AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY, FARMING, FOOD SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY- WHY IT IS TIME TO INVEST IN AGTECH IN BOTSWANA
Most developed economies around the world have introduced and adopted various forms of agricultural technologies (agtech) solutions across different value chains to increase productivity and efficiency in their agriculture sector.
A couple of months ago, I connected with Hon Dr Edwin G. Dikoloti, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security in Botswana. He emphasized that FoodTech and AgTech were interesting investments for Botswana and certainly a priority for his newed roadmap for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security . In his words: “There will be food shortage in the future [what COVID-19 has shown us] and there is value in marrying science with tech to solve real-farmer problem in Botswana. Botswana has a lot of natural resources, i mean the land and abundant sun all year round. It will be good to put together resources with tech and build something productive to help Batswana”.
Notwithstanding, the continuous iteration of His Excellency Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi that the agricultural sector in Botswana has potential to continuously be playing a dominant and strategic role in the growth and development of the new digital economy that Botswana has adopted. One would immediately opine that to achieve this, the adoption of disruptive agricultural technologies is deemed a necessary condition to accelerate productivity increase and poverty eradication among the agribusinesses and farming households in Botswana. Thus, the use of technologies like satellite imaging, digital sensors, agtech, biotechnology, advances in plant and animal genomics and advanced data analytics could lead to farming practices that are more productive, more precise in their deployment and thus more sustainable digital agriculture.
The probing question is the why it is time to invest in AgTech in Botswana? I found some compelling reasons to share this piece with you;
1. Last year I’ve heard about a few startups ;
Aerobiotics is located in South Africa, where they provide Orchard management, Problem tree identification, Pest and disease management services to farmers, enabled by drone imagery and artificial intelligence. The food security components they address are food utilisation and food availability.
Afrikamart is located in Senegal and it has markets in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Morocco, they Provide logistics and supply chain, Provide easy access to market, Supply quality food to buyers. They target smallholder farmers as they believe, Cooperatives, Logistics company, Pack houses. The food security component they address includes Food availability, food utilisation, food accessibility.
AgroCenta is located in Ghana. It tackles two critical problems rural-based smallholder farmers face namely, access to market and access to finance. It addresses food accessibility and food availability components of food security, thereby leading to food stability.
Farmcrowdy is located in Nigeria, it is one of the leading agtech company in Nigeria and is focused on providing the necessary tools and technology for farmers and agribusinesses to boost food production with better yields, lower costs, and smarter marketing they do this by providing improved seeds, training on modern farming techniques and provide market for sale of goods for smallholder farmers. They are addressing the food utilisation and food availability aspect of food security.
We farm is the world’s largest platform for small scale farmers. The platform connects the farming community together to share knowledge, to share ideas, solve problems and share innovation. Their vision is for every small-scale farmer to be able to connect with the people and resources they need to know more, buy smarter, and sell better. It addresses the Food availability component of food security.
The list above reveals that the majority of agtech start-ups target smallholder farmers, as they contribute largely to food production in Africa. Even more startups are focused on collective benefits for smallholder farmers. it’s not a big surprise to see that African AgTech has been mostly concerned with investing in data management, improving farmers’ knowledge, and increasing access to capital, in order to fight severe drought and food shortages. These ag startups have gone a long way in improving the way and method most smallholder farmers farm. Its these type of startups that i challenge the Botswana startup to create as a way to bring value to the Agriculture ecosystem.
2. Agribusiness could be a massive market in Botswana and SADC
Today, a fifth of Africans are undernourished, representing a staggering 257 million individuals. According to Committee on World Food Security, some of the components of food security are:
Food availability: The availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid).
Food accessibility: Food accessibility can be defined as the allocation and affordability of food resources depending on the households and preferences of individuals.
Food stability: To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food insecurity). The concept of stability can therefore refer to both the availability and access dimensions of food security
Utilisation of food: Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security
Nonetheless, achieving food security requires that sufficient quantities of appropriate foods are consistently available, individuals have adequate incomes or other resources to purchase or barter for food, food is properly processed and stored, individuals have sound knowledge of nutrition and child care that they put to good use and have access to adequate health and sanitation services. Yet, we only see a handful of AgriBusinesse startups in the region.
3. Emerging technologies can address the four dimensions of food security.
For example, genetic modification, methods for improving soil fertility, and irrigation technologies can increase food availability. Post-harvest and agro-processing technologies can address food accessibility, biofortification can make food more nutritious, and climate-smart solutions anchored in science, technology and innovation — including the use of precision agriculture and early warning systems — can mitigate food instability. Startups across the continent are working tirelessly in developing tech solutions to help boost the sector for both smallholder and large scale farmers. The Botswana ecosystem in particular should be be mostly concerned with investing in data management, improving farmers’ knowledge, and increasing access to capital, in order to fight severe drought and food shortages. Additionally, providing the most innovative solutions in the areas of water management, improving farmers knowledge, agric financing, data management, supply chain management, geo spatial intelligence to farmers in their locality and beyond. The role of the innovator and the startup will become a mitigation against the current challenges confronting the agtech sub-sectors.
4. The Interface among Agtech, Agribusiness and Smallholder Farmers in Botswana
Currently, the structure of interface existing between agtech, agribusiness and smallholder farmers in Botswana has not yet been well defined within the operating context of Botswana, nor are they well linked. This is a role that @NGWANA AFRICA hopes to bridge. For the agtech ecosystem to perform optimally there is a need for a strong interface among agtech solution providers, agribusinesses and smallholder farmers as such the agtech solutions will be adequately adopted by agribusinesses and smallholder farmers across different value chains. Innovative agtech solutions are an essential strategy for increasing agricultural productivity, achieving food security and eradicating poverty in Africa with particular reference to Botswana.
5. Conclusion- VC money is available to back AgTech startups
FinTechs are booming in the continent of Africa. So far, I haven’t found any compelling reason why VCs should not back Agro Startups as well. Remember in Botswana we have Agtech startups like MAgri, and ModisaR. However, there are many opportunities in crop productivity, biotech, IoT, and marketplaces.
There are more good reasons to be bullish on AgTech in Botswana than there are challenges.It is therefore imperative not only to develop new agricultural technologies, but also promote their adoption by smallholder farmers. If you are building the next category-defining company in this sector, we want to meet you.
With thanks to Mpule Kwelagobe cc for the image use for this piece of writing.
