Make your apps easy to use, agritech startups urged

Policymakers must facilitate linkages between farmers and startups. [iStockphoto]

Startups in the agricultural sector have been advised to make their applications simple and easy to use to help them deepen their market presence.

At the Africa-Korea AgTech Innovation held in Nairobi recently, governments were also challenged to facilitate connections between startups and farmers.

Ugandan Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze who was accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Josephat Muhunyu (representing Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi) said e-agricultural solutions pitches being made by innovators should have the simplicity of the farmer in mind.

Even when the farmer is educated, Tumwebaze said, it should not be assumed that they can easily navigate through the applications.

"The e-agricultural solutions that you pitch as innovators, must be highly effective to solve the problems of the farmers but simple for people to use and understand," said Tumwebaze. "If my mother is taking her milk to the dairy every morning, how do you enrol this person on the platform."

Developing applications

He noted that literacy and skill levels are key when developing such applications. "We must have solutions that are easy to be used by the illiterate and the unskilled. I could be educated but I have never enrolled to use your apps," he added.

Tumwebaze urged policymakers to facilitate linkages between farmers and startups.

"For example, I am a farmer, and I have a problem with disease control on my farm. Or monitoring because I live in the city. I do not know if there is a solution to e-agriculture. How do I know? Who facilitates this linkage?" he posed.

"It is very important. Otherwise, we would be speaking to ourselves."

He urged startups to operate within the farmers' locality. "If you have solutions for matatus or bodabodas, then you would be in the municipalities," said the minister. He urged governments to facilitate linkage between their respective agricultural research institutions and startups.

"With the support of the World Bank, Uganda is implementing an e-voucher system that links farmers to inputs to ensure traceability since you can see what is supplied and what is not," he noted.

The event saw the awarding of three startups in the agricultural sector for their solutions.

These are EzyAgric (Uganda), Kuza Biashara (Kenya) and Farmline Ltd (Ghana). There were 21 shortlisted startups. Mr Linturi said programmes like the One Million Farmer Initiative have seen an increase in digital inclusion and literacy among farmers.