Digital Agriculture in LMICs -10 Jul #62
KaiOS partners with Smart Africa; Crop2Cash and Farmerline launch AI advisories in Nigeria and Sierra Leone; Arya.ag, IBISA and eAgronom raise new funding
25/06/24
IBISA raises $3M to scale parametric insurance in Africa and Asia
Climate Insurtech company IBISA has closed a USD 3 million funding round to scale its parametric insurance solutions for weather risks in Asia and Africa. The round was led by The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and venture capital firm Equator, alongside the Asian Development Bank Ventures (ADBV) and existing investors including Ankur Capital. The funding will enable IBISA to build new products and expand further into emerging markets. The company leverages satellite and actuarial technologies to design and operate parametric insurance products that promote financial resilience in regions where communities are the most vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events. Founded in 2017, the company is placing a special emphasis on India, since establishing a local presence there in 2023.
28/06/24
KaiOS partners with Smart Africa to enable mobile Internet access to farmers
KaiOS Technologies, the company behind the KaiOS operating system for smart feature phones, has signed an agreement with Smart Africa to advance digital inclusion in the region. The two organisations will work to enable previously unconnected citizens gain access to digital services such as messaging, news, entertainment, and education through affordable and reliable KaiOS-powered smart feature phones with internet access. The partnership will focus on providing mainstream social media apps, educational resources, training programs, and connected agricultural support to farmers, allowing them to gain access to information such as weather forecasts, pest and disease management, and market prices. Launched in 2013 by seven African Heads of State, Smart Africa is an alliance of African countries, international organisations, and global private sector players tasked with advancing Africa’s digital agenda. KaiOS is a mobile platform that makes the Internet accessible to all via feature phones.
01/07/24
Farmerline launches IVR advisory and AI chatbot in Sierra Leone
Ghana-based agritech Farmerline has launched two new services in Sierra Leone, Darli AI and the Krio Ai Agronomist. Darli AI is a conversational IVR solution that facilitates interactions in Krio language, providing farmers with information to improve their practices and yield. The Krio AI Agronomist is a chatbot available on WhatsApp that offers educational support, helping farmers make informed decisions. The launches are integral to Farmerline’s partnership with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Communication, Technology, and Innovation (MoCTI).
Under the partnership, the agritech will develop language and speech models tailored for Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector. It will also leverage satellite imagery to provide accurate data for better decision-making, and will boost sustainable rice production by creating a mobile-enabled national farmer registry. Established in 2013, Farmerline has an end-to-end digital agriculture platform. The agritech relies on partnerships with agribusinesses, cooperatives, farmer groups as well as government entities and NGOs to reach farmers. Besides Ghana, and now Sierra Leone, Farmerline also operates in Cote d’Ivoire. It has to date raised USD 15.3 million, according to Crunchbase.
Image credit: Farmerline
02/07/24
eAgronom secures $10.8M to expand sustainable agriculture program
Estonia-based agritech eAgronom has raised EUR 10 million (USD 10.8 million) in its Series A2 equity round. The round includes EUR 4.2 million raised during a booster round last year, now converted into equity, plus an additional EUR 5.8 million. Swedbank AB was the leading investor. The new funds will expand eAgronom’s presence in key markets and help scale the company. Founded in 2016, eAgronom works with 3,000+ farmers in 14 countries. The start-up has been active in Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania since 2022, with further expansion planned in Uganda and Zambia. It uses soil health tracking technology and helps smallholders implement regenerative agricultural practices, improving soil quality and its carbon sink capabilities, and increasing yield. Its Carbon Program digital tool enables farmers to receive annual payments and support transition to sustainable practices. The company says that partner farms across Europe and Africa have stored roughly the equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of 100,000 people.
03/07/24
Crop2Cash launches AI-powered National Hotline for Agriculture in Nigeria
Nigerian agritech Crop2Cash has launched the National Hotline for Agriculture. The new AI-powered service was launched in partnership with the GSMA Innovation Fund, which has supported Crop2Cash through a grant. The toll-free hotline provides to farmers real-time and personalised agricultural advice. The service acts as a personal extension agent, providing agri advisory to the individual farmer. In Nigeria, the ratio of extension agents to farmers is one-to-ten thousands. The service is powered by a Large Language Model (LLM) leveraging localised data, and is available in English, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. Founded in 2018, Crop2Cash supports farmers to adapt their farming practices through climate-smart farming content. It also helps farmers to manage financial risks through a digital marketplace, connecting them to drought-resistant maize seeds. During the launch event of the National Hotline for Agriculture in Abuja, the Founder and CEO of Crop2Cash Michael Ogundare said that the company has to date reached 100,000 farmers.
Image credit: Crop2Cash
04/07/24
Ghana to host agritech hub of Pan-African timbuktoo initiative
Ghana has been selected as the host country for a new Pan-African Agritech Hub as part of the timbuktoo Innovation Fund. The announcement came after a meeting between Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo and senior Nigerian politicians. Timbuktoo is a USD 1 billion regional initiative to support the startup ecosystem. It was launched in early 2024 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with several African countries, including Ghana, Rwanda and Nigeria. The initiative will have a presence in eight hubs, which will support local startups working in sectors such as fintech, healthtech, edtech, cleantech, creatives and agritech. The AgriTech Hub complements Ghana’s existing initiatives in digital agriculture including the Planting for Food and Jobs, now its second phase. The Agritech Hub is expected to attract investment, foster research and development, and promote knowledge sharing among African nations.
05/07/24
India’s Arya.ag gets $29.2M, reaches $325M evaluation
Indian agritech Arya.ag, a B2B market linkage platform for the grain value chain, has raised INR 2.44 billion (approximately USD 29.2 million) in its latest funding round. This round was led by existing investors, including Asia Impact and Quona Capital, through Quona Blue Earth and Accion Quona. Following this investment, the agriteh is valued at approximately USD 325 million. Established in 2013, Arya.ag operates about 11,000 warehouses in 21 states. Through its market linkage platform, farmers and farmer producing organisations (FPOs) receive warehousing services, fumigation and quality testing services, and access local and international buyers. The platform also embeds financial services, such as farmer loans against their stored commodity in the platform. To date, the startup has raised around USD 110 million from investors.