Digital Agriculture in LMICs - 3 Apr #9
Boomitra partners with FtMA for carbon project in East Africa, Uganda’s Emata recognised at Global Startup Awards, Ensibuuko joins forces with bank for agri DFS
30/03/23
AI-powered carbon project launched by Farm to Market Alliance
US-based Boomitra, an international soil carbon marketplace powered by AI and remote sensing technology, has partnered with Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA) to launch a soil carbon project in East Africa. FtMA is a group of six organisations focussed on smallholder agriculture including AGRA, Bayer, Rabobank, Syngenta, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Yara. It operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Zambia. By partnering with Boomitra, FtMA will provide additional assistance to farmers to enhance soil health, build climate resilience, and unlock new financial prospects through carbon revenue. At the heart of the soil carbon project are 570 FtMA’s Farmer Service Centers (FSC), which are service hubs connecting private and public partners with smallholder farmers, serving an average of 200 farmers per hub.
31/03/23
Ugandan agri-fintech Emata recognised at Global Startup Awards
Ugandan agritech/fintech Emata has won the Best Newcomer prize at Global Startup Awards, the largest independent startup ecosystem competition. Ten winners were announced out of 120 participants from 115 countries. Emata partners with cooperatives and agribusinesses to use their data for AI-powered alternative credit scoring, enabling smallholder farmers in the dairy, maize, oilseeds, and coffee value chains to access affordable digital loans. As a winner at the GSA, the start-up is gaining international exposure increasing its chances to access funding opportunities. In 2020, Emata secured a microfinance license in Uganda. In 2021, it started lending to dairy farmers, before obtaining in 2022 a USD 590,000 facility, securing its first external on-lending-capital.
28/03/23
Ensibuuko and UDB launch agri DFS solution in Uganda
Fintech start-up Ensibuuko has partnered with Uganda Development Bank (UDB) for a new solution dubbed AgriConnect that will provide digital financial services to smallholder farmers. Supported by the European Union, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), AgriConnect enables Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to extend to farmers short-term seasonal loans and saving products at affordable rates. The solution digitises the entire process of extending loans, from application to approval and disbursement, with funds credited to the farmer’s e-mobile wallet. The initial pilot targets 1,800 farmers with a view to reach 18,000 at full scale. Established in 2014, Ensibuuko deploys technology solutions for VSLAs in Africa to enable them to serve unbanked and under-banked communities. It has to date raised USD 2.7 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.
30/03/23
GSMA presents learnings on digitising agricultural value chains
The GSMA AgriTech programme has published the report Improving Farmer Livelihoods Through Digitised Agricultural Value Chains. The report aggregates learnings from the GSMA Innovation Fund that in 2020-2022 supported agritechs and mobile operators to implement digital agriculture services in Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. The Fund focussed on designing and scaling up solutions such as digital farmer profiles and procurement, digital payments, loans, insurance, and advisory services. The report draws on data from 1.4 million farmers, presenting lessons on business models, service design and perceived impact. One of the key findings is that farmers recognised the benefits of digital payments, but these did not outweigh the challenges of fees and low awareness of digital finance. 61% of farmers perceived digital advisory as the biggest contributor to increased incomes.
29/03/23
Zimbabwe’s blockchain solution E-Livestock Global eyes international expansion
Zimbabwe’s E-Livestock Global, a blockchain-based traceability solution for livestock owners, is planning to expand to Zambia and Mozambique. Founded in 2019, E-Livestock Global initially secured pre-seed financing to carry out trials with five cattle businesses in Zimbabwe. The start-up has developed a low-cost solution that uses RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) smart tags to link the animal to the owner. Scanners and mobile phones are then used to gather data about all events in the animal’s life. The solution enables traceability as well as access to finance for underbanked farmers, as they can generate records of ownership and use cattle as collateral. The solution is powered by MasterCard’s blockchain-based Provenance solution for food supply chain management.
17/03/23
Aboitiz Group implements “phygital” cold storage solution for Filipino farmers
Filipino conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures has launched a modular, solar-powered cold storage unit dubbed Fresh Depot to help farmers reduce their post-harvest losses and maximize crop yield. The solution takes a “phygital” approach to digitising agricultural value chains. After the first phase where the cold storage unit will be piloted, the second phase of the implementation will involve digitising farmers’ land, planting practices, pre-harvest, harvest, and market information, with a view to facilitate market linkages and financial inclusion programmes. The cold storage unit is currently being piloted for six months in the Benguet province. The project is supported by two Indian agritechs: Ecozen Solutions is the provider of the cold storage unit, while CropIn will be responsible for digitising phase two.
In other news…
30/03/23
Catalyst Fund on the lookout for agri/climate tech start-ups
Catalyst Fund is looking to invest in early-stage start-ups that are building solutions in sectors such as climate-smart fintech (e.g. insurtech, carbon finance), regenerative agritech, aquaculture, water access, clean energy, e-mobility, and cold storage. The support package includes USD 100,000 in cash and the same amount in venture building, as well as insights and data on customers and access to a network of 100+ investors. Established in 2015, Catalyst Fund is a pre-seed fund and accelerator for inclusive tech startups, hosted by impact innovation firm BFA Global. It has invested in 71 companies across 15 markets since 2015.
22/03/23
Factor[e] Ventures launches venture studio targeting African agritechs
Factor[e] Ventures, an organisation of venture builders and pre-seed investors in tech companies in energy, agriculture, water and mobility, has launched Delta40, a new venture studio that aims to increase incomes and tackle climate change in Africa. Based in Kenya with operations in Nigeria, Delta40 secured early funding from Autodesk Foundation and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), a collective action platform partnered with The Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation and Bezos Earth Fund. In addition to providing capital, Delta40 will act as a co-founder, supporting product testing, technology brokering and early-stage commercialisation. Factor[e] has to date supported 30 start-ups. It aims to expand its portfolio to 100+ ventures in the next 10 years.
31/03/23
Pakistan’s agritech SAWiE partners with Bank Alfalah
Pakistani agritech SAWiE, a provider of climate smart advisory, has partnered with Bank Alfalah to provide agritech solutions to the bank’s farmer customers, with a view to facilitate access to markets and finance. Bank Alfalah and SAWiE will also encourage the bank’s farmer customers to conduct soil testing in order to offer them soil health solutions, which will help save water, improve plant health, and protect the natural environment. SAWiE’s provides a suite of data-driven decision-making tools to farmers, enabling them to manage their farms independently and increase yields. It combines geospatial data with IoT, machine learning and AI applications.