The Rise of Digital Agriculture in Africa

Advances in digital technology have greatly transformed the agricultural sector in Africa. This is because farmers are now able to easily have access to information that is helpful to them on farming thus boosting the financial status of farmers, especially smallholder farmers.

Emerging technologies are also being integrated with the inclusion of mobile technology. All these have led to networked value chains that have helped increase productivity at farm level, facilitated access to markets and also created cost effective value chains.

Digitalization in agriculture includes development of software, data analytics, precision agriculture, and farm system management that have been adapted to suit both local and regional needs in an effort to maximize production and ensure cost effectiveness.

New digital technologies now make it possible to collect and leverage huge amounts of critical data at minimal costs thus making a farm’s field operations more insight driven, and potentially more productive and efficient. The agriculture ecosystem is already starting to invest in these digital technologies.

Much of the success of modern agricultural systems has depended on the use of a number of technologies that include machine power and technology to enhance soil fertility, improved genetics for crops and livestock to enhance yields, access to efficient and effective irrigation systems to supplement rainfall in many climates, advanced harvesting, handling and storage equipment, software and techniques to prevent loss and to market commodities efficiently.

To be successful, a farm must grow as much per acre as it can, reduce the risk of crop failure, minimize operating costs, and sell crops for the highest price possible. This requires, among other things, effectively managing input resources like fertilizer, water, and seed quality and minimizing the impact of unpredictable variables (such as the weather and pests).

Read: Africa Eyes Science and Innovation to Unlocking its Agriculture Potential

As much as digital agriculture is spreading across the continent, we cannot assume the fact that still, a good number of farmers particularly those in emerging markets continue to follow traditional farming practices because they lack access to knowledge about current practices. Living in remote areas make them struggle to nurture crops on tiny plots of poor land, they overuse macro fertilizers and miss the benefits they could gain from micro-fertilizers appropriate for their crops and soil. They also lack a scientific understanding of pest life cycles, and thus often experience crop failure when a preventable infection or infestation arises.

The benefits of technology have largely been limited to the large industrial players in Africa, leaving the smallholder behind. However, the use of ICT is trying to improve the farming experiences across small-scale value chains as well. This allows the smallholder farmer have access to information, interact with value chain actors along the entire supply chain and ensure traceability, compliance and sustainability of their produce and farms.

Mobile based technologies have helped facilitate digital payments and receipts by smallholder farmers, thus enabling them get paid in time and in a more reliable way. They are also able to access credit facilities, insurance and other financial instruments.