Building the FarmFit Insights Hub for Global Agricultural Investment

At a Glance

• Client: IDH Farmfit
• Services: Web Architecture, Custom Tool Development, UX Design
• Key Impact: User engagement times exceeding 120 seconds on operational tools

The Challenge

The IDH Farmfit programme required a digital platform, the FarmFit Insights Hub, to translate 10+ years of research across 30+ countries into practical tools for agricultural investment. To serve five distinct stakeholder groups, companies, investors, donors, governments, and support organisations, the platform needed to address several specific operational constraints:

• Targeted utility: Each user group required tailored resources, ranging from sector-level benchmarking tools for investors to practical guides for supply chain companies.
• Low-bandwidth accessibility: The system had to execute reliably in regions with restricted internet connectivity, particularly across rural sourcing hubs in developing markets.
• Data security: The financial benchmarking functionality required users to input sensitive operational data, necessitating complete privacy before target users would commit to the process.

The Solution

Evermore built the FarmFit Insights Hub around a custom benchmarking database, a dedicated Innovation Library module, and a local business modelling application. The team structured the platform to ensure broad usability and data security through specific technical choices:

• Local data processing: Built the core financial modelling tool to execute entirely within the user's local browser environment, ensuring sensitive corporate data remains strictly on the local device without backend processing.
• Accessible data management: Deployed a CSV-backed architecture for the benchmarking tool to allow the client team to execute operational data updates without complex database migrations.
• Guided user flows: Segmented complicated financial modelling tasks into sequential steps with integrated visual aids, allowing users to pause and resume progress without creating an account.
• Innovation Library module: Built a standalone content module to curate, organise, and publish sector-specific operational frameworks and case studies across 30+ countries.
• Continuous UX optimisation: Following a major interface review in 2024, the team established an iterative monthly release cycle based on platform usage trends. This ongoing programme delivered more than 40 distinct usability refinements.