Cowtribe, a digital logistics company, is one example of a youth-led innovation that can transform the agricultural sector if scaled up.

7 September 2020, Accra – Many young people in Africa have taken up digital tools to develop innovative solutions to the challenges facing the continent in food security and agriculture. However, they often struggle to get a foothold in the market.

That’s why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) set up a matchmaking event on the sidelines of this year’s African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), in collaboration with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Generation Africa. The event, Connecting youth-led digital innovations to FAO Programmes in Africa, connected young agri-preneurs to technical experts from FAO and partner organizations and provided networking opportunities. The event was a follow-up to a webinar held in June 2020.

“There are many challenges within the current food system and supply chain in Africa,” said Ade Freeman, FAO Regional Programme Leader for Africa, during the event. “These challenges are opportunities for young people. FAO and its partners must do more with young innovators to connect them to the necessary development partners, technical experts, academics, and market actors to scale up their solutions.”

Tackling scale

A highlight of the event was connecting nine agro-innovators (Farmignite, E-Farms, Kitovu Technology Company, Profish Ghana Limited, Arinifu Technologies Ltd, Raino Tech4impact, Shamba Records, Cowtribe Inc., and Agrinfo Company Limited) with FAO technical experts to discuss potential models and approaches for collaboration and scaling-up their businesses.

Scaling-up existing solutions and maximizing limited resources is vital to unlocking the potential of digital services in the agricultural industry.

Cowtribe, for example, is a Ghanaian service that provides logistics to aggregate last-mile farmer demand for livestock products and delivers to their farms, and is ripe for growth.

“We currently have over 36 000 subscribed farmers. We have been able to increase access to veterinary services from 16 percent to 68 percent in Cowtribe communities,” said Alima Bawa, co-founder of the company.

Cowtribe now seeks to provide upstream services to veterinarians by providing inventory services through their new service, Zhulia. This also allows vets to serve farmers better by reducing supply shortages.

“To be able to sustain our growth and commitment to farmers and vets, we need more investment. We hope this platform will serve as a means to achieve this,” she added.

An abundance of opportunities

Young people make up 70 percent of the population, however, very few are involved in agriculture. Digital innovations are an opportunity to increase participation by young people in the sector.

“We, as partners, must provide support to innovators to create jobs and opportunities for Africans,” Ken Lohento, CTA Senior Program Coordinator said.

It is also important to connect young innovators to the market they service: farmers. FAO and institutions of higher learning, such as universities, must play a critical role in connecting innovators to the field in order to properly assess the needs their innovations can address.

“Many innovators understand the technology but not the field. Universities and FAO can be that conduit for innovators to build that greater understanding,” said Nikola Trendov, FAO Digital Agriculture and Innovation Specialist.