Ignitia

The Solution

Each year, weather variability affects industries and farmers across the tropics, where most storms occur much quicker and on a smaller scale. Yet, there has never been accurate weather forecasts in the tropics. Meanwhile, more people are moving to the tropics, with 55 percent of the world’s population expected to live there by 2050. Referencing unreliable weather forecasts, small-scale farmers in tropical climates struggle to harvest high crop yields amidst sudden micro-storms that they’re not prepared for.

Ignitia provides hyper-local weather updates, via SMS, based on GPS location. Since launching commercially in 2015, Ignitia has established partnerships to work with small scale farmers. It sends daily, monthly and seasonal rain forecasts to help farmers avoid adverse impacts of an ever changing climate. As most farmers in Africa have access to a phone, delivering forecasts via SMS enables Ignitia to reach its target audience on a much larger scale. By making daily payments using their current phone credit, farmers are not indebted to future payments, and can unsubscribe if they encounter unexpected financial hardship.

Existing Partnerships

Ignitia has partnered with several organizations, including:

• Hack VC
• FINCA Ventures
• Norrsken Foundation