Technology was the central theme on the third day, as speakers tried to change the perception of the agriculture industry. In turns, the speakers provided nothing less than dreaming into the future where as much as farming is all about crop it is also about data.
The first start up of the day involved Kabelo Moroka from Brastorne who has USSD based platforms that are changing the way farming communities with little access to telecommunications. He made me realize that it is not always about being complex in development; that plain can help narrow down the gap of exclusion of small scale farmer by providing them means to access resources and markets.
A particularly educational presentation was Agri-drones and Data Analytics by Dr. Murty Indrakanti. Ranging from soil quality detecting, crop surveillance to sprinkler control these gadgets are making farming more of a point of digital analysis than anything else. Cliff Dlamini built upon this vision by also integrating approaches to sustainable methods within farming and the use of technology.
The feature I enjoyed most was seeing how these could be incorporated into the hydroponics project. I thought of situations where IoT applications can be used to continuously check the condition of plants or AI to identify the time when it is beneficial to pick produce. The day drove home that for all that agritech is or includes agri-food, it is also about the cultivation of environments of plenty.
Takeaways and Lessons Learned
Sometimes it only takes a few changes, even a small one, to make gargantuan differences in such places.
Modern technology including UAVs offers a means to bring innovations to farming.
Any intervention inside the farming sector, has to be as sustainable as can be conceived of, and use the principles of sustainability as its foundation.
What I’ll Give Back to Botswana
I would like help Botho university to expand this hydroponics project also using innovations, skills in technology to enhance food production as well as to help the youths to set up appropriate agritech businesses.
We ended the day with a celebration of young talent ( a cultural night ). We had local artists performing and showcasing their talent.