Akingate Tech News Digest 21 Jan 2023

A selection of tech news from Nigeria and Africa at large.

Agritech Africa | Seed Multiplication Partnership | Agric Growth In 2023 | Ajayi Crowther University Seed Tech | Africa Food Production Summit | Agric Supply Chain Efficiency

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Agritech forces gain ground across Africa – CIO

The latest collaborations between African farmers and IT leaders are strengthening agricultural sectors and economies despite ongoing difficulties.

“Land never deceives” is a common slogan of farmers around Africa. Many people go into farming entirely or as a side endeavour, with high certainty that they’ll make money and produce more good for all. And when technology is added to the mix, opportunities multiply.

Having the largest area of uncultivated arable land in the world, sub-Saharan Africa, with a young population—nearly 60% is under 25—and a wealth of natural resources has unparalleled advantages that could double or even triple its current agricultural productivity, according to the Status of Agriculture in 47 Sub-Saharan African Countries, a report the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jointly published with the International Technology Union (ITU) in March 2022.

Some African countries depend almost entirely on agriculture, like Ethiopia, with 80% of its economy based on it. Jermia Bayisa Lulu, CEO and co-founder of start-up Debo Engineering Agritech, has consolidated his knowledge and experience in computer networking, engineering, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) research to go all in on agritech to solve the problems that affect 85% of community life in his native Ethiopia.

“Our economy is based on agriculture, and I believe it should be further supported by technology to increase agricultural productivity,” he says. “Plus, about 20.4 million people in Ethiopia are in need of food aid, which motivates us to solve the problem of agriculture to ensure the lives of millions of people. The same is true for most African countries that need to be supported by technological solutions.” Read more here

Ellah Lakes Partners IITA on Seed Multiplication – Tribune

ELLAH Lakes Plc. has announced the signing of a Seed Production and Technical Support Agreement between Adani Staple Crop Processing Zone Food Company Limited, a subsidiary of Ellah Lakes and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on a seed multiplication program.

In the first phase, this involves the production of high yielding soybean seed varieties on five hectares of land located in IITA Ibadan, Oyo State and subsequently, on five hundred (500) hectares of land located in Adani, Enugu State.

IITA brings to this endeavour with Ellah lakes, its expertise in the production and supply of high-quality breeder and foundation seedlings to private sector seed producers. The partnership agreement between both companies will facilitate the production of premium quality soybean seedlings for cultivation at Adani SCPZ in Enugu State with IITA providing all the technical support required to produce the seedlings for the company. Read  more here

Farmers yearn for mechanization, and cheap credit to drive Agric growth in 2023 – Business Day

Farmers need mechanisation, irrigation, innovation, and a single-digit interest rate to drive growth in the sector in 2023. According to them, the sector cannot change the fortunes of Nigeria’s economy with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment, food provision, and other spin-offs if smallholder farmers still grow crops using crude implements and depend on rainfall agriculture.

They stated that for the country to attain a high level of food sufficiency and reduce dependency on food imports, it had to improve the level of agricultural mechanisation.

Nigeria is one of the least mechanised farming countries in the world, with the country’s tractor density estimated at 0.27hp/hectare, which is far below the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommended tractor density of 1.5hp/hectare.

Nigeria is 132nd out of the 188 countries worldwide measured by FAO/United Nations in terms of the number of tractors in the country. This is one reason farming has been mainly subsistence, rather than commercial.

“Mechanisation is a very critical issue and it must be at the centre of the country’s food security plan,” said African Farmer Mogaji, CEO of X-ray Consulting.

“If farmers continue to use crude equipment, their poverty can never be eradicated. Farmers need to farm and harvest their produce using mechanisation to boost their productivity and profits, thus, impacting their livelihood,” Mogaji said. Read more here

Agric Firm Collaborates With Ajayi Crowther University Seed Company – Tribune

An agricultural company, Jubaili Agrotech Limited is set to collaborate with the Ajayi Crowther University seed company, ACU Seeds, by providing consultancy and products to farmers.

This was revealed when a three-man delegation visited the university on Wednesday to discuss ways that both agric firms would collaborate in rendering services to farmers.

Head of the Technical and Sales Unit at Jubaili, Ali Majeed Selma, who led the team, revealed that the company has chemicals that can protect the plant even before it is planted, stating that both firms would benefit from one another. Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Timothy Adebayo, noted that the university would be willing to collaborate with Jubaili in many ways.

“Our university farm is thriving, and we have a mini ranch, acres of cassava, a nursery, and other things. We can get chemicals from you, and we can also embark on joint exhibitions,” the VC said. Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof W.B Akanbi, and ACU SEEDS Breeder, Dr Moses Adebayo, told the visitors that ACU Seeds has a unique maize product that is fortified with Vitamin A and would be launched into the market next month. They stated that the company also has palm, horticultural, and ornamental crops, revealing that it would soon go into the production of other crops. Read more here

Second international summit on food production in Africa to open in Dakar – AFDB

African heads of state and government together with development partners will gather in Senegal to strategically map plans to unlock Africa’s food-producing potential and position the continent to become a breadbasket to the world. President Macky Sall of Senegal, and Chairperson of the African Union, will host the three-day Dakar II Food summit from 25 January, with the African Development Bank Group as co-host.

The agenda of the Summit whose theme is, Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience, is the improvement of Africa’s food nutrition and security; leveraging the continent’s huge agricultural resources; boosting international trade, expanding market share, and production and processing value addition.

The summit will take place at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio, 26 kilometers from Senegal’s capital city Dakar. The gathering will showcase programs already contributing to African food sovereignty and resilience. This includes the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) platform, which is delivering heat-tolerant wheat, drought-tolerant maize, and high-yield rice seeds to 11 million African farmers in 21 countries. Read more here

The tech start-up seeking to untap and transform Africa’s agricultural supply chain efficiency – FoodNavigator

A Nigerian company is aiming to fix Africa’s notoriously fragmented food system and bring profits to African producers.

Lagos-based Releaf is aspiring to make it easier for FMCG manufacturers in Africa to access high-quality ingredients for their factories and has just raised $3.3 million in an oversubscribed Pre-Series A funding round.

Releaf develops technology to enable decentralized purchasing and processing of raw crops to improve profitability and prevent post-harvest loss for the palm oil plant native to West Africa.

The new funding will support the launch of two new technologies. The first is a portable version of its award-winning palm nut de-sheller called (Kraken II). Second is a geospatial mapping application called SITE. This identifies the most optimal positioning of supply chain infrastructure for consumer goods manufacturers, creating an effective link with Africa’s decentralized farming system.

CTO and co-founder of Releaf Uzoma Ayogu said the technologies are the next steps in the company’s plan to fundamentally transform the efficiency of agricultural supply chains in Africa.

“To make food supply chains profitable, we must maximize extraction yields with leading processing technology and minimize logistics costs by bringing processing capacity closer to farmers,”

he said. Before Releaf, he explained, stakeholders had to choose between one or the other – large factories had great technology but were far away, leaving most farmers with rudimentary technology to process their crops.

“We’re now able to maximize both,”

He declared.

The SITE technology used cutting-edge geospatial mapping tools to determine how much oil palm is planted in an area and their annual yields. Alongside Releaf’s proprietary data on soil type, rainfall, farmer productivity and 3rd-party data from organizations like the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture(IITA), Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI),the company said it can deliver a dynamic view of farming activity. Read more here

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