Despite a lack of industry players, Africa’s regional markets are large. More than half of the land in sub-Saharan Africa is used by farmers who cultivate small plots. As a rule, they grow food or commercial crops on these lands.
More than 170 million people are employed on farms. Despite the landscape’s advantages, their translation into economic development requires effort and transformation. The difficulty stems from several aspects. The first is the difficulty in acquiring land and obtaining property rights. The second significant problem is poor infrastructure. Bad roads and electricity problems make agriculture unprofitable and uncompetitive.
At the forefront of efforts to transform the agricultural sector is modernization, designed to help increase farm profitability and employment by making the industry attractive to young people. Modernization will provide an opportunity to develop agricultural value chains in Africa, leading to job creation. Of course, the modernization of any industry will not do without the introduction of technology. Geospatial data analysis in farming is one of the leading technologies transforming agriculture today, providing farmers more opportunities.
EOS Data Analytics: Satellite Data Analytics for Farming
EOS Data Analytics, founded in 2015 by Max Polyakov, provides geospatial data analytics for various industries, including agriculture and forestry. The company’s AI-driven solutions give users the ability to remotely monitor and control the condition of plants and soil in the fields, collecting all the necessary information.
EOSDA Crop Monitoring is a precision farming platform that provides satellite monitoring of fields. This solution delivers data on vegetation status, soil moisture, harvest, weather conditions, crop rotation, and more. Thanks to this data, farmers can plan field activities, take timely measures to protect crops, rationally allocate resources and find practical solutions to increase productivity. In 2021, the company also launched the
EOSDA Forest Monitoring solution for precise forest management, a satellite-based forest monitoring tool. Foresters can use the platform, owners, researchers, and logging companies interested in remotely monitoring forest health risks, identifying illegal logging, and reducing negative environmental impacts.
Another solution for working with satellite images and geospatial data analysis is EOSDA LandViewer. It is a GIS assistant that helps users quickly find, visualize and process data. The platform provides access to more than ten indices that can be used to extract valuable information from satellite images.
How will products and services help subsistence and low-income farmers in Africa?
Digital technologies are significantly transforming agriculture, bringing changes humanity has not seen before. With the help of digital farming, growers can increase the amount of food produced while reducing the number of resources used. The goal of EOSDA Crop Monitoring is precisely to give farmers the tools to make effective decisions and increase the productivity of their fields.
The digitalization of African agriculture is facilitated by networking with regional traders and other stakeholders. Connecting with investment funds across the continent, EOSDA partners can help farmers adopt technology and benefit from geospatial data predictive analytics, and other innovations to improve agricultural land productivity.
In addition, technological solutions contribute to increased market transparency and help to minimize the digital divide between large and small farmers.
Social case: Mapping Project For Indigenous communities In Chad
Farming communities need to adapt to the various challenges associated with scarcity of fresh water, fertile land, and other resources. This social case is an example of how communities cooperate to overcome the difficulties caused by climate change.
The project in Chad aims to mitigate conflict between local and indigenous communities caused by limited natural resources. It also aims to help communities adapt to climate change. The communities of Chad and other developing countries rely primarily on pastoralism and subsistence farming. It enables them to provide food for their families.
However, certain risks make these communities vulnerable. Extreme weather events associated with climate change have a negative impact on agriculture in the region. They lead to a decrease in the quality of natural resources or their loss. Because of this fact, the food security of the population is under threat. Climate change brings persistent challenges that limit access to resources and reduce overall well-being.
