agricultural technologies Archives

15Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Agriculture

Avanti Communications and Clear Blue Technologies partner to deploy rural connectivity across sub-Saharan Africa

Expected to deliver rural network coverage for up to 400 million of the unconnected over the next 3-5 years London, July 15, 2021 - Avanti Communications (“Avanti”), the leading provider of high throughput satellite capacity across EMEA, today announces a partnership with Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (“Clear Blue”) (TSXV: CBLU) (FRA:0YA) (OTCQB: CBUTF), the Smart Off-Grid™ company, to enable Mobile Network Operators and Telco Tower Companies to deliver rural network coverage to areas across sub-Saharan Africa. Within the next three to five years, the partnership is expected to deliver mobile network coverage to the 400 million people that currently cannot access mobile broadband services. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to become one of the largest telecom markets in the wo...

South Africa has reaped significant gains through genetically modified white maize

By Joseph Maina South Africa has reaped significant gains through genetically modified (GM) white maize in the past two decades, with significant gains recorded in the welfare of smallholder farmers who depend on the crop. The successful cultivation of the crop has led to improved food security and pits South Africa as a continental success story in plant biotechnology, given that it was the first GM subsistence crop producer in the world following its adoption of the cultivar in 2001-2002. South Africa’s total welfare benefits attributable to GM white maize between 2001–2018 amount to $694.7 million, notes a study conducted by a combined team from University of Arkansas and Kansas State University in USA, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa, and Ghent University, Belgium. White m...

Tapping into Digital Technology Platforms to Increase Agriculture Productivity in Africa

by Johan Burger Introduction Africa is a bit of an anomaly as far as agriculture is concerned. On the one hand, it has 65% of the world’s available uncultivated arable land, and it has the potential to feed the world. However, a country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has the potential to feed Africa’s 1.2 billion people, struggles to feed its own population of about 70 million. On the other hand, the continent is a net importer of food to the tune of US$41 billion annually. This figure is set to grow to US$110 billion by 2025 should nothing change. We also find that the average age of farmers in Africa is about 63 years, and 85% of farming activity takes place on smallholder plots of 2 - 3 hectares each. At the same time, the youth of Africa are fed-up with the p...