It is estimated that 1.3 Billion dollars is lost every year in food waste, and a large percentage of that figure derives from Africa's agricultural industry. Bringo Fresh, a Ugandan-based company has introduced an important innovation designed to tackle this problem by creating an online platform which connects farmers to consumers. The company provides farmers with accurate data of market demands which can be accessed via their phones, enabling them to adjust their production plans accordingly. This is a significant development from the days where farmers produced food with little information about market requirements. The lack of storage and refrigeration capacity in most African countries is well-known, as being a major factor in the high levels of waste of agricultural products.
But as equally important, having accurate data which can be accessed by farmers means they are able to charge prices for their products according to demand in parts of the country and obtain more revenue. The success of Bringo Fresh’s use of technology hinges on the use of mobile phones which is very heavy in South Saharan African countries, According to Ighobor and Adewumi (2021):
‘The Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA), which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, states in its 2021 report that, globally, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for “half of live mobile money services and two-thirds of total transactions value.”
The biggest challenge for technologists, such as Laku and his company, is the internet cost in Africa is prohibitive to most farmers and in countries like Gambia telecommunications is not only expensive, it is poor in quality when compared to other African countries. In the context of attracting more people to the agricultural industry, the growing use of phone-based apps to solve problems is a positive development, and one which makes aspects of agriculture potentially more appealing to technology savvy young people.
(Source: Kingsley Ighobor and Damilola Adewumi. www.un.org/africarenewal. July 2021).
