Digital Agriculture in LMICs - 18 Jul #23
Artificial intelligence catches the attention as Pakistan’s Farmdar is set to launch AI fintech venture in Brazil while India’s KisanServ deploys AI voicebot
10/07/23
India’s KisanServ deploys AI voicebot for farmer debt collection
Indian agritech KisanServ, a market linkage platform for fresh produce, has partnered with spocto to deploy a multilingual AI voicebot dubbed Bhaasa. The solution, a creation of the spocto innovation lab (SIL), will allow the start-up to communicate in real-time with its farmer partners with the purpose of improving debt collection and risk mitigation. The conversational AI typically acts as a bridge between lenders and borrowers in India. It supports communication in 10+ languages with multiple dialects. For the purposes of the KisanServ partnership, it supports Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, and Kannada in four Indian states, and it us used to streamline operations as the agritech connects farmer and buyers of fresh produce. In practice, the AI voicebot will be used to ensure loan repayments for farmers. Founded in 2015, KisanServ has to date raised USD 2.5 million, according to Crunchbase.
11/07/23
India’s WayCool is latest e-commerce platform to lay off staff
Indian agri e-commerce WayCool is planning to lay off 300 staff out of a total of 2,500 as part of a restructuring process. With this move, the company hopes to achieve profitability by December. In 2022, despite seeing operating revenue climbing by 142.7%, the company reported a loss of INR 360 crore (USD 44.5 million) due to high operational costs. This is the latest example of an agri e-commerce platform cutting its workforce to reduce costs, with Kenya’s Twiga and Indonesia’s SayurBox also laying off staff in recent months. Established in 2015, WayCool is the third largest digital marketplace for fresh produce in India by operating revenue after DeHaat and Ninjacart. It works in staples such as rice, pulses, wheat, flour, and dairy, connecting 200,000 farmers with 18,900 buyers across India. In February, the agritech platform announced plans to enter the Kenyan market through a local subsidiary. It has to date raised USD 404 million, according to Crunchbase and has an evaluation of around USD 700 million.
11/07/23
Pakistan’s Farmdar expands to Brazil with AI fintech venture
Pakistan-based agritech Farmdar, a precision agriculture company, has expanded to Brazil through a fintech venture named AgromAI. The new start-up will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and geospatial data analysis to provide financial institutions and insurers with accurate, individual farm-level intelligence to improve credit and insurance risk management. Brazil is a major agricultural power accounting for 7.3% of global agricultural exports. Agricultural insurance is the second largest non-life insurance segment. In Pakistan, Farmdar, has an app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and remote sensing technologies to enable farmers to monitor their land, increase productivity, reduce farming costs, and reduce waste. Last November, Farmdar partnered with SkyWatch, a provider of satellite imagery, to use its earth observation data to predict crop yields. According to Crunchbase, the company has to date raised a total funding amount of USD 1.3 million.
13/07/23
VC calls for African agritechs with SaaS solutions
Startup Wise Guys, an accelerator and early-stage investor based out of Estonia, is calling African agritech start-ups to apply to its SaaS Acceleration Program: Africa. The accelerator is keen to support African start-ups with B2B Software as a service (SaaS) solutions in climatetech and fintech, as well as agritech. The accelerator offers up to €100,000 (USD 112,000) investment for equity (70% cash and 30% in-kind support), with a follow-on possibility. It offers support in areas such as sales, marketing, pitching and the possibility of joining a network of +600 founders, +350 mentors and +200 investors. Requirements for applicants are having a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), at least two co-founders or team members, and demonstrating customer traction, namely Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) or revenue being generated. There is time to apply until 7 September.
14/07/23
Data-driven agriculture a priority, says G20 policy brief
Think20 (T20), the research and policy advice network for the G20, has published a new policy brief Transforming Agri-Food Systems Through Data-Driven Technologies: Lessons from India’s NAREES. The brief looks at the experience of India’s National and State Agricultural Research, Education and Extension System (NAREES), which supports food security in the country. It argues for NAREES to adopt and use data-driven technologies for building a sustainable agri-based economy in India. It also recommends that this model is extended across other G20 countries with similar ecosystems.
The brief highlights how the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in India, such as the Aadhaar biometric ID system and the United Payments Interface (UPI) for financial inclusion, are examples of widespread acceptance of technology solutions, showing that it is possible to break the myth of rural populations not being technology savvy. One of the recommendations of the brief is to establish a sandbox facility for pilot testing of technologies at the farm level across G20 countries, with a view to stimulate agribusiness investments, from which smallholder farmers and start-ups can benefit.
17/07/23
Good reads: IFAD publishes annual report
The International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD has published its annual 2022 report detailing the organisation’s activities, special initiatives and new funding sources as well as impact data. In the study, IFAD states that, according to the latest projections, 670 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030, representing 8 percent of the world’s population. This is still the same as of 2015, when the SDGs were adopted. The report also outlines how currently 90 percent of IFAD’s climate finance, which includes investments in tech driven initiatives, is now dedicated to enable rural people adapt to claim the change.
One that we missed…
24/06/23
Nigeria’s agritech Extension Africa bags USD 70,000
Nigerian agritech startup Extension Africa received a cash price of USD 70,000, 0 ($52,500 equity contribution and $17,500 in cash) from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). The prize was awarded as the company classified in second place at NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI) for Nigerian tech start-ups. Extension Africa describes itself as a research-based agritech platform that provides private extension services to value chain actors. Based out in Kano (Northern Nigeria), it has a network of tech-enabled extension agents called “farmer business associates”, who provide farmer services and connect them to inputs via a digital market linkage platform. Extension Africa claims to have onboarded 1,000+ agents and have benefited 175,000+ farmers. The NPI received over 2,000 applications from sectors including healthcare, agriculture, artificial intelligence. The NPI was instituted in December 2022 as a catalyst for the country’s tech ecosystem. The winner was Money Africa, a personal finance and investment literacy edtech platform.