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Agriculture is the largest employer in Africa with about 70% of the population dependent on it for a living. It accounted for about 32% of Africa's GDP in 2016. Growth in the sector would be 11 times more effective at reducing poverty than growth in any other sector. The agricultural value chain is expected to create more jobs than any other sector in countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Despite the importance of agriculture in Africa, it does not reach its full potential. About 160 million Africans always go to bed hungry every day because of low food production amid other factors. Many African farmers do not have access to improved seeds, fertilizers and best agricultural practices. African entrepreneurs, including the founders of technology, have already begun to address some of these challenges. The problem is that the task is huge and we need more agritech entrepreneurs to meet the challenges.
Agritech On The Rise
Agritech startups have experienced strong growth in recent years. At the beginning of 2018, there were 82 agritech startups operating across Africa with more than half of the launches in the last two years. There has been a 110% increase in the number of agritech startups in the last two years. In 2017, these startups raised $ 13.2 million, an increase of 121% over 2016. A large number (about 38%) of tech drones in Africa are in the agricultural sector.
] FarmCrowdy helps farmers raise capital from individuals in Nigeria, Twiga Foods connects farmers to sellers in Kenya. There is also Angel Adelaja, one of the pioneers of vertical agriculture and hydroponics in Nigeria. In South Africa, the launch of drones Aerobotics helps farmers protect themselves from crops, while Ghana Agrocenta provides farmers with market and capital access. These, among others, are attempting to increase the yield, efficiency and profitability of farmers
Impact and Challenges
African farmers have gradually begun to feel the impact of their growing economy. impact of these start-ups agritech. For example, Hello Tractor worked with 22,500 farmers in Nigeria and Kenya to help them achieve a 200% increase in yields. FarmCrowdy has helped 3,000 small farmers expand their operations and increase their income. There is also Digital Green which already uses attractive videos to teach 1.2 million farmers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Niger the best agricultural practices.
In addition to infrastructural challenges, one of the problems facing agritech innovators is the literacy level of small farmers. This can make it difficult to adopt technologies such as drones. While there is widespread distrust of technology among these farmers, this challenge can be easily overcome through a little training and education. Smallholder farmers, who desperately need these technological solutions, are unable to afford them, the founders of agritech start-ups can face this hurdle by offering flexible payment options and helping farmers access credit agricultural.
19659010] As agritech start-ups have begun to wreak havoc across the continent, much more needs to be done to increase productivity and profitability across the African food system. On the one hand, the majority of agritech startups in Africa (60%) are located in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria. For the impact of agritech to be felt quickly across the continent, more startups need to serve or emerge in countries like Chad where food security is one of the most of the weakest in the world. It has now become a critical issue as the world's population is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, with 2 billion Africans. It takes a 70% increase in food production to cope with population growth and avoid a greater hunger crisis.
There are still many untapped agritech subsectors with very few startups in space.The 2018 [19659002] Disrupt Africa's Agrinnovating for Africa report showed that the majority of startups were e-commerce platforms focused on agriculture. There is very little activity in the sub-sectors such as precision farming and soil management. In addition, there is a need for R & D to produce agritech solutions in areas such as biotechnology, robotics and AI. As agritech is a relatively new field in Africa, it is necessary to strengthen vocational training of young people in areas such as vertical agriculture and hydroponics. In order to quickly solve its food production problems, Africa must go beyond agricultural development and technology is an important element to achieve this. No other sector presents the huge opportunity to lift millions of Africans out of poverty like agriculture.
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