Ten of Africa’s Innovative Agritech Startups.
Africa has always had a huge opportunity to take advantage of its Agricultural sector. It is stated to have been blessed with 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. Also half of her population depends on Agriculture for employment and Agriculture averages 24% of GDP across the continent. This has provided one of the greatest opportunities if tapped correctly to ensure that the sector provides an advantage to the continent above its peers.
Also, despite being termed by the World Economic Forum as the least productive globally for Agriculture in 2016 and having a productivity rate of 36% by, Agritechs in Africa have grown rapidly also since that year. With over 80+ startups operating and collectively receiving over US$19 million in investment there has been a significant increase in this sector. Startups in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana have recorded a high percentage of over 50% of the total number of startups involved in agritech activities on the continent. The quest to explore possibilities in Agriculture through technology and increased innovation has also driven the growth in this area which has started to produced valuable results.
Some results from innovation in using technology in Agriculture:
- Increased yields and profit
- Improved soil fertility
- Reduction in food wastage funding
- Quicker access to reliable markets and tools by farmers
- Quicker access to vital information helping smallholder farmers
Extensive research by our team at Advent Tech has produced our own assessment of ten (10) innovative startups across Africa that are solving major problems in African Agriculture by using modern technologies and innovative solutions like mobile applications, big data analytics, drones, solar energy, machine learning, cloud, blockchain, Internet of Things etc.
A look at some startups involved:
Twiga Foods is a startup from Kenya, Twiga foods is a mobile-based supply chain platform, which uses Blockchain technology. The platform serves as a meeting point for vendors and farmers and provides loans to the vendors to sustain and expand their businesses.
Hello Tractor is an Internet of Things application that connects tractor owners and smallholder farmers in Sub Saharan Africa. The company is also collaborating with IBM for artificial intelligence and blockchain powered tractors.
3. Kitovu
Kitovu is a mobile platform that analyzes soil and geo-location data from smallholder farmers across Nigeria to provide them with the soil and crop-specific fertilizers, agro-chemicals, and better seedlings for their fields.
4. Wakati
Wakati has developed a robust solution using technology for the preservation of fruits and vegetables. They created a tent which can store about 200 kg of fruits/vegetables powered by a solar panel to create a saturated environment using one liter of water per week to keep them fresh.
Apollo Agriculture is a startup based in Kenya helps farmers in emerging markets increase their profits and farm yields. They use agronomic machine learning, remote sensing, and mobile technology to help farmers access to credit, farm inputs, and customized advice using satellite data, soil data, farmer behavior data and crop yield models.
6. Aerobotics
Aerobotics built a mobile application that provides meaningful data to farmers to analyze their crops on a plant by plant basis by proposing curative actions which help to reduce cost and maximize resources.
Illuminum Greenhouses constructs affordable modern greenhouses and installs automated drip irrigation kits for smallholder farmers by using locally available materials and solar-powered sensors to improve productivity and efficiency.
8. CowTribe
CowTribe provides a mobile USSD-based subscription service which connects livestock farmers with veterinarians, animal vaccines and other livestock healthcare services to farmers using a unique cloud-based logistics management system.
9. FarmCrowdy
FarmCrowdy is Nigeria’s first digital farming platform. Investors can collaborate in farming projects through a crowdfunding platform and these partners receive returns on their investment after the farm cycle is complete.
10. Agrocenta
Agrocenta built two mobile applications, Agromart and Agropay, which are helping to solve problems in the agricultural value chain. Agropay is a financial inclusion platform enabling smallholder farmers and Agrotrade is a sales platform where one can serve as a distributor of farm products.
These African Startups have embarked on very interesting journeys aimed at alleviating poverty, ensuring food security and increasing the yields from agriculture across the continent. With the rise of Agritechs and increased access to technology, more companies are expected to emerge across more countries and contribute immensely to the continent’s agricultural productivity.
Author: Similoluwa Adelore | Editor: Yewande Odumosu
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