Developing an Educational Mobile App for Sustainable Agriculture: Promoting Sustainable and Ethical Farming Practices

Abstract

As the agricultural sector faces increasing environmental, technological and social challenges, there is a growing need for accessible and reliable information on sustainable farming. Current digital tools often specialize in only one area, such as crop management, policy updates or learning materials. As a result, users are forced to navigate between multiple sources to obtain comprehensive knowledge. While many digital tools and mobile applications exist, none combine eco-friendly farming guidance, policy updates, learning materials and networking features into one cohesive platform. This thesis addresses these gaps by designing a mobile application prototype, Farmhood, which aims to bring together practical eco-friendly farming guidelines, EU policy updates, digital learning resources, data integration from farm management systems and community-based support in one unified and user-friendly platform. A literature review forms the foundation of this thesis. It includes an overview of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and the evolution of knowledge sharing in agriculture. Special focus is placed on the functionality and limitations of current agricultural applications and the complexity of EU agricultural policies. These insights helped identify key gaps in the area of digital farming tools. The design process followed user-centered design principles, especially Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics and was implemented by using the design tool Figma. The prototype was tested with a group of 11 participants, including five farmers, five agriculture students and one environmental advisory expert. A qualitative interview-based survey was used as the research method to gather user feedback. Each participant was given a detailed explanation of the features and asked to explore the app. Afterwards, they provided verbal feedback based on their experience. This feedback was documented and analysed to evaluate the app’s usability, clarity and potential for real-world implementation. The results show that users found the design intuitive and the concept innovative. They particularly appreciated the combination of resources in one place. Nonetheless, the testing revealed challenges, such as concerns about the complexity of integrating external farm management data, the need for clear verification of informational resources or shared content by users and potential accessibility limitations related to funding and digital literacy. These results indicate that while the prototype meets its core objectives, further development will need to address the practical, technical and financial barriers identified. The Farmhood prototype demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of a digital tool designed to support sustainable agriculture. With continued improvement and support from stakeholders, the app could become a useful tool for promoting environmentally responsible farming practices and improving access to agricultural knowledge within the European Union and beyond.