SMART FARMING

Karlo stand at the first ever East Africa Digital Farmers Conference & Exhibition.  

The first-ever East Africa Digital Farmers Conference & Exhibition was organized by KALRO in conjunction with Smart Farmer Magazine on 29th - 31st May 2018 at the Kenya Agriculture & Livestock Research Organization(KALRO) grounds in Nairobi.

The exhibition brought farmers and other value chain actors to exploit the benefits of technology and data through the adoption of digital tools by farmers; seeking to enable agribusiness and food security through ICT.

Dr. Simon Omondi from KARLO is hopeful that Kenyans can understand the importance of Agriculture in job creation and providing nutritious food. “I want Kenyans to stay healthy by eating healthy. Fruits have all the essential vitamins and are especially good for blood sugar management. They also help reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases. Like this Jackfruit is very nutritious and grows in warm areas and costs Ksh 100 per Kg, '' says Simon. According to Simon, an average jackfruit is about 5 kgs, hence one Jackfruit costs about Sh. 500.

 

According to the World Bank Group, agriculture can help reduce poverty, raise incomes and improve food security for 80% of the world's poor, who live in rural areas and work mainly in farming. The World Bank Group being the leading financier of agriculture made new commitments in 2016 for $2.9 billion.

Gerald, a representative from the World Bank Group, says they are hoping to make farming look cool for young people by using technology. “Rwanda is leading in farming using innovations. We have farmers using mobile phones to hire low-cost tractors and do smart irrigation. East Africa is performing below its potential but with openness to digital transformation we hope to make great strides,” says Gerald.

More vendors at the first ever East Africa Digital Farmers Conference & Exhibition

Arinifu is a startup company that works with farmers interested in poultry farming. According to William, their representative during the exhibition, they have come up with a technology that regulates temperature for brooding chicks. “We have a heat lamp that is connected to a processor that can to monitor using sensors and store the chicks’ information such as age. The processor is then able to regulate the temperature of the poultry.  This heat lamp eliminates the need for experience on heat requirements for poultry”, he says.  The information about the chicks’ surroundings is sent directly to the farmer’s mobile phone. William further says that one heat lamp is enough for 100 chicks.

Arinifu also deals in making poultry structures for those willing to venture into this kind of agriculture. “We construct poultry structures at a cost of Ksh. 37,500. One structure accommodates 500 chicks”, William says.

Arinifu staff talking to farmers about their project first ever East Africa Digital Farmers Conference & Exhibition.

 

Purity hopes to start keeping poultry on a large scale rather than the household chickens she has been keeping. “I have bought a magazine at Ksh.200 that talks about poultry farming and I hope to learn more before I start on the venture. I am also excited about the Arinifu heat lamp because with it I don't have to have much experience breeding chicks. I have taken their contacts and I will be calling them for installation of the heat lamps”, she says.

 

CABI Africa, a plant clinic was started in West Africa and is now in Kenya among other African countries. The plant clinic that is in 34 counties in Kenya helps farmers in diagnosing and recommending proper care for the affected plants. Emily Yego, a representative from CABI Africa, says that a farmer has to bring a sample of the affected plant to the organization to get the correct diagnosis. “We, however, accept photos from farmers in case they have no clinic within their location. We also do follow-ups on the farmers who contact us to see if they are implementing our recommendations and also to see if the recommendations are effective. “ Emily says.

Farmers checking Cabi Africa stand at first ever East Africa Digital Farmers Conference & Exhibition.

However, Wefarm is wary that many farmers who have no access to a smartphone or internet will be left out with the new farming technology apps. Wefarm is a free service platform that enables farmers to communicate with other farmers through SMS. The platform, which has over 800,000 registered farmers, helps farmers to ask questions and receive crowdsources from fellow farmers within minutes. “We manage the communication by ensuring farmers get the best answers. For example, if a farmer wanted to know what to do with the maize harvest, we send out that question to his fellow farmers pick out the best answers from other farmers, and from there one can make an informed decision, “says Mona.

 

According to an inspiring farmer who sought anonymity, the conference was a great idea but poorly organized; he did not expect to come to the conference because there was no clear agenda for the event. Without programs for the event, he found it hard to know exactly what to expect and when. “Although there was little information about everything, I think I have found the information I needed. I plan to start farming chillies, onions, and green gram in Isinya. They should also organize a chain of conferences across all the counties because doing just one here in Nairobi is doing injustice to the other farmers in Kenya’, says the aspiring farmer.