise transport system.
Known tourist routes could easily be
changed so that new stops can be
added ie. Tasting of local delicacies.
Education
System
Various professionals, as well as
farmers could share knowledge and
skills via online learning platforms.
Furthermore, work integrated learning
could be implementing so that both
farmers and students can benefit.
Agri-
Tourism
System
Peri-urban Sydney farms are located
in the region where there are many
tourist attractions. Tour groups could
make some of the local farms their
tourist stop destination. Similar
agreements could be made with tourist
agencies and tour guides.
ICE-B2015-InternationalConferenceone-Business
260
Table 2: Sustainable Farm System Providing Inputs to
Other Systems.
Sustainable Farm System Providing Inputs to
Other Systems
Biological
Systems
Lessons learned, what worked,
what did not that could form a
knowledge base (a knowledge
ecosystem). Ie. Which pest
responds best to which pesticide?
Environ-
mental
Systems
Context specific knowledge should
be stored and recorded so that it can
be re-used per need basis (ie. what
to do if there are high winds?
Manipulation of soil content ie.
How to add suitable fertilizers?).
Commu-
nication
Systems
Information about farms, healthy
crops and healthy eating, tourist
attraction could be shared with
public via social networking tools
ie. Facebook, blogs, Twitter. This
would help promote farm activities
to public and would also help
increase number of followers.
Health
System
Cooking classes, eating and buying
fresh farm food would inevitably
result in healthier population.
Therefore, public could be
encouraged to utilize healthy
produce.
Market
System
Farming SMEs could create a local
brand by which the region could be
known by. Furthermore, the brand
would not only help build the
identity but could also allow
farmers to sell to larger markets
(eBusiness). Furthermore, selling
via Agents could completely get
transformed into a new eAuctions.
Transpo-
rtation
System
Currently, goods are quickly
distributed to the markets however
in the future it would be expected
that goods could be directly
transported to the customers.
Furthermore, a transportation
system could also provide a link
between the Tourism and the
Sustainable farm. For example by
modifying current tourist routes
tourists would also be able to visit
local farms.
Table 2: Sustainable Farm System Providing Inputs to
Other Systems (cont.).
Sustainable Farm System Providing Inputs to
Other Systems
Education
System
Based on the farmer knowledge and
experiences, data could be aggregated
and education systems developed.
Such systems could also be used by
farmers so that they can make
decisions quicker ie. what to grow in
which region based on soil and
weather pattern?
Furthermore, online resources are
becoming abundant and online
learning a norm. Therefore, new
learning modules could be deployed
for both farmers and global
population.
Farms could also become centers
where work based learning curricula
is implemented.
Agri-
Tourism
System
Farmers would share their knowledge
and skills with the locals and tourist
alike. Farms could become areas
where both locals and tourists mingle
and learn new skills. Such knowledge
could be further shared online via
blogs, recipes and websites.
Furthermore, the ecosystem environment would
allow farmers to receive feedback from the other
systems (ie. be able to identify most optimum
irrigation methods). The Farm System would in turn
also provide feedback about the pests, weed,
pesticides and fertilisers where farmer experiences
could be recorded and such data become valuable
information for new scenarios (a part of the
knowledge ecosystem).
Furthermore, by utilising local food and by
promoting local products markets would start to shift
which in turn could create some disturbances within
the current models.
New implementations would create a feedback
loop that would feed into Health, Transport and
Education systems where new data could be recorded,
stored and used when required.
Therefore, the Sustainable Farm would need to
become receptive to inputs and feedback from its
cooperating and coordinating systems. Detailed
information is provided in Table 1.
The feedback loop is multidirectional, and
therefore the Sustainable Farm System also provides
inputs and feedback to its cooperating and
SustainableFarmSystemforPeri-urbanSydneySMEs
261
coordinating systems. Data is depicted in Table 2.
From Table 2 above, it can be seen that the
interconnected, Sustainable Farm System, will based
on the inputs of its surrounding Systems, have
resources to produce new outcomes.
Consequently, each system within the ecosystem
will be able to unite its coordinating / controlling
systems (Environment and Biological – those that are
natural but cannot be controlled, those that can be
predicted and acted on) and cooperating systems
(Transport, Education, Health, Communication –
those that combined with Farming could produce
higher values) and consequently become more
flexible and open. In this case, Sustainable Farm
system will no longer rely on a single ‘Agent’, instead
it will become an equal participant of the ecosystem
in which the Sustainable Farm system will exist
together with its controlling and /or cooperating
systems.
5 CONCLUSIONS
In the future SME farmers will depend on Systems
both natural and manmade if they are to survive and
sustain pressures currently placed upon them by the
‘Agents’. So that farmers can receive adequate
information in a given time and place both natural and
manmade systems need to be monitored and
controlled so that adequate access to timely and
contextual information can be received. Farmers need
to have access to outputs of the other systems and be
ready to accept or when needed counter act the other
systems (Natural systems). To further enhance
wellbeing of the Sustainable Farm system, farmers
will need to work closely in a cooperation with the
other related manmade systems (ie. Transport and
Tourism). Some system inputs can be used for the
support, some can be utilised to initiate and create
new business models and some to provide feedback
to the other systems that in turn can be used to
strengthen the relationships. By doing so,
interdependencies between systems are going to be
created and knowledge generated (Knowledge
Ecosystem). Survival of the Sustainable Farm system
will no longer depend on a single system the ‘Agent’.
New business structure will allow systems to grow,
expand, adapt and change when and if required. This
way Sustainable Farm system that feeds into and is
receiving feedback from other surrounding systems,
could be implemented and would therefore no longer
exclusively depend on a single ‘Agent’ System.
REFERENCES
Connolly, E., Norman, D. & West, T. 2012. Small Business:
An Economic Overview [Online]. Sydney: Australian
Bureau of statistics. Available: http://www.abs.gov.au/
websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562b
b00121564/d291d673c4c5aab4ca257a330014dda2/$FI
LE/RBA%20Small%20Business%20An%20economic
%20Overview%202012.pdf [Accessed 1 April 2014.
Destination, N. S. W. 2015. Destination New South Wale,
Sydney.com [Online]. Destination NSW. Available:
http://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-
west/attractions [Accessed 1st March, 2105].
Dhir, A., Moukadem, I., Jere, N., Kaur, P., Kujala, S. &
Ylajaaski, A. Ethnographic Examination for Studying
Information Sharing Practices in Rural South Africa.
ACHI 2012, The Fifth International Conference on
Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, 2012. 68-74.
Griffith, G. & Wilkinson, J. 2012. Small Business in NSW:
Statistical snapshot and recent developments [Online].
New South Wales, Australia: Parliament NSW
Research Services. Available: http://www.
parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/
key/SmallBusinessinNSW:Statisticalsnapshotandrecen
tdevelopments/$File/Small+Business+in+NSW+4.pdf
[Accessed 10 March 2014].
Hatwood, R. R. 1990. A history of sustainable agriculture.
In Sustainable Agricultural Systems In: C. A. Edwards,
R. LAL, P.M., Miller, R. H. & House, G. (eds.) Soil and
Water Conservation Society,. Ankeny, Iowa, pp. 3-19.
Hol, A. 2014. Mobile Application Set to Empower SME
Farmers in Peri-Urban Sydney Region. ICIS 2014:
International Conference on Information Systems.
Venice, Italy, November, 13-14, 2014.
Hol, A., Mubin, O. & Ginige, A. 2014. Proposed Business
Model for SME Farmers in Peri-Urban Sydney Region.
ICE-B - International Conference on E-Business.
Vienna, Austria August, 28-30, 2014.
Keith, S. 2012. Coles, Woolworths, and The Local. Locale:
The Australasian-Pacific Journal of Regional Food
Studies, 47-81.
Nachiara, F., Nicolai, A., Dini, P., Louarn, M. L. & Leon,
L. R. 2007. Preface, Digital Business Ecosystem,
Louxembourg, European Comission, Information
Society and Media.
Nachira, F., Nicolai, A., Dini, P., Le Louarn, M. & Leon, L.
R. 2007. Digital business ecosystems.
Rosson, M. B. & Carrol, J. M. 2002. Scenario-Based
Design: The Human Computer Interaction Handbook.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1032-1050.
Toyama, K. 2010. Human–computer interaction and
global development. Foundations and Trends in
Human-Computer Interaction, 4, 1-79.
Walisadeera, A. I., Wikramanayake, G. N. & Ginige, A.
2013. An Ontological Approach to Meet Information
Needs of Farmers in Sri Lanka. 1st International
Workshop on Agricultural and Environmental
Information and Decision Support Systems (AEIDSS
2013). Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.: Springer.
ICE-B2015-InternationalConferenceone-Business
262
