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| Young people are now venturing into farming thanks to technology. Photo: Africa Feeds Media |
Africa is a net importer of food with current figures at 30 billion
Euros per annum and the figure could triple by 2025 if drastic measures are not
taken according to a report by CTA & Dalberg Advisors. Despite overwhelming
evidence showing that Africa’s prosperity and economic growth lies in
agriculture, most governments are struggling to honour their Malabo Declaration
commitment of allocating at least 10% of their total budgets to the sector. But
the situation could change with the introduction and upscaling of data and
digital technologies in the agrifood value chains. The evolution of
Agricultural Internet of Things (AIoT), block chain technology, machine
learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), use of drones among others could
transform the sector by increasing productivity and creating jobs.
According to UN data, 65% of African population is comprised of the
youth, yet the average age of a farmer in the continent is 60 years. This is an
indicator of how African youth perceive agriculture. Besides arable land, this
is the most important resource that the region can tap to feed itself.
Digitalization of agriculture could attract this tech savvy generation to the
sector, creating job opportunities along the entire value chain from
production, advisory and financial services, processing, marketing and
distribution. With most African countries grappling with youth unemployment
rates of up to 70%, this would be a major relief by creating decent jobs.
Globally, there’s a shift from conventional production to
sustainable production. This means that as the world grapples on how to feed
over 9 billion people by 2030, it must do so in a way that will not jeopardize
future generations to do the same. Digitalization promotes precision
agriculture as IBM refers it whereby through the use of drones and soil
sensors, farmers can capture real time data on insights such as soil, moisture
levels and crops’ general health for them to make timely decisions. This
improves on resource allocation and reduces costs through the evolution of
digitally-enabled climate smart solutions.
However, despite the promise of agricultural transformation through
technology, this is not a substitute for physical infrastructure (roads,
markets and electricity) and human infrastructure in areas such as extension
services. These are still needed to transform agriculture and therefore
parallel investment is necessary to ensure balanced agricultural
transformation.
Valentine Klutse standing by a drone at a farm in Eastern Ghana. Photo: Africa Feeds Media
There’s also need to localize technological innovations in
agriculture and tailor them to the targeted groups and countries. For instance,
over 80% of small holders in Zambia have access to a mobile phone and accept
mobile payments. This might not be the case in other African countries. It’s
also important to note that technology does not replace talent and therefore
continuous investment in quality education of the players along the value chain
is still necessary.
Local governments must also create an enabling environment for these
innovations to take root through appropriate policies. This will ensure
innovations work for smallholders who constitute 70% of rural farmers and
produce 80% of the food. Without the right policies, it will be difficult to
reap the benefits of agricultural digitalization.
In conclusion, digitalization could help smallholders to bypass a
number of challenges such as financial access, timely decision making and
resource conservation while attracting youth to agriculture but the
technologies should complement human and physical infrastructure to ensure
balanced growth and sustainability.
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