Technology And Government Support Key To Productivity

Farmers urgently need government support to increase their use of digital tools, in light of increasing environmental and economic pressures facing Europe and Africa’s farming industry.

This is according to a new independent ‘Farmers and Digitalisation’ survey, conducted by Savanta ComRes and commissioned by Vodafone Group.

The survey reached over 600 farmers across 13 countries in Europe and Africa, including Kenya, and sought to know farmers’ attitudes towards digitalizing their farms, environmental challenges faced and current geopolitical and societal pressures impacting supply chains and rising equipment and materials costs.

Climate change, high fuel and energy costs, low market prices for crops and livestock, and lack of government support were named the top challenges facing farmers in Africa and Europe.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said technology and connectivity are powerful tools when it comes to addressing these challenges pointing out the need to scale up the adoption of digital technology to ensure sustainable agriculture and consequently ensure food security besides strengthening entrepreneurial opportunities for Kenyan farmers.

‘’As Safaricom, we have been at the forefront to help smallholder farmers to transition into agribusiness through Digifarm – an integrated mobile platform that offers farmers convenient, one-stop access to a variety of services including discounted inputs and advice on input use, financing, and information on crops and animals,” he said.

Kenyan farmers are already using digital tools to reduce fertilizer use, and water use, and to improve soil health. What’s more, over two-thirds of farmers in Kenya feel that digital technologies can help farming succeed in the future.  The use of digital farming technology is projected to increase with about 93 percent of farmers saying they’re willing to invest more in this area in the next 12 months in a bid to combat issues like climate change.

This includes the use of drones, vehicle trackers, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and smartphone applications to enable the monitoring of weather and soil conditions, as well as costs and market prices. This will not only help farmers reduce the use of energy, water, and fertilizer, but also drive efficiencies and increase the visibility of key farming data.

Farmers are now calling for more government support to help address issues like the cost of devices and other hardware which was cited as a particular barrier by 50 percent of farmers in Kenya.

Results show that it’s not just about financial support, 64 percent of farmers in Kenya want training on how to use digital solutions. Connectivity is also a key ask with 31 percent in Kenya saying that better mobile internet connectivity is something the government can do to encourage them to use more digital tools on their farm.

“Both the private and public sectors must work together to provide farmers with access to the digital technologies, information, and training they require to develop their practices. We must transform restrictive regulatory policies and practices around digital, cloud, and data services, and create an enabling environment that supports innovations like cloud computing. By doing so, farmers will have the opportunity to access the critical agricultural insights they need to farm more effectively,’’ Joakim Reiter, Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Group, said.