SPORE Magazine focuses on ICT4Ag start-ups and many more
The Issue No.189 of the SPORE magazine is now available and if focuses on the ICT4Ag start-ups as avenues to build better E-Agribusiness.
Within the African, Caribbean and the Pacific countries young people have shown an enthusiasm for innovation in ICTs for Agriculture (ICT4Ag). There is a burning urge by young people to use ICTs to solve agriculture problems or to improve agricultural productivity.
Highlights of SPORE Magazine
This current edition of the SPORE magazine overviews some innovation and ICT solutions in the region, and these include:
The Feed Calculator – a Dutch firm (Single Spark) has developed an app that instructs farmers how to prepare the optimum livestock feed to meet their needs. The app is designed to empower farmers where stock feed is often scarce so they find nutritious products for livestock through buying and mixing the animal feed themselves.
Digitalising Kenya’s dairy sector – The article details the digital scale and supply chain system (EASYMA 6.0) which is reported to have enabled over 22,000 farmers in Kenya. Manual weighing often results in a loss of value for farmers. Perhaps the most striking article from striking article is the one entitled:
“Don’t leave technology to the men”
This is an interview with Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, the CEO and Founder of the blueMoon – Ethiopia’s forst agribusiness incubator.
In her interview Dr Eleni challenges women to see how they can assimilate digital technologies into their agricultural practices, be it fishing or poultry. She sees opportunities in the intersection of technology and agriculture that young women and man can embrace. She proceeds by explaining how she started the first agribusiness incubator and being a seed invester in blueMoon. Read more in the magazine
Analysis - ICT4Ags Start-ups: Building a better E-AgriBusiness
How can upcoming youths and investors in ag-tech start-ups build successful business models and improve farmers’ access to valuable ICT-enabled Services?
The indepth analysis offers various strategic suggestions, how to improve revenue stream and provides suggestions towards usability and reasons why start-ups fail. Through analysis and interviews, the article gives good lessons for would-be start-ups. Since we learn a lot from common failures, for example see below top 10 reasons why start-ups fail.
| Top 10 reasons why start-up fail | |
|---|---|
| Reason | % |
|
There isn’t suicient market demand for their products |
42 |
| They run out of money | 29 |
| Their team or partners do not have the right capacities | 23 |
| They are outmatched by their competitors | 19 |
| Their pricing model is not suitable for their customer base | 18 |
| Their product is not user friendly | 17 |
| They did not develop a scalable business model | 17 |
| Their marketing efforts are poorly designed and implemented | 14 |
| Their product does not respond to consumer needs | 14 |
| They don't pick the right time to launch their product | 13 |
| Source: CB Insights'101 Startup Failure Post-Mortems | |
Why not access this SPORE issue or download for your perusal?
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