How much of Precision Agriculture (PA) is being practiced in Africa

The advanced technologies being practiced in precision agriculture (PA) are not used in Africa on a wide scale because they are too costly, and often not available.

In most parts of Africa, agriculture is practiced predominantly on a small scale. The concept of precision agriculture (PA) in Africa has been described as site specific nutrition management (SSNM); site specific farming (SSF); and climate smart agriculture (CSA).

Site specific nutrition management (SSNM) farming n Africa is moving along slowly specifically on small farm holdings particularly due to the cost of fertilizer and slow adoption of precision agriculture particularly by small farm holdings. Site specific farming (SSF) in the African context is guided by the conditions of a given location. For example in semi-arid environments, the planting densities used by the farmers are low compared to the high rainfall areas. Climate smart agriculture (CSA), focuses on averting the social-economic effects of climate change.

What are the Benefits of Precision Agriculture (PA) for Growers in Africa

Precision Agriculture (PA) could be especially important for farm growers and the agriculture industry in Africa.

The benefits of precision agriculture include:

Improved food security: PA enhances water and nutrient use efficiency, leading to better crop yields and timely management of activities like weed control.

Cost savings: Both commercial and smallholder farmers in Africa have benefited from reduced input costs due to PA adoption.

Environmental impact reduction: PA helps minimize negative effects associated with agricultural practices.

Precision Agriculture (PA) helps the farmers be more precise in the resources they put into the soil.

Challenges of Precision Agriculture (PA) for African Farmers

Advancement in precision agriculture in Africa faces a number of social-economic and technological challenges.

Social-economic challenges include:

Lack of information, and in some cases inappropriate use of the information.

Solution: There needs to be more systems in place to collect information from the small farm holdings. In addition, the information from these farms needs to be protected for the farmers and not be used for other purposes by data collection organizations.

Lack of information on site-specific nutritional (SSN) requirements; and lack of established agronomic service providers.

Solution: More research needs to be done to gauge SSN requirements. There also needs to be better ways to measure the requirements for different farms based on the plants they grow as well as looking at more organic alternatives in this method

A large percentage of the research for precision agriculture (PA) is being conducted by non-Africans and also there is no research being done on PA in a number of African countries.

Solution: There needs to be more research done by governments; researchers and organizations who are operating and based in Africa to provide a different aspect to the research results.

Technological challenges include:

Lack of machinery including sensors.

Solution: There may need to be intervention by the governments of the different countries to provide financing for the farmers to be able to buy or lease the right machinery or encourage private investing

Limited access to global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) devices, geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.

Solution: There needs to be systems that can either be a replacement for these systems or are of lower technology but can still be used in the same way.

Conclusion

Precision agriculture (PA) can be a great system for farmers worldwide and farmer holdings in Africa including the small farmers.

There needs to be more investment in precision agriculture by African investors, inventors and developers with systems geared more towards the type of farming practiced in Africa at both the commercial and smallholding farms.

In creating these systems and processes, the developers and data processors do not take into account the cultures and farming techniques that have worked and still work especially for the small farmers.

African governments need to be more involved in creating and implementing favorable policies that will help encourage the development of precision agriculture tools, systems and processes within Africa on a wider and more encompassing scale.

Resources

3rd African Conference on Precision Agriculture

Aspects of Precision Agriculture

Advantages and Disadvantages of Precision Farming

Precision Agriculture and Food Security in Africa

Precision agriculture research in sub‑Saharan Africa countries: A Systematic Map

Remote Sensing in Precision Agriculture