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LOS ANGELES, California – The largest country in East Africa, Tanzania, is known to use agriculture to drive economic growth, as 75% of Tanzania’s population is employed in the agricultural sector. Medium-scale farms and commercialized small farms have taken a leading role in Tanzanian agriculture. Almost a third of the country’s GDP comes from agriculture; however, “70% of the population lives in extreme poverty, most of whom depend on agriculture.” The Agripoa software development aims to revolutionize agriculture in Tanzania.
Artificial intelligence in agriculture
In 1956, John McCarthy coined the term “artificial intelligence” (AI), at Dartmouth College. As agriculture remains the most important form of employment in Africa, innovative technology and artificial intelligence are increasingly essential to modernize the sector.
An artificial intelligence solution appeared in Africa in 2019 when software engineer Placidius Castus Rwechungura created a farm management software tool to help African poultry farmers plan, monitor and analyze agricultural activities. The software, Agripoa, revolutionized agriculture in Tanzania by providing data-driven information to help farmers make the right decisions at the right time.
The Borgen Project interviewed Rwechungura. He said that the word “Agripoa” is a combination of two English and Swahili words. “Agri” means “agriculture” in English and “poa” means “fine” or “fresh” in Swahili. Rwechungura said these phrases were combined to mean “farming is great.” Agripoa uses artificial intelligence to collect poultry data to evaluate the results through analytics. This allows farmers the opportunity to compare results and perform statistical analysis.
In November 2020, Agripoa was selected as a finalist in the startup category for the AYAF AgriPitch Competition of the African Development Bank.
Vision of Rwechungura
In the interview, Rwechungura shared that the idea for the company started in 2017 during employment at United Bank for America. While working in the banking sector, Rwechungura grew crops part-time on a four-acre farm. “Many farmers wanted to become big farmers, but they lacked the proper information, the markets, the credit facilities, and the proper records and history,” shared Rwechungura.
He was driven by a desire to address these challenges, and he aimed to develop software to solve them. Rwechungura then resigned and began working on his dream. He launched the company with $ 5,000 from the Tony Elumelu Foundation and a personal savings account from his previous job. Members of the association also created websites and developed software to fund the project.
How Agripoa helps farmers
According to the official Agripoa website, the software will help farmers gain market connections and teach them about the quality of products needed in a given market. It will also indicate which products are in high demand. These tools aim to prepare farmers to meet the demands and standards of their buyers.
The software also allows farmers to track expenses for animal feed, medicine, and other agricultural inputs. Also, the software alerts the user when too much money is spent. The developers hope to facilitate the knowledge of the development of the farm, obtain a vaccination schedule, track the amount of feed to feed the animals and learn about new outbreaks.
Creating connections in agriculture
Additionally, Agripoa intends to help farmers find experts and suppliers online without physically meeting another person, which is a safer option during the COVID-19 pandemic. A user can also create farm groups online, record daily expenses, and find solutions to poultry diseases. Another feature of Agripoa involves chatting with veterinarians and exchanging ideas with nearby or remote farmers. The application consolidates all messages, groups and communications.
Agripoa’s official website advertises the software’s ability to help farmers form meaningful connections. It states that farmers can use Agripoa to connect with other farmers, agronomists for extension services, and agricultural input providers and credits.
Users can look forward to future changes in Agripoa. Rwechungura shared plans to add the farm management feature. This will help farmers to correctly maintain their farm data, including daily activities. This new feature will use the same data for information and analysis to help farmers make better decisions.
Agricultural data risks
Rwechungura told How we made it in Africa that he believes the most successful form of marketing is a combination of online advertisements and working alongside agronomists, veterinary officers and farm experts to market to clients. Rwechungura is concerned about the lack of agricultural data ownership policies in Tanzania. He shares that this is the risk his business faces. Currently, the company has eight full-time employees. Agripoa seeks to hire experts with different backgrounds, such as software engineers, programmers, veterinary experts, and marketing experts. The company values versatility in a team.
The future of Agripoa
Rwechungura said the most rewarding part of working for Agripoa is connecting with farmers. “We are a very fast growing company; therefore we encourage experts from around the world to join our company as we look forward to expanding to other countries. “The software currently has 20,000 users and enabled founder Rwechungura to digitize the Tanzanian poultry industry. Rwechungura and his partner, Kelvin , plan to expand to Kenya and Ethiopia next year Agripoa is revolutionizing agriculture in Tanzania and has the potential to do the same for all of Africa.
– Rachel Durling
Photo: Flickr
