Microsoft, OCP Africa to improve farmer productivity with digital agriculture platform

Microsoft, OCP Africa to improve farmer productivity with digital agriculture platform

Microsoft is partnering with OCP Africa through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO), with the goal of positively impacting smallholder farmers and Agri-stakeholders across Africa by 2025. OCP Africa, an African company that provides fertilizer solutions tailored to local conditions as well as the needs of soils and crops throughout the continent, will collaborate with Microsoft to strengthen and scale its digital agriculture platform. This platform improves farmer productivity while allowing them to better manage their businesses.

In this time of increasing food insecurity, enhancing the resilience and livelihoods for smallholder farmers is needed to drive increased agriculture productivity, including reducing losses in the food production chain. With the increasing impacts of more frequent extreme weather events, adaptation, and resilience are of crucial importance to the food system’s transformation,” said Wael Elkabbany, General Manager for Microsoft Africa Regional Cluster.

The announcement was made in Doha, Qatar at the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. The collaboration will enable smallholder farmers to gain access to skilling and information through Agri-digital services, leveraging OCP Africa programs such as the Farmer Hub concept to support millions of farmers. OCP Africa will also collaborate with Microsoft to explore the use of big data, machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to build their data and AI platform to improve operational efficiency and better serve ecosystem stakeholders.

digital agriculture platform farmbeats

On his part, the CEO of OCP Africa Dr. Mohamed Anouar Jamali said: “African agriculture is at a transformational moment in its history – and a time of incredible possibility and promise for farmers and industry alike. Digitizing agricultural practices in Africa allows smallholder farmers to optimize their decision-making, which in turn helps optimize production. The partnership between OCP Africa and Microsoft will allow us to increase the services provided and scale up our digital agriculture platform, expand our reach, and make an even bigger impact on food security across the continent.”

Collaboration with African AgriTech startups, agricultural firms, and partners to increase access to technology, skills, and agricultural knowledge is expected to optimize the industry and generate new revenue streams that will ensure global food security. The adoption and integration of technologies such as the Cloud, AI, Agri Data Platforms, and Azure App modernization into the agricultural space is also expected to deliver transformation in the form of precision agriculture.

We believe that precision farming, brought about by the adoption of advanced technologies into the agricultural sector, will revolutionize food production and help to eliminate hunger and poverty in Africa. Technology is the key factor in enabling and increasing access to finance, equipment, and sustainability for rural farmers, empowering local farmers in Africa. Our partnership with OCP Africa will help to directly impact smallholder farmers and improve production,” added Elkabbany.

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Here is how Microsoft, IFC are digitising agribusinesses and supporting small-scale farmers in Africa

Here is how Microsoft, IFC are digitising agribusinesses and supporting small-scale farmers in Africa

Microsoft, through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO), has announced a partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support digital transformation in Africa’s agricultural sector.

In a session during the Adaptation and Agriculture Day at COP27 in Egypt, the IFC and Microsoft highlighted the partnership that aims to deliver digital agriculture products that support African agribusinesses to strengthen food security and develop greater resilience against climate change.

Through the partnership, digital tools such as Microsoft’s AgBot and Community Training applications are integrated with IFC’s Agribusiness Leadership Program to provide better information, newer technologies, and management capacity training to agribusinesses, farmers, and cooperatives.

Digital technology can improve the operation of key supply chains in the food system by boosting production, improving business practices, promoting traceability, and increasing access to finance. However, the use of digital tools in Africa’s agriculture sector remains limited, often because of infrastructure, affordability, awareness, and regulatory issues,” said Henrik Elschner Pedersen, IFC’s Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services in Africa.

IFC and Microsoft are working together to change this so more agricultural players in Africa can leverage the power of the digital economy.”

Henrik Elschner Pedersen, IFC’s Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services in Africa.

In Africa, agriculture is estimated to contribute about 25 percent of Africa’s GDP and 70 percent of its employment. However, the supply chains of many agribusinesses in the continent are fragmented and suffer from poor information flows. Additionally, many farmers rely on traditional agronomic practices and technologies that are under increasing pressure from climate-related shocks.

four speakers from IFC, AGRA, Microsoft on a panel talk about how big data and AI is helping small -scale farmers improve produce

Current research estimates that smallholder farmers account for 80 percent of the farming community, with an estimated 33 million smallholder farmers. But they are often hard to reach, residing in remote areas, and lack access to skills, knowledge, and agricultural support services. Digital technology can improve the operation of key supply chains in the food system through greater agricultural efficiencies, improved business practices, traceability, food safety, and access to finance.

On his part, Kunle Awosika, Managing Director for Microsoft ATO said: “The changing climate presents new future opportunities for farmers in relation to emerging markets for carbon credits, regenerative agriculture, and the application of ‘nature-based services’.  However, these new opportunities need to be underpinned by robust management and reporting systems. These are precisely the systems that are supported by the new suite of digital tools,”

The package of digital tools provides users with the opportunity to upskill in areas such as more productive climate-smart farming practices and the application of ‘farming as a business. The digital tools delivered through the partnership are leveraging Microsoft’s agritech chatbot known as the AgBot, which provides extension and advisory services to smallholder farmers using either feature phones or smartphones, via SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram.

The AgBot provides a key platform that farmers can use to access information such as weather alerts, crop advisories, pest diagnosis, and market prices. Stakeholders in the agriculture ecosystem including governments, IFC, development partners, and private companies can also access the platform to deliver information to users. To date, over 500,000 farmers are actively using the AgBot to access information and improve productivity.

By using digital channels, agronomic and business sensitive information is delivered directly to smallholder farmers to help improve productivity as well as mitigate the risks associated with climate change and unexpected weather events. Combined, the digital tools encourage improved farming practices, more sustainable and resilient farming practices, and greater efficiencies in resource use,” says Awosika.

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Sell Harvest wins N2.5M at Microsoft Agro-Tech Hackathon NG

Sell Harvest wins N2.5M at Microsoft Agro-Tech Hackathon NG

Sell harvest, an agritech solution by Team Software Chasers emerges winner of the first Microsoft Agro-Tech Hackathon in Nigeria. The team wins two and a half million Naira as prize money, mentorship and technical support from Microsoft. It will also join the Microsoft Global Social Entrepreneurship program to develop into a unicorn.

Microsoft Agro-Tech Hackathon NG is an initiative of the Microsoft African Transformation Office (ATO) in partnership with Sterling Bank, Ted Prime Hub and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). To identify and develop sustainable and inclusive digital solutions for agro-products and services in Nigeria.

Microsoft Agro-Tech Hackathon

Microsoft says seventy thousand Nigerians applied to participate in the hackathon. With two thousand being shortlisted for the first phase of the hackathon. Which was then filtered down to fifty and then thirty teams. The teams went through virtual skill-up sessions on technology and cloud services, emerging issues on agricultural value chain process, start-up ecosystem and idea scaling and product testing.

The final event featured 10 solutions by teams from Abuja, Benue, Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Sokoto states competing for the top three positions. Farmsquare came in second winning N1.5million while third place winner Farmers’ Market got N1 million.

Olatomiwa Williams, Microsoft Country Manager Nigeria and Ghana affirmed Microsoft’s commitment to working with both the private and public sectors to accelerate digital transformation in African agriculture. As well as harnessing the potential of the youth by helping support homegrown start-ups in critical sectors.

Muhammad Mukhtar, Albany Muhammad, and Sa’adu Abubakar of Team Software Chasers expressed their delight in the product development experience. They added, “It has been an interesting journey with wide experiences from varying degrees”.

Watch the Microsoft Agro-Tech Hackathon grand finale

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Pitch AgriHack 2022, win US$45,000 in prizes

Pitch AgriHack 2022, win US$45,000 in prizes

African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Heifer International and Generation Africa are announcing Pitch AgriHack 2022. An agritech competition focused on accelerating entrepreneurial growth and job creation in the agriculture sector. By identifying youth-led businesses with technological solutions to food security challenges and awarding them with cash grants, media visibility and investor exposure. It will award up to $45K in cash prizes to youth technology innovators in Africa’s agriculture and food sectors.

The open competition part of Pitch AgriHack 2022 will support businesses that are driving innovation in agriculture across three categories Early-stage, Mature/Growth-stage, and Women-led. Prizes will be awarded to six winners totalling US$45,000. A fourth invite-only category known as the AYuTe Africa Challenge, sponsored by Heifer International, will award up to $1.5 million in grants to scalable ventures that are already generating measurable impact for Africa’s smallholder farmers. 

Pitch AgriHack 2022

The Pitch AgriHack 2022 finals will see the top 12 applicants face off in a business pitching contest at the African Green Revolution Forum Summit (AGRF) in September. Finalists will participate in the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, where over 800 companies, 15 government delegations and 150 public and private investors will convene to generate exciting new opportunities.

Applications for Pitch AgriHack are open from 20 June to 29 July 2022 at genafrica.org/pitchagrihack. It is open to African founders or co-founders, aged 18-40 of technology-based and digital services businesses in the agriculture sector. The Top 12 applicants will be selected by an expert jury, followed by an award ceremony where three category winners and three runners-up will receive cash grants to grow their businesses.

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