Digital farming has dropped the barriers on farming, making farming innovative and exciting for the younger generation to venture into as well as reassuring farmers, especially the ones who find it hard to embrace in-organic fertilizers fearing that it might poison their lands. Digital farming, also popularly known as digital agriculture or as some call it, Smart Farming is the application of new technologies into the agricultural sector.
The evolution of digital farming started 10 years ago, with small farming hand tools like hoe, cutlass, rake, and the like being replaced with low-tech mechanized engineering tools like tractors, plows, planters, and others. Moving on, a higher and more advanced technology that uses sensors, contains a substantial amount of software-based AI (Artificial Intelligence) which is a combination of mechanics and electronics, commonly referred to as Mechatronics or Robotics such as livestock farming tech, precision farming, aerobatics, laser scarecrows, RKT (Real Time Kinetic) and others was introduced. Sub-Saharan African economy, agriculture remains a profound priority sector of most regions, one of which is Ghana.
Ghana has a population of 31 million and an agricultural land space of 147 827km2 summing up to about 65% of the total land area. The Agricultural land sector contributes 17.3% of the country’s GDP which is estimated at 72.3 billion and 30% of export earnings, and it employs 29.8% of the population. Ghana has been tipped as one of the groundbreakers of digitalization and innovation.
Major global corporations have tried to advance digitalization of African Agriculture by launching payment systems, credit platforms, and digital insurance.
Farming Startups In Ghana
Famerline, one of Ghana’s most thriving ag-tech agencies serving as a typical example, deployed mobile and web technologies providing advice, weather forecast, market information, and financial tips to farmers.
On September 27th, 2022 secured a $1.5 million equity funding OIKOCREDIT in the second close of the Pre-series A round, which summed up to $14.4m. Famerline also launched its “Support a Farmer” initiative, raising 1 million GHS cedis ($100,000) to provide 250,000 bags of fertilizers at discounted rates to 25,000 farmers.
Agrocenta, another digital agriculture company, operates a mobile merchanting platform that connects farmers with the market, provides storage and delivery solutions, and financial services that cover loans, payments, pensions, savings, and repayment assistance to smallholder farmers in Ghana.
Agrocenta has raised $790,000 in the Pre-series A working capital and development funding round.
Africa has an enormous potential of driving economic growth and transforming the agriculture sector due to the introduction of advanced technical tools that can be used in the farming system.
