Agriculture in Africa : investment opportunities.

Africa’s economy is inherently dependent on agriculture. More than 32% of the continent’s gross domestic product comes from the sector. Agricultural productivity still remains far from developed world standards, as over 90% of agriculture depends on rainfall, with no artificial irrigation aid. 

 The techniques used to cultivate the soil are still far behind from what has been adopted in Asia and Americas, lacking not only irrigation, but also fertilizers, pesticides and access to high-yield seeds. Agriculture in Africa also experiences basic infrastructural problems such as access to markets and financing. 

 A broader economic transformation is necessary to shift the current paradigm facing agriculture in Africa. In most of the cases, urbanization and economic growth have resulted in new opportunities for local agricultural producers. 

 However, in Africa, this share of the market mainly belongs to foreign companies. Imports of food staples have been rising sharply, and domestic agriculture has so far failed to increase supply in response. Raising productivity in agriculture is vital to transformative growth, not just because it has the potential to expand markets by displacing imports, but also because agricultural growth is twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in non-agricultural sectors. 

 Singapore is proving to be an engaged ally in the process of changing this reality. Some big players in the agricultural sector with their headquarters in Singapore, are investing heavily in Africa. Technology and skills are being transferred to smallholder farmers and the large-scale producers are cooperating, playing a fair game that will help develop the sector and make it more sustainable.more

How to use the Pod3 modular GPS tracker.

The Pod3 modular GPS tracking device can be attached to anything, allowing you to keep tabs on its whereabouts using your smartphone. One of the biggest fears of any pet owner is having their animal escape and get lost outdoors, potentially never to be seen again. But two years ago, a small start-up out of Sydney, Australia, created a device called the Pod to protect against just such an occurrence. The Pod is a GPS tracking device that can be attached to your pet’s collar, allowing you to track their location right from your smartphone. Pod Trackers, the company behind the Pod 3, has managed to pack a lot of technology inside this tiny device. Not only does it come with GPS capabilities, but it is also equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 2G/3G cellular networking features too. This gives the user the ability to track the gadget in real time, both indoors and outdoors, across 175 countries worldwide, using an app for both iOS and Android. what sets the Pod 3 apart not only from the company’s previous generation of Pod trackers, but from the competition as well, is its modular capabilities. The gadget has been designed to accept a number of special modules that snap into place along one end. These modules add functionality to the device beyond its tracking capabilities. For instance, one module converts the tracker into a light and location strobe, while another is an extended-life battery that allows the Pod 3 to continue functioning for up to two weeks between charges. Other modules include a USB dock to keep the GPS working at all times and an ultrasonic speaker that emits a “discreet, high frequency noise” designed to keep birds away. Those last two modules are made to be used on a boat, car, or other vehicle. continue

Solar glass to boost agriculture.

Western Australian scientists have developed what is believed to be a world-first clear, energy harvesting glass which, if used in greenhouses, could produce crops in any climate or season. The glass is embedded with nanoparticles which work to draw out 90 per cent of the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared rays from the sun, and transfer those rays to solar cells embedded on the edge of the glass panels. The rays are converted into energy, while allowing 70 per cent of visible light to pass through. The energy harvested is used to power the structure, for example providing lighting, heating, cooling, or water desalination and irrigation. The technology has been developed at Edith Cowan University's Electron Science Research Institute (ESRI) in Perth. Director of the institute, Professor Kamal Alameh, said being able to convert unwanted radiation into electricity could be a huge cost-saver in greenhouses. "In a closed environment you don't need a lot of water, so you don't need a lot of energy to filter the water if you have underground water.You also don't need a lot of cooling and heating because we use these thin-film coatings to actually block the unwanted radiation so that we can save on the energy used for cooling and heating. Professor Kamal said due to its designed self-sufficiency, there are no limitations to where such a greenhouse could be built, which could see agricultural production in areas currently too hot or dry to produce crops. "If you have underground water that's all we need to basically produce a crop," he said. The technology has been developed in collaboration with ClearVue technologies. continue

Agribusiness : Using GPS-on cows to track and stop cattle rustling.

 Cattle rustling is on the rise in Africa,but not limited to Africa. Farmers losing livestock to rustlers have increased,and a solution  to curb this trend has emerged. 

The solution is the use of technology, via tracking devices .It is a crime evoking bushrangers and cattle duffers of old, but stock theft has become a modern crime and researchers are hoping to find a technological solution. 

 

A team from Central Queensland University (CQU) in Rockhampton believes a motion-sensing GPS device may hold the clue.The device detects mustering activity and sends a message to a grazier's phone. 

 Researchers hope it might hold the answer to reducing cattle rustling which, according to the 2001/2002 National Farm Crime Survey, affected 6 per cent of farms at an estimated annual cost of $16 million. Project leader Associate Professor Mark Trotter said preliminary trials had been promising.

"The core technology already exists so things like GPS tracking and motion-sensing tracking [are] a little bit like a fitbit that you see people wearing," Dr Trotter said. continue

Mechanization and agribusiness.

Mechanization is an essential tool for success of agribusiness as it improves productivity and profits farmers. Farmers need to embrace the role of farm machinery if they are to be successful,but many smallscale farmers are yet to imbibe the emerging farming technologies and machinery. Factors, such as the high cost of machines and farmers’ lack of access to finance, make the machinery unaffordable for resource-poor farmers. Farmers are calling for a change, one of them is Debo Thomas, a large scale farmer in Ogbomosho, Oyo State. His community has a strong agricultural tradition – nearly two-thirds of its population are farmers. Though he uses agricultural machinery to plant and harvest crops, he is among those canvassing the introduction of cheap, easy-to-operate and easy-to-maintain tractors that can be fitted to a various innovative auxiliary equipment for planting, threshing and irrigation.continue

How to grow Africa with agribusiness.

This highlights the great potential of the agribusiness sector in Africa by drawing on experience in Africa as well as other regions. The evidence demonstrates that good policies, a conducive business environment, and strategic support from governments can help agribusiness reach its potential. Africa is now at a crossroads, from which it can take concrete steps to realize its potential or continue to lose competitiveness, missing a major opportunity for increased growth, employment, and food security. The report pursues several lines of analysis. First, it synthesizes the large body of work on agriculture and agribusiness in Africa. Second, it builds on a diagnosis of specific value chains. As part of this effort, the value chain for Africa's largest and fastest-growing food import, rice, is benchmarked in Senegal and Ghana against Thailand's rice value chain. 170 agribusiness investments by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in Africa and Southeast Asia are analyzed to gain perspective on the elements of success and failure. Fourth, the report synthesizes perspectives from the private sector through interviews with 23 leading agribusiness investors and a number of other key informants. more

How to grow lettuce without soil and make millions.

This is the story of how a graduate grows 10 million heads of lettuce without water. In the University of Arizona, Jenn Frymark helped develop a greenhouse for extreme weather and then spent six months at the South Pole growing food for scientific researchers. Now she grows 10 million heads of lettuce and other greens year-round, without soil, in considerably more benign conditions inside greenhouses in New York and Chicago. She said her business, Gotham Greens, has been a success since she joined partners Eric Haley and Viraj Puri in growing greens hydroponically on a rooftop in Brooklyn in 2011. She’s certainly one of the most successful graduates as it relates to business development. The center, known as CEAC, is training the next generation of farmers for an urban agriculture revolution, researching ways to improve efficiency, taste and freshness in everything from lettuce to mushrooms. Giacomelli is planning to extend it to wine grapes. Frymark said the skills she learned there are key to her business success and she still calls the center for technical advice.more