74 | FORBES AFRICA APRIL 2020
AGRITECH
FORBES AFRICAFORBESAFRICA.COMFarmershaveneedsbeyondthefarm...We
needto collectdatato givethemaccessto
moreservicesandmorechoices– services
aroundenergy,servicesaroundhealthcare,
servicesaroundgovernmentinterventions...- Alloysius Attah, CEO, Farmerline
It’sabouthelpingsmallholderfarmersget
themostoutof whatthey’redoingrightnow.
Imagineif you’rea farmerin onevillage,and
youhavea groundnutfarmandyou’reonly
sellingto yourneighbors – that’s the only
marketyouknow.- Evelyn Namara, founder, Vouch Digital
techoutputwitha high-techbackendmainlybasedongathering
agritechdataandprovidingkeyinsights.
Radiois alsooftenusedforextensionservices,something
bothFarmRadioInternationalandtheSyngentaFoundationfor
SustainableAfricaaredoingthroughRadioKitarainUganda,and
KilimoMediaInternationalinKenya.Impressivefiguresshow
thatthefarmersarelistening...buthowdoyoufindthemwhen
there’snodataonwhotheyareorwhattheydo?
“They’refarmersthatdonothaveanyidentification.You
don’tknowwhotheyareorwhatthey’replanting.Youdon’t
knowwhattheirfundsareallabout,”addsEvelynNamara,
thefounderofVouchDigitalinUganda.“Withthetechnology
we’vedeveloped,wegettoprofilethesefarmers,getthemontoa
platformandgettoknowexactlywhatthey’reproducing...”
Bycollectingandlinkingthefarmerdata,VouchDigitaluses
theirsupplierstohelpthesefarmerstodowhateverthey’re
alreadydoingona largerscale.
“It’sabouthelpingsmallholderfarmersgetthemostoutof
whatthey’redoingrightnow.Imagineif you’rea farmerinone
village,andyouhavea groundnutfarmandyou’reonlyselling
toyourneighbors– that’stheonlymarketyouknow.Sowitha
platformlikeours,wecannowstartlinkingthesesmallerfarmers
todifferentsupplierswhoneedevenmoreoftheirproduce,orto
differentfertilizercompaniesthatmighthelpthemimprovetheir
produce,”saysNamara.
Namara’sdigitalplatformassistsgovernmentanddigital
agenciesindispersingseedcropsandserviceequipment(as
anexample)tofarmersinneed.Thewaysmallholderfarmers
receivetheseitemsis throughdigitalvouchers– thefarmersgo
tospecificmerchantsanddealers.
“It’ssimpletechnologybecausemostofthesefarmersuse
featurephones.Thevoucherscomeastextmessageswhichthey
usetogetwhattheyneed,”explainsNamara.“Theyusetheir
mobilephonestoreceivethevouchersandweuseourdigital
platformtomakethepaymentsdirectlytothemerchants.”
Theimpactofa simplefeaturephonecannotbe
underestimated– VouchDigitalcancollectkeydata,gettingto
knowpreviouslyunrecorded(andoftenfemale)farmersand
theirneeds.Knowingtheseinsightswillhelpagricultureto
flourishwithinAfrica.
“Farmershaveneedsbeyondthefarm,”addsAttah.“Weneed
tocollectdatatogivethemaccesstomoreservicesandmore
choices– servicesaroundenergy,servicesaroundhealthcare,
servicesaroundgovernmentinterventions...weare,asa by-
productofdeliveringhigh-qualitysuppliesandseedstofarmers
intheirremoteareas,buildinganinfrastructurethatanybodycan
use.”
Withdata,opportunitiesinagricultureareendless.Collecting
anddocumentingsmallholderfarmerswillresultina digital
track record which could eventually be used for provenance, as acredithistory,providingfutureopportunitiesformicroloans.
“Youcangettoknowtheirfarmland,youcangettoknow
informationaboutwhattheyneedfortheirfarm.Wegettoseeall
thisinformationinthebackendandwithit,cangetthefarmerseven
moreinformation– allfroma simpletechnology.It is a beautiful
thing,rightnow,we’recollectingallthisdata,aboutthefarmer,about
thesupplier...oncewehaveallofthatwestartcreatingvalueforevery
singlepersoninthesupplychain.Thetechnologyisthatweare
buildingdatainsightsandintwoorthreeyears,it willhelp these
farmers become better business people,” she ends.
Photos supplied