Smart farms

Techno Brain partners with Microsoft on digital agriculture platform to help farmers in Africa

Nairobi, Kenya – 14 June 2018: Techno Brain has partnered with Microsoft Corporation to launch a digital agriculture platform in Africa to help farmers improve crop yields and increase income.

Smallholder farmers are the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change, with rain-fed agriculture accounting for more than 90 per cent of farmed land in sub-Saharan Africa. These farmers face many risks beyond their control, including drought, disease and pest epidemics.

The technology solutions being offered by Techno Brain will collate data; farm location using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, expected rainfall and weather patterns, land type and soil nutrition, and process the information on intelligent cloud to create insights that help farmers in Africa make better farming decisions.

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Microsoft is already working with government and enterprises in India to help farmers with small hold farmlands and dependence on rain-fed agriculture and this partnership is now being extended in Africa. The pilots are starting in Malawi and Tanzania, in partnership with National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) and ETG Farmers Foundation, respectively.

Farmers will receive insights on mobile via short message service (SMS) and voice platforms; best crops to plant, optimal sowing week, pest growth alerts, adverse weather notices, preferred harvesting time, market information and farming tips developed in collaboration with other knowledge partners and African Governments.

tea pickers kenya

Tea pickers in Kenya: Photo: Courtesy

Speaking during the official launch, Anand Mohan, Chief Operations Officer Techno Brain said, “Agriculture is the main stay of African economies but has a lot of untapped potential. Many African smallholder farmers lack access to information and knowledge that would help them maximize agricultural production, and we believe that this platform offered by Techno Brain and Microsoft will empower African smallholder farmers to increase their yields and income significantly.”

Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice President Cloud + AI Microsoft said “Microsoft’s vision is to use the power of our cloud and AI tools to help solve problems in core and infrastructural areas by enabling innovative and scalable solutions. The partnership with Techno Brain marks an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to help create sustainable livelihoods in Africa, India and rest of the world.”

This partnership between Techno Brain and Microsoft will enable smallholder farmers develop climate and market resilience. This will also enable development of new agribusiness models and make agriculture a viable livelihood for many farmers across the continent. We anticipate that smart and precision agriculture will further attract youth to farming.

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Netherlands approves funds to implement a Climate & Food Security programme in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

drip irrigation1 Kales farming under drip irrigation system. Climate change threatens crop yieds in Africa and harvest losses may add up to 20 fold the investment costs of adapting agricultural practices. Photo: C. SCHUBERT (CCAFS).

The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted funding of €39.5 million (about Sh4.7bn) to implement a five-year Climate Smart Agriculture programme in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to a consortium led by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, in partnership with Wageningen University and Research, CGIAR’s Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security Programme, Agriterra, and Rabo Partnerships.

This initiative will significantly contribute to The Netherlands’ international commitments on climate change.

Objective

Climate change being a threat to crop yields in Africa, and harvest losses may add up to 20 fold the investment costs of adapting agricultural practices now the programme aims to increase food production and food security by enhancing climate resilience throughout the supply chain.

By 2022 the programme will result in adaptive productive capacity and increased incomes for 300,000 medium sized and smallholder producers. On top of that there will be improved business performance of 50 small medium enterprises and 30 cooperatives to mitigate the risks of climate change on their supply chains.

“This grant will help us scale up our support to farmer communities to feed their families and increase their income. This will require adapting the way they farm to more frequent drought and other climate-related changes” said Meike van Ginneken, CEO of SNV.

Scaling to systemic change

The programme uses a three-pronged approach: implementing complementary interventions to increase adoption of climate-smart practices and technologies among farmers and SMEs, stimulating their growth throughout the value chain by enhancing private sector investments in climate adaptation and advocating with partners and the government of the three targeted countries to encourage a favorable enabling environment for large-scale market adoption.

“We collaborate with private and financial sector partners such as Rabobank – who will pave the way for financially viable Climate Smart Agriculture solutions and investment to agribusinesses,” said Ginneken.

Dutch expertise in sustainable food production systems, particularly in potatoes, oilseeds, and pulses will be mobilized.

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Exporting company to train farmers on avocado production

KENGAP Consult Ltd, a horticultural and consultancy company is set to train avocado farmers on production, record keeping, pest and disease management, harvest and post-harvest handling and global market standards at a time when the European Union has released strict standards on agricultural imports.

The firm will conduct the national avocado training and exhibition on 21^st and 22^nd June 2018 at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization in Thika, Kiambu County.

“Many smallholder farmers in the country lack substantial knowledge on how to grow and ensure they adhere to standards on pesticide application and best agronomy practices and as such we are seeking to bridge this gap through the training,” said Janet Njogu, the event’s organizer officer at KENGAP Consult.

Fresh produce exporter buying avocados from all-comers

Kericho farmers to adopt avocado farming to diversify their income

According to the ministry of agriculture, a large proportion of farmers in Kenya (more than 50 per cent) have limited access to agricultural training, information and cutting edge technologies.

Where the innovation opportunities are available, affordability remains a constraint. Further, agriculture is not an examinable subject in primary school therefore creating a lack of interest amongst students and teachers. Low exposure to practical skills and limited opportunities in internships and mentorships also contribute to lack of skills.

hass and fuerte avocado ban

Hass avocado variety.

On 21^st June, farmers will basically be trained on the procedures of growing avocados to achieve high yields. Farmers will also learn on export processes and regulations needed before exporting produce.

On the second day, the exhibition will be held and farmers will learn of the various avocado varieties such as Hass and Fuerte which are on high demand in the international markets such as China driven by the middle class population that is craving for healthy eating habits.

China is one of the world’s largest buyers of avocados having imported 32,100 tonnes of the crop in 2017 up from 32.4 tonnes in 2011.

The company was started in 2006 in a mission to help farmers export their produce to international markets such as the European Union.

Kenya produces an estimated 115,000 metric tonnes of avocados annually, 70 per cent of which is grown by smallholder farmers.

In Africa, Kenya is the second largest exporter of avocados after South Africa.

Kenya’s dried avocado export has been rising, with the country selling 46.7 tons to the international market in 2016.

The figure was higher by 7.8 tons than what was exported in 2015. Kenya earned Sh6.5bn and Sh5.2bn in 2016 and 2015 respectively, according to the Kenya national bureau of Statistics economic survey report.

Interested farmers can contact Janet Njogu on 0723 491 549 0r 0722 406 941.

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