Esoko is a communication tool created with a view to building connection between businesses, projects, NGOs, governments and smallholder farmers. Esoko started as a price information service but the team soon realized that farmers needed much more than market information and added weather alerts, crop advice, and linking buyers with sellers. Various research finds such services can improve incomes for farmers by roughly 10%. Watch this introductory video on Esoko: Credits: Esoko Over the years, Esoko developed two products: Tulaa and Insyt . Tulaa is a mobile money solution that allows...
Plantix is a plant diagnostic app developed by PEAT, a software company that uses geodata and crowdsourcing to provide ecological informations to farmers, researchers and stakeholders. Plant diseases and pests cause the loss of up to 30 % of the annual harvests. To tackle this issue Plantix uses artificial intelligence and image recognition to help farmers to protect their plants. Plantix supports farmers to recognize plant diseases, pests and nutrient diffidences just by sending a picture. Plantix uses image recognition and deep learning to detect more than 120 plant pests & diseases on...
SoilMapp is an app for iPad that lets users find out soil information such as how much water the soil holds, its clay content and acidity, among other attributes related to agricultural productivity and land management. The app enables users to view maps, photographs, satellite images, tables and graphs of data about nearby soils and learn about the soil’s physical and chemical characteristics (acidity, soil carbon, available water storage, salinity and erodibility). View this SoilMapp introductory video: Credits: CSIRO SoilMapp is designed for Australian farmers, consultants, planners,...
The Yield is an Internet of Things (IoT) Australian product company that aims to use technology to improve yields in agriculture and aquaculture. The Yield combines wireless sensor networks and localised data to inform farmers and growers on the best decisions to make regarding their yelds. The Yield uses Sensing+, a microclimate sensing system for agriculture which measures data from different points around the farm and provides hyper local predictions based on the farm's growing conditions by using data analytics and artificial intelligence. Watch The Yield's presentation video: Credits:...
In a recent article on Harvard Business Review, Ndubuisi Ekekwe explores how digital technology is poised at providing a solution to increase farm productivity in Africa. In this article he reviews the food challenges affecting Africa such as weather changes, rural-urban migration that deprives farming communities of young people and deforestation amongst many challenges. While African governments have employed many policy instruments to improve farm productivity, yields are still marginally improving. The article notes that African entrepreneurs are interested in how farmers work and how...
The first beta release of the FAO Water Productivity through Open access of Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) portal is available as of 14 April 2017. The FAO portal monitors and reports on agriculture water productivity over Africa and the Near East. The portal provides open access to the water productivity database and allows for direct data queries, time series analyses, area statistics and data download of key variables associated to water and land productivity. The portal provides information on variables such as water productivity, land productivity, above ground biomass production,...
Literacy Bridge was founded in 2007 to improve livelihoods through comprehensive programs that provide access to locally relevant knowledge. Its ‘Talking Book’ is a simple and low-cost audio-based mobile device that allows people with minimal literacy skills in rural areas, without electricity or internet access, to get access and share knowledge on agriculture and health. The Talking Book can speak multiple languages and can play content on different topics based on the knowledge of local experts. It also allow recording onto it, so that users can create and document their own knowledge...
RevoFarm is a Jamaican based app designed to connect farmers to markets and market data. Farmers send an SMS with their available crops and the information is uploaded on the website. Consumers, which can also include supermarkets who want fresh produce from farmers, can then search the RevoFarm marketplace (on the website or on the app) and find fresh farm produce closest to them. The app also supplies farmers with valueable information to plan their planting season, based on projected weather patterns, crop marketability and soil type. Farmers can also rate and comment this information...
ICTs are pivotal for the future of agriculture. As they are finding an ever important space in most sectors of everyday life, agriculture should't be an exeption. ICTs can help in many ways producers and particularly smallholders in their livelihoods and development. In particular, ICTs can be an essential tool for young people aspiring to create their own agricultural business. As most of them have grown with these tools, they are more eager to use them in their worklife as well. This handbook published by the CTA is a guide designed for aspiring ICT entrepreneurs to instruct them with the...
There are about 500 million small-scale farmers on Earth, and most of them live on less than $1 a day. They’re often separated from larger population centers, or lack the means to educate themselves on specialized farming methods. Internet connections might be less common in the developing world, but mobile technology is pervasive. Today, 90% of smallholder farmers are able to access a basic mobile phone. In Africa especially, people have turned directly to mobiles instead of owning first personal computers. WeFarm is a peer-to-peer (P2P) knowledge sharing platform for small-scale farmers in...
