Precision agriculture for Africa’s food security

Around the world, food security ranks high up on the governments’ development agenda. In Kenya, the Jubilee administration has set out an ambitious plan to soar production of food crops such as maize, potato, and rice in order to cushion the population from hunger. The government aims to increase Kenya's maize production from the current 40 million bags to 67 million by 2022.

To realize such enviable targets, Kenya will have to surmount a number of challenges facing the agriculture sector. Rising temperatures as a result of climate change has put a strain on crop productivity. Coupled with soil degradation that currently affects over 80% of African soils, new approaches to foster agricultural productivity in the country are required.