INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
IBM supports African agricultural start-ups through Digital4Agriculture initiative
Tech giant IBM has announced that it
is supporting the Digital4Agriculture initiative ( D4Ag ), which aims to foster African start-ups in the agricultural sector and strengthen the long-term living conditions of local small farmers by increasing productivity and quality . With the help of digital expertise from IBM Services and access to accurate weather data provided by IBM ’ s The Weather Company , D4Ag has successfully launched and is helping over 36 African agricultural companies become better prepared for the digital future .
Reliable weather forecasts are very difficult to make for Africa ’ s agricultural industry due to IT infrastructure unavailability . Small agricultural enterprises not only lack Internet
WE WANT TO HELP LOCAL START-UPS TO REACH MORE CUSTOMERS AND DEVELOP NEW MARKETS . TO THIS END , WE PROVIDE THEM WITH BASIC KNOWLEDGE IN THE AREAS OF DATA ANALYTICS , INTEROPERABILITY AND BUSINESS MODELLING . access and suitable hardware , but existing data is often unreliable or difficult to process . By making high-resolution weather data available to agricultural start-ups , DG4Ag is providing valuable information to small farmers that can help them make important decisions with greater confidence .
" We want to help local start-ups to reach more customers and develop new markets . To this end , we provide them with basic knowledge in the areas of data analytics , interoperability and business modelling ,” said Desiree Winges , Consultant at Make-IT in Africa and responsible for D4Ag .
“ We also want to promote cooperation between start-ups and platform operators to fully exploit the opportunities of the digital world ."
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
( BMZ ), the German Society for International Cooperation ( GIZ ) is implementing the D4Ag programme within the framework of the project " Make-IT in Africa ".
This project is designed to promote the startup scene in the digital sector of developing and emerging countries together with primarily European technology companies , start-ups , associations , research and science , and non-governmental organisations . IBM joined the Make-IT Alliance in 2017 as part of its # GoodTechIBM programme .
" Small farmers are the backbone of Africa ' s food supply and their success and quality of life depends upon having reliable weather forecast data and insights ," said Florian Scheil , Account Executive Public Sector , IBM . " We are proud to provide African farmers with weather information and services access to help them better manage and improve their crop production ." p
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