South Africa sits in the fortunate position of having a world-class national food system, thus is largely self-sufficient in terms of food production, and will in all likelihood remain so in this pandemic and beyond. While highly productive, the food system is characterized by high levels of concentration, with 96% of farming units (Census 2011) falling in the SMME category as per the Department of Trade and Industry’s definition (agricultural operations with a turnover of R35 million and below). This positions South Africa as a nation of relatively small-scale family farms, with over 3 million farming units considered subsistence in nature. Our focus as a company are to the 3 million farming units considered subsistence in nature as we believe that the growth in the sector will only emerge if they are developed to becoming small scale commercial and later large commercial farmers. Our INNOVATIVE MVP focuses on taking smallholder famers to the next level by creating access to local and export markets for them using digital Agriculture marketplace, developed and owned by ourselves.
This solution provides innovation in the following ways:
1. Business Process innovation – we offer post harvest service with a pre-harvest and logistics service. By buying the produce at the back of the offtake, farmers are paid 3-6 months faster than they would if they wait for the transportation and delivery period. 2. Technology Innovation – placing of farmers produce in a global marketplace, to exhibit their products, estimating potential farming revenues prior to farming, providing backoffice support including quotations, invoicing, payment. 3. Supply Chain Innovation – we secure the buyers for the farmers relieving them of the stress to find buyers, as they do not have the marketing skills required. Smartagriot assist these farmers across farm management cycle.

http://smartagriot.co.za

• South Africa

• Remote and rural communities
• farming units

The project is first applied in one province and later will be replicated to other provinces.

Affordable, accessible financial products (e.g. low-interest loan products, crop insurance) designed for smallholder farmers. Remote training for ag extension teams focused on providing locally relevant and up-to-date advisory services to farmers to produce quality crops sustainably. Tools and technologies to improve harvest and post-harvest processes to improve crop quality and farmer productivity. Crop damage prevention or mitigation during bad or erratic weather patterns. Cost-effective precision irrigation technology for crop sprinkler or drip irrigation systems. Environmentally friendly fertilizers (land or ocean) or fertilizer use optimization with high adoption/ low churn. Simulation technology to speed plant breeding. Tools and technologies to improve harvest and post-harvest processes to improve crop quality, minimize post-harvest losses and ultimately improve farmer productivity. New technology applications for predicting & identify areas of risk before contamination in food or beverage production. Technology for the selection and sorting of crops after harvest based on quality parameters to use each grain for the correct product with zero waste and improved crop acceptance rates. Supply chain transparency for agriculture e.g. organic certification, provenance and chain assurance. Technology that enables a system of payment for ecological services (i.e. carbon credits) to increase farmer adoption of sustainable practices.

Digital farming brings agriculture industry to a new level of efficiency and creates resiliency among farmers. The project provides access for the small-holder farmers to the agriculture markets. Due to lack of knowledge or skills the farmers most of the times are not able to efficiently enter the bigger market. This project contributes to a sustainable agriculture practices through providing knowledge and assistance at different stages of farming practices. Through effective use of ICTs the project contributes to the development of e-agriculture.