TERRES at the 1st TechCamp of the US Embassy in Togo
65% of the Togolese population is agricultural and agriculture contributes 70% to the economic growth of the country, these are the data of the Fourth National Census of Agriculture conducted between 2011 and 2014 in Togo. But let us not be mistaken: according to the UN General Report 2013, 72% of the Togolese population is poor, with a rate of undernourished of 16.5% in 2011. For a population of a little more than 7 million inhabitants, composed of a strong youth, the rate of unemployment and underemployment was estimated at 33,8% in 2011. It is to wonder where the problem comes from, in the era where technology offers a wide range of entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture.
Recognizing that helping the younger generation of agricultural entrepreneurs to appropriate ICTs for agricultural development could be an early solution, the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Togo in partnership with the University of Kara organized the first AgriTechCamp purely dedicated to agriculture supported by ICT. The event took place from 10 to 12 April in the town of Kara in northern Togo. It was a meeting between 60 young agripreneurs coming from Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso; diplomatic authorities, experts from the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC section Togo) and academics. The objective, according to the organizers, is to “boost the entire agricultural value chain through the use of technology and use agricultural development as a mean of spreading economic growth”. On camp program; conferences on the challenges and opportunities presented by african agriculture, agricultural finance mechanisms, marketing channels and the concept of agriculture 2.0 for Africa, among others; networking sessions and especially practical workshops on technological solutions in the areas of production, marketing, processing and conservation.
The startup TERRES of the siliconvillage group incubated at WoeLab was invited to this agritech appointment. It is a project that immediately interested the organizers of the camp because it fits perfectly with the objective pursued. It aims to develop connected machines and devices to promote precision farming and optimize yields. The startup was there with two products that it is currently developing: a prototype of its WeatherMaster that is a connected weather station and a prototype of its connected feeder Elevup for poultry farmers.
Both are connected devices using a variety of sensors to collect accurate data to facilitate the management of their crops or poultry, saving the farmer unnecessary expenses in term of money, time and energy while allowing him to anticipate and plan its activities optimally. The project did not fail to generate enthusiasm among participants who were eager to see the deployment of the weather station. It even received the consent of the Director of the Higher School of Agronomy of the University of Lomé who said he was willing to make available the facilities of his structure to test Elevup.
The camp ended on Wednesday, April 12 on a note of general satisfaction of the participants who are waiting for the next editions. This was an opportunity for many of them to establish business relations.
Ossara A. Agnamba, “Ecole Supérieure d’Agnonomie”/University of Lomé, specialty :crop production. FoodTech and AgriTech Project Lead Coordinator at WoeLabs.
