We are always researching the latest innovations in the agriculture sector for potential investments for the BSP Fund. Here are some of the stories that caught our attention in the irrigation and agriculture fields. If you’re working on an innovative irrigation system, apply for investment consideration here.
Government Eyes Irrigation Law to Boost Farm Sector by Madalitso Mwando
Zimbabwe, previously one of the largest food producers in Africa, has struggled in past years with countrywide food insecurity. While there are many causes to this insecurity, the government has identified the sporadic rain cycles as one of the largest problems. This has led the ministry, in collaboration with the WFP, to introduce funding for increased irrigation systems throughout the country in order to support farmer’s ability to control their crops and increase yields by 200%, on average.
Using Wireless Sensors to Solve Himachal Pradesh’s Water Problems by Saurabh Mehra
While many regions around the world have acknowledged the power that irrigation technologies provide to farmers, there is a general lack of funding to improve these basic systems. For example, the state of Himachal Pradesh in Northern India has water storage units to hold the heavy rains for drier season. However, these tanks have no system in place to monitor when to release water and when to collect water. In response to this common problem, AirJaldi hosted a workshop on the uses of wireless sensor networks to help solve environmental issues. These sensors could be used in conjunction with irrigation storage tanks in order to conserve water more effectively.
A Plan to Bring Sun-Powered Irrigation to Poor Farmers by Andrew C. Revkin
Paul Polak has working with his company, IDE, to develop lost cost solutions to increase agricultural yields for the world’s poorest farmers. Working with drip irrigation systems, Polak initially developed to treadle pump for farmers to pump water into their fields. However, he has recently been working with a team of engineers to create a solar powered pumping system that is affordable for farmers living on $3- $5 a day. This system would allow farmers to grow a greater variety of crops, with higher yields in order to increase their income.
Irrigation Technology Company Netafirm Wins 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award by Leon Kaye
Netafirm, an Israeli company development drip irrigation technology, was awarded Stockholm International Water Institute’s Industry Water Award for their work to maximize the impact of water in irrigation. It is estimated that between 70%-90% of the world’s fresh water goes towards farming. Through drip irrigation, agricultural water consumption is cut by as much as 50% as compared to conventional irrigation techniques.
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We are always looking for our next BSP Fund investments and researching the latest innovations in the mobile tech and agriculture sectors. Here are some of the stories that caught our interest this week.
Digital Farming- New App to Help Horticulture by Agatha Ngotho on The Star
A new app has been developed in Kenya to help over 50,000 farmers with data management. The Farmforce software is designed to help farmers manage and file the paperwork associated with food safety standards. Not only will this software save time for the farmers, but it will also alert field staff when paperwork is filed incorrectly. The software, which can be downloaded onto a traditional mobile phone, will be available to the 70% of Kenyan farmers who already own a mobile phone. In the long-run apps like Farmforce will ultimately improve the country’s agricultural standards.
Agriculture Lies At Heart of Africa’s Growth on New Era
Last week’s World Economic Forum on Africa, in Cape Town, South Africa, focused on the importance of growth in the continent’s agricultural sector. Jane Karuku, the President of AGRA, explained that the impact of investment in the agricultural sector is three to four times greater than investment in other sectors. Due to the high return, Karuku urges larger investments in agriculture, particularly in mobile technologies that can help farmers to buy inputs and sell products more effectively.
FG commences distribution of fertilisers in Kuje, Abuja on The Premium Times
Nigeria’s federal government launched a new program on Monday to help optimize the distribution of fertilisers and grains to farmers in the Kuje Area Council of Abuja. The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) is utilizing text messaging to subsidize the prices of inputs and to educate the farmers on the best times to buy. With this technology farmers will be able to improve yields and increase their income.
Mobile Money Accelerates Financial Inclusion by Masimba Biriwasha on The Standard
Zimbabwe’s mobile banking product, Ecocash, will increase financial inclusion to thousands of rural farmers. Ecocash uses the basic functions of a mobile phone to transfer money, pay bills, and provide security and convenience to the majority of unbanked within Zimbabwe. Rural customers are targeted specifically due to their failure to meet the requirements to open a bank account and their lack of access to traditional bank branches. Mobile banking has the potential to reach the 70% of unbanked rural Zimbabweans and enable a large section of the population to access financial services.
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Editor’s Note: This post is written by Sean Smith. Sean spearheaded and will continue to lead Invested Development’s efforts in supporting the Safaricom App Wiz Challenge.
In early 2012, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore and other senior executives of Kenya’s largest telecom visited the iHub in Nairobi to answer questions from the innovation community. Most of the back and forth between iHub members and Safaricom executives went as expected (at least if you follow such things):
Q: “When will there be an M-PESA API?”
A: “Sometime in the near future, we’re working on it.”
Q: “Why does it take so long to sign an NDA with Safaricom?”
A: “We’re not even really sure, but we’re working on that too.”
Sean, seated at the end of the front row on the left, listening to Bob Collymore speak at iHub.
Although I was impressed that Bob had brought the whole team to iHub, I was somewhat disappointed about the lack of specifics on how Safaricom might better engage the community. Towards the end of the event, Bob mentioned that he had an “open door policy” for members of the innovation community, shared his email address, and promised to meet with anyone that reached out.
At first I simply took note of this as being quite brave – I’ve made the same promise to the iHub community in the past and was a little overwhelmed at the onslaught of meeting requests. Later, I was thinking more about why the whole Safaricom team would come to iHub only to field relatively standard questions, with no specifics offered on either side, and have the event wrap up with Bob promising to meet with anyone who wanted to talk. Suddenly, it was obvious. Neither side had any clue how to engage the other – Safaricom didn’t know how to help innovators, and innovators didn’t know what to ask for. It was like seeing two 14 year olds nervously making eyes at each other, but never getting close enough to dance until a mutual friend forces them together.
This felt like the perfect opportunity for early stage investors like us to help bridge the gap.
I emailed Bob asking to meet and true to his word he quickly slotted me into his calendar. Then I huddled up with the rest of the team at Invested Development and we worked out a quick pitch for how Safaricom and innovators or entrepreneurs could work together on a specific initiative. Our idea revolved around a three-month incubation process that would bring together innovators, investors, mentors, and Safaricom staff.
By working with Safaricom to run an incubator we felt we could accomplish three important goals:
Bob could not have been more supportive of our plan when we met at Safaricom House and ultimately decided to move forward with the project. Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with Safaricom to develop a first iteration of the incubator known as the Safaricom App Wiz Challenge. We will be supporting 18 teams in 6 different categories with mentorship and a curriculum meant to teach Lean Startup principles that will guide business and product development. Teams will work in a brand new space at Strathmore University and Safaricom will be providing 3.7M KES worth of prize money to the top companies coming out of the program. We hope that this is the start of further collaboration and deeper engagement between the two parties.
This is the first iteration of the program and I’m sure the community will have feedback for us on how we can improve. It is an important step towards improving collaboration between Kenya’s numerous innovators and its most prominent company.
L-R: Sean Smith, Alex Bashian, Bob Collymore, Joseph Ogutu, and Miguel Granier at the launch of the Safaricom App Wizz Developer Challenge
To learn more about the program or to apply, please visit http://developer.safaricom.co.ke. We are looking for talented teams that are developing mobile applications for Symbian, Android, Java, and Blackberry.
If you’re interested in mentoring and judging, please email Sean at ssmith@investeddevelopment.com.
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