By Nume Ekeghe
As government intensifies efforts towards diversifying the economy, two young Nigerian entrepreneurs have developed an App that will connect farmers and broaden knowledge base of stakeholders in the sector.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos on the new tool, the Co-founder and CEO of Probityfarms, Mr. Olushola Ogunniyi explained that the new technology is a simple-to-use farm management app to help farmers manage both the day-to-day activities of the farm and even the business-side of their operations. Farmers, he said, can use the application throughout the value chain of all farming activities.
Ogunniyi said: “We understand that there are two sides to running successful farming; the business side and the technical side. However, many farmers today lack the professional and business skills needed to manage these two farm operations successfully.
“With ProbityFarms, our pilot farmers depended on our simple dashboard to solve these important needs. After creating their farm profiles, they can easily capture all activities on the farm, from crop production, livestock production and farm economics.
“The tools enable them to measure and track every activity in the farm, thereby enabling the farmer to plan better and make sound decision and not just guess work or native intelligence. They also utilise the platform to communicate, learn, share knowledge, and build their relationship with other farmers.”
Giving further insight into the App, he said, that the solution was divided into seven core offerings based on an assessment of the needs of small holder farmers.
He said: “Using the tool will help operators keep farm records and all farming data in one place in order to get real-time insight to livestock and crop activities. Manage sales, expenses and cash flow to ensure the health of your farm finances. The data generated from the information supplied by the farmer makes it easy to work with insurance, banks and accountants or their financial providers for assessments.
“Also, the App is an e-Commerce market place for farmers to sell their farm produce, list agricultural equipment like tractors for sale/lease. It is designed as a business listing site where farmers can list their produce online and off-takers can connect with them, and also noted that as online forum, it will help farmers seek expert opinion and to discuss farming related issues and best practices with other farmers or extension workers and also do business with other farmers. The Pest Weed and Diseases report alarms warn you if your crops are at risk.
“We are currently working with our partner to make wholesale market rates of products available to farmers to assist them in getting the best prices for their products in the marketplace. The price chart would be updated everyday with data point sourced different markets in the country.”
On the farmers’ cooperative management solution, he said, it enables farmers to manage their farming activities and cooperative activities one solution.
Also, he said the App has the ability to help determine test and analysis, saying a very affordable hardware is being currently developed with their partners to evaluate the soil condition for the 13 nutrients required for plant growth, water, sunlight, etc and analyses the data in order to understand the appropriate nutrient to apply to improve farm yields.
