The population is growing, but it is threatened by low farm productivity exacerbated by weather changes, shorter fallow periods, and rural-urban migration that deprives farming communities of young people.
But this is about to change. African entrepreneurs are now interested in how farmers work and how they can help improve yields. The barrier of entry into farming technology has dropped, as cloud computing, computing systems, connectivity, open-source software, and other digital tools have become increasingly affordable and accessible. Entrepreneurs can now deliver solutions to small-size African farms at cost models that farmers can afford.
Agrolenz was among the startups that graduated from Buni Internship program 2017 Final Batch. They are working to develop an Artificial Intelligent app that will be able to predict, diagnose and even provide treatment information to affected crops. Agrolenz aims at developing an hardware Lenz glasses that a farmer will use along with the app to monitor seasonally their farms.