CAN WE USE TECHNOLOGY TO STOP RURAL GOVERNMENT COOPERATIVE PROJECTS FROM FAILING? BY: LINAH MAPHANGA
Technology innovation can unlock a lot of opportunities for South Africa. In agriculture, technology can be used to improve yields, product quality, market access and management skills. Technology can be used as a tool to lower the cost of entry to the industry and also to break the current entry barriers that are blocking under resourced, rural and small-scale farmers to compete with big commercial farmers. In other parts of Africa, like Nigeria, technology solutions such as digital crowd funding platforms are used to fund non-bankable small-scale farmers. In East Africa, digital technologies are used to enable small-scale farmers to access affordable farming inputs, farming information and also have a platform to sell their agricultural products to market agents and wholesalers. In South Africa, we have Khula App that is helping small-scale farmers to access markets. From tractor sharing platforms to artificial intelligence bots, technology innovation in Agriculture in Africa is gaining traction, simply because it has both social and economic impact. The agriculture industry has a massive value chain that needs small businesses to participate and supply their local markets. Although there are technology solutions that currently exist, the industry still needs more, especially for small-scale farmers and small agro-processors that work with limited resources.
