Is it possible to harness one of humanity's newest technologies to serve one of its oldest? The world is in the grip of one of the worst agricultural downturns recorded. Prices of coffee, cocoa, tea, spices, pepper and rice are plunging, making the traditionally hard lives of farmers across the region even more unbearable.
From India to Indonesia, tales of hardship abound. "Producers are losing 17 rupees for every kilogram of tea sold," according to EK Joseph, head of an Indian planters' association. While Indian tea exports increased in 2000, earnings from exports declined. Meanwhile, coffee prices have hit 30-year lows.
Falling returns are not the only problem. Excessive use of pesticides, poor crop planning, desertification and a new tendency towards planting expensive and vulnerable hybrid plants are putting millions of Asian farmers in dire straits. In India's Punjab, suicide rates among farmers have skyrocketed. In Vietnam, coffee trees are left untended because the harvest is no longer economical.
And while the suffering increases, some big players are notching up more revenues. Food giant Nestlé and Seattle-based café chain, Starbucks, are posting record profits, partly because of cheaper raw materials such as coffee and cocoa. "The crisis in the coffee markets is producing record profit for some and mass poverty for others," says Celine Charveriat, a policy adviser to London-based charity Oxfam.
But a few SMEs are also finding opportunities in agriculture: Colombo-based Dilmah Tea is expanding its Indian presence, aiming its exotic fruit and spice flavoured teas at the growing middle classes in New Delhi and Mumbai. Malaysia's 70-year-old Boh Plantations is also eyeing the premium and export markets with new blends.
Some rural communities have switched to high technology to boost incomes. Thailand's Freshfromtheweb.com, a business-to-business e-commerce system, links producers with wholesalers.
In South Korea, a digital ordering system at Kwangju Central Fruit Market sorts all bids, eliminating the manipulation of numbers that once shafted farmers and raised profits for distributors and other middlemen.
But Asian farmers need more than fancy technology. They need partnerships and sound policies. Falling prices are often caused by massive over-production. Governments and multilateral lenders are often to blame. Coffee exporting countries, for example, have failed to agree on a retention scheme to boost prices. Meanwhile, World Bank programs are often designed to expand cash crop production.
However, if well-heeled urban consumers are prepared to pay ever-higher prices for their morning shot of java or ornately arranged salad greens, it's only fair to give the producers a bigger cut.